Well, good morning. It's good to be here with you.
I don't know about you.
This past week for me has been a particularly challenging one.
Personal disappointments,
the news of others who are suffering in various ways,
not only because of this virus, but exacerbated by this virus
as they face other challenges.
It's just been a harder week.
I've battled to have my hope maintained,
and I've found myself at times struggling to not fall into despair.
I find myself crying like the man who cried out to Jesus.
I believe help my unbelief.
I think that's a common struggle that we may be facing in our world today
and in our lives in general,
and maybe particularly in this most unusual season that we are in.
As we come to the end of the book of Luke,
this is the end of our series,
we come to a situation where the disciples are believing and not believing as well.
We saw last week that Jesus met with some of the disciples
as they were walking away from Jerusalem in despair and discouragement.
And as he met with them, he revealed himself to them,
and he opened their eyes to see that he indeed was risen from the dead.
And so we see in Luke 24, 34,
that he returns,
or that these disciples returned to Jerusalem
to talk to the 12 apostles and the disciples,
and they're all together saying,
the Lord is risen indeed.
So believing, they're rejoicing.
And yet Jesus is not done with them,
and he has more for them.
And this is the passage that we're going to look at this morning.
They believe, and yet they don't believe.
And as he reveals himself to them in that context,
he anchors them in their faith,
and he launches them out into the world
to be witnesses to him as a resurrected Savior.
And my friends, this is the hope,
is that this passage can do the same for us this morning.
So let's look.
We're in Luke chapter 24, starting in verse 36 to the end.
So let's go ahead and read that together,
and then we can pray.
As they were talking about these things,
Jesus himself stood among them
and said to them,
Peace to you.
But they were startled and frightened
and thought they saw a spirit.
And he said to them,
Why are you troubled?
And why do you doubt?
Why do doubts arise in your heart?
See my hands and my feet,
that it is I myself.
Touch me and see,
for spirit does not have flesh and bones,
as you see that I have.
And when he had said this,
he showed them his hands and his feet.
And while they still disbelieved for joy
and were marveling,
he said to them,
Have you anything here to eat?
And they gave him a piece of broiled fish,
and he took it and ate it before them.
Then he said to them,
These are my words,
that I spoke to you while I was still with you,
that everything written about me
in the law of Moses
and the prophets and the Psalms
must be fulfilled.
Then he opened their minds
to understand the Scriptures
and said to them,
Thus it is written,
that the Christ should suffer
and on the third day rise from the dead,
and that repentance and forgiveness of sin
should be proclaimed in his name
to all nations,
beginning from Jerusalem.
You are witnesses of these things.
And behold,
I am sending the promise of my Father upon you,
but stay in the city
until you are clothed with power from on high.
And then he led them out as far as Bethany
and lifting up his hands,
he blessed them.
While he blessed them,
he parted from them
and was carried up into heaven.
And they worshipped him
and returned to Jerusalem with great joy
and were continually in the temple,
blessing God.
Let's pray together.
Lord, even as you helped the disciples so long ago,
we ask today that you would do for us.
Lord, that you would open up our minds
so that we would understand the scriptures.
And Lord, that as you open up our minds
to give us understanding,
Lord, you would strengthen our faith.
Lord, that you would fill our hearts with joy.
And Lord, that we would be moved
to worship and proclaim you
as we understand this passage this morning.
Holy Spirit, I pray for your help,
both for me as I speak
and for all as we listen to your word,
Lord, that you would help us this morning
to believe.
We pray this in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Well, this is the final resurrection appearance
of Jesus in the book of Luke.
And remember, if you aren't aware,
that Luke is actually the first half
of a two-book series.
The book of Acts was Luke's second volume
that continues the work of Christ
through the church,
the proclamation of his name
and the work that he does
in building his church.
But here we see Jesus
at this last section,
anchoring his followers
in a truth that cannot be denied
and launching his followers
into a mission
that will consume their lives.
So let's look at those two things
in order, a truth to be anchored
and then a mission to be launched into.
First, we're going to look at 24, 36 through 47,
a truth to be anchored in.
The truth is that Jesus really did rise from the dead.
And they become eyewitnesses of this
as they see him in his resurrection body.
Now, it's a fascinating story
because we've already seen Jesus appear to people.
He's appeared to Mary.
He's appeared to Clopas.
Peter went and saw the empty tomb.
There are a number of people
who have already have real evidence
of Jesus rising from the dead
and they have all gathered back together
and they're trading these accounts
and they're comparing them.
And it seemed, as we said in verse 34,
that they did believe it.
And yet, Jesus then shows up in their midst
and as is not unexpected
because no one had ever seen someone
be raised from the dead like this before.
They didn't believe it.
Jesus steps into the midst of them
and he knows their response
and so he says, peace be with you.
Don't be afraid.
And yet, they are afraid.
They think they've seen a ghost.
They think they've seen a spirit
because this was all that they could imagine.
If coming back from the dead meant anything,
it meant this,
that you would come back as some kind of spirit
and they were terrified.
And Jesus is so gracious and gentle with them.
Why are you so troubled?
Why do doubts rise in your heart?
Look at me.
See that it is really I.
Look at the way that he says this in verse 39.
See my hands and my feet,
that it is I myself.
He repeats that.
In Greek, it comes out so strongly.
It is really me.
I am the one that is standing before you.
This is not just a vision.
This is not a dream.
It is really me.
You can see.
And not only say you can see me,
but it says touch me.
And touch actually has the sense of being handled.
You can put your hands on me
and know that it is really me.
Because spirits you can't touch,
they don't have flesh and bone the way I do.
And then he said this,
and he showed them,
and he showed them especially,
his hands and his feet.
His hands and his feet with the marks of the crucifixion,
the marks of his death just three days ago,
just recently where he had gained these scars
that would be on his physical body forever,
remembering his death for them.
This is not just a vision of a spirit,
but this is Jesus,
the real one who hung on the cross,
risen again.
It's remarkable.
And they believe,
and yet there's this great phrase in verse 39, right?
And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling,
it's kind of like,
I remember when I was in college,
me and my brothers conspired
to travel back to visit my parents
for their 25th anniversary.
They didn't know that anyone was,
no,
one of my brothers had planned to go home
and celebrate with them,
and the rest of us were,
you know,
off living in other parts of the country.
And we managed to surprise them
so that we just drove into the driveway together
and opened the door,
and there we were.
And mom and dad said,
I can't believe you're here,
with joy and marveling.
And I think that's what the disciples are doing here.
Like,
I can't believe you're here.
It's joy,
it's wonder,
it's amazement,
it's still a little doubting.
Like,
is this really true?
Is this really happening?
So Jesus appears to them,
and he's so gracious.
He just casually says,
hey,
do you have any leftovers around?
Can I get something to eat?
And this is not a throwaway.
It's a weird detail,
isn't it?
But it's not a throwaway.
Jesus is intentionally saying,
you can see me,
you can touch me,
now watch.
Spirits don't eat food.
There's no body to put the food in.
It just doesn't happen.
And so he picks up a piece of bread,
and he eats it.
And in doing this,
he's establishing for his disciples,
not just Mary,
not just Clopas,
although how gracious it is
that God started with them,
but now even the twelve,
they are all eyewitnesses to
the living flesh and blood,
risen Jesus Christ.
And having done this then,
he goes on in the next couple of verses
to open their minds
so that they can not only see him,
but so they can understand
what it is
that he is doing.
So they can understand
what it means
for what they're seeing.
Having satisfied their eyes,
now he's going to
help their minds to understand.
And this is the fourth time
in chapter 24 of Luke
that Jesus says again
that the Christ must suffer and die
and then be raised again.
It's the fourth account
where this is the basic storyline
of the life of Jesus,
that he came to suffer and to die
and then to rise again.
And Jesus says,
this is what I've told you
all along.
This is what the Old Testament
is talking about
when he says in verse 44,
the law of Moses
and the prophets and the Psalms.
Those aren't particular books
of the Bible.
He's actually using that
as shorthand
for the whole Old Testament.
The law of Moses
would have been the Pentateuch.
The prophets included
not only the latter prophets,
which we think of like Isaiah
or Jeremiah
and the minor prophets,
but also the former prophets,
what we normally call
the historical books,
which are telling forth
about what's true
about what God did in the world
in establishing the kingdom
of Israel.
And then the Psalms
doesn't just mean
the book of Psalms,
but includes all the wisdom literature.
So Jesus is saying
the whole Old Testament
was talking about me.
Maybe he was thinking
about Leviticus 16
and the sacrifice of atonement
done in the temple.
Maybe he was thinking
about Psalm 22.
My God, my God,
why have you forsaken me?
The cry of hope
and dereliction
at the cross.
Maybe he was thinking
of Exodus 34, 6,
where Jesus reveals,
or when God reveals himself
to Moses,
says,
I am the Lord,
slow to anger
and abounding
and loving kindness
from generation to generation.
Maybe he was talking
about 2 Samuel 7,
where he tells David,
makes a covenant
with King David,
that there will be
a kingdom upon which
one of his descendants
will sit,
which will reign
forever and ever.
and maybe lots more
of the Old Testament.
One commentator says this.
He's talking about
the need for the payment
of sins,
including sacrificial victims,
the pervasive theme
of suffering in the Psalter,
the comprehensive testimony
of the Old Testament
to God's mercy,
love,
and forgiveness
of the penitent,
and the increasing specifications
of the Old Testament
covenants,
culminating in Jeremiah 31,
31 through 34,
and Ezekiel 36,
25 through 28.
Both of those last prophecies
talking about
a new covenant
that is to come
when God will come,
make a new covenant
with his people
where he will take the law
and he will write it
in their hearts,
and he will renew
their hearts of stone
and give them a heart of flesh
where the Holy Spirit
will come
and make them born again.
It says,
all of these things
are leading
and pointing to Jesus,
the first one
who was born again
as he was raised
from the dead.
Why is this so important
for Jesus to say this again?
He already did this
with Clopas and his friend
on the way to Emmaus.
He's already done this once.
Why is he doing it again?
Pastor Kent Hughes
former pastor of a church
in Wheaton, Illinois,
said this,
Jesus did not want them
to rest their belief
in his resurrection
on their personal experience alone.
He was not interested
in an elite group
with a special knowledge
or experience of Christ.
Resting their faith
on a miracle
was not sufficient.
He wanted them
to ground their experience
of his resurrection
on the massive testimony
of Scripture.
So their establishment
as eyewitnesses
isn't simply
that they were there
and they could see it,
but now he's opening
their minds
so that they can see
that this book
testifies about Jesus
from start to finish,
and that in that understanding
it is rich
and meaningful
and has cosmic power.
And with this power,
with this understanding,
then comes the call
of proclamation.
Do you see the three things
that Jesus said
in 46?
Thus it is written,
the Christ should suffer
and on the third day rise.
And then verse 47,
and then his message
should be proclaimed
to the ends of the earth.
You see,
because if Jesus
really did rise from the dead,
and if it really is true,
what the Bible says
about the significance
of that,
it changes everything.
This is my own experience.
Having grown up
knowing something
about Christianity,
Christianity,
but not really understanding
Christ and the gospel.
In high school,
I had friends
who believed in Christ,
and they shared with me
by their lives
and by their love
and by their words
more about who Jesus is
and what he did.
In the end,
someone gave me a copy
of Mere Christianity
by C.S. Lewis,
and as I read it,
my mind was opened,
and I became convinced
that Jesus really was
who he said he was
in the Bible.
And if Jesus really was that,
then it changed everything.
It called me to respond.
It called me
to have to make a decision.
Do I believe
and entrust myself
to this Savior
or not?
And if it's true,
then not only
do I have to respond,
but that it's a message
that must be proclaimed
to the ends of the earth.
And so,
we come to the second point.
Not only does Jesus
anchor his followers
in a truth
about his resurrection,
but having anchored him,
then he launches them out
into the world
to proclaim this good news,
to be on a mission
that they are launched into.
And this is a focal point.
You see this in verse 48
and following.
You are witnesses
of these things.
And he's not merely saying
you are passive recipients
of these things.
He's saying witnesses
who must now testify,
witnesses who now must stand
in the court of public opinion
and say,
this is what I have seen
and heard
and know is true.
He says to his disciples,
this is what I have called you to do.
And this is what he says
to his disciples even today.
This is what I have called you to do.
And look,
we need to recognize one thing.
We are not eyewitnesses
in the same way,
are we?
And yet,
Daryl Bach,
one of the commentators
on Luke,
says this,
we are witnesses,
however,
in a different sense
than these original disciples.
They testified
to what they saw,
whereas we bear witness
to their testimony
and to our experience
of the resurrected Jesus.
God's call wasn't simply
for the first group
of people in that room,
men and women,
who saw him
to tell the story
for one generation
and then for it to fade,
but that they would be a model
and that their eyewitness testimony
becomes the basis
upon which we have a testimony
and a witness
for us to share
throughout all generations.
This is what the passage
that Laura read earlier
from 1 John says,
what we have seen,
what we have heard,
what we have touched
with our hands.
This is what we proclaim
and pass along to you
so that you may have
the joy of knowing Christ.
Friends,
this is why this book
is so important
because we are not
without testimony.
We are not without evidence
that this is true.
The whole book of the Bible
and particularly
the New Testament
testifies to the reality
of this
and empowers us
to be witnesses
as well.
What are we empowered
to do as witnesses?
Well, there are a couple of things.
One, being witnesses
means we have something to say.
In verse 47,
it says,
what do we have to say?
We have to talk about repentance
and forgiveness
in the name of Jesus.
Repentance means
that there's a call
to respond
to the truth
of the resurrection.
Repentance is a response
of turning away
from other things,
turning away
from other ways
in which we might try
to become right with God
or to save ourselves
or to make us right
in the universe.
It is turning
from all of those
other things
and turning to Jesus
because he rose
from the dead.
Why?
Because he has achieved
forgiveness of sins
on our behalf.
If repentance
is the response
that we're calling people to,
forgiveness
is the offer
that we're giving to them.
Not because we can do it,
but because Jesus
has already done it.
You see,
the whole story
of the gospel
is that Jesus came
to bear the sin
of human beings,
of you and me,
as we reject
and deny God
on a regular basis
by our unbelief
by our willful independence,
by our self-salvation.
And Jesus came
to die on the cross
for those sins
so that we might not bear
the wrath of God
against those sins,
but rather
that we might receive
forgiveness
because the sins
have been paid for
by Jesus.
And so rather than them
being in our account,
the account has been cleared.
And we are now able
to come to God
in trusting faith.
This is what Jesus
has done for us.
And so repentance
is the call to respond.
Forgiveness is the offer
that's given out
in Jesus' name.
That is on the basis
of what Jesus has done
and who He is.
Jesus,
our substitute
and our Savior.
Jesus,
by His resurrection,
the one who has victory
over sin and death
and is declared
to be vindicated
as the Son of God.
A resurrected Christ
calls the world
to respond.
and in that response
results in a new
relationship with God.
Friends,
I don't know
if you've thought about this.
There are many today
in our world
who think
aren't all religions
the same?
They believe
in a higher power.
They try to make us
better people.
They're hoping,
you know,
ideally to improve
the world.
And sure,
some of those things
are similar
across the board.
But Christianity
is distinct
in this very thing.
It claims
that God
came to earth
and lived
and died
and rose again.
And if He did that,
that is the most
important thing
that we would ever know.
No other religion
teaches that.
This is the thing
that I had to wrestle
with
on my own journey
to faith
and this is what
we all have to wrestle
with
as the world,
as Christ
is proclaimed.
Friends,
I wonder
what do we preach?
And by that,
I don't mean
standing on a street corner
or sitting up here
in a pulpit.
But by our lives,
what do we say?
Jesus is a friend
is a friend
next to you.
Jesus is one
who comes
and helps us
in our troubles.
Jesus will heal
your diseases.
Jesus is going
to bring meaning
and purpose
and richness
to your life.
Friends,
I'll tell you what,
all those things
are true
and they're wonderful
truths about
who Jesus is.
but the core
of the gospel
is that Jesus
came to die
for sinners
like you and me.
And by rising
from the dead,
he achieved
a salvation
for us
whereby we may
have peace
with God,
forgiveness
of sin,
and eternal
life with us.
are we ashamed
to talk about that?
Are we embarrassed
to talk about
a resurrected Savior?
Are we convinced
in our own mind
that it really
did happen?
Can we explain
its significance?
Friends,
it's good for us
to know
and to grow
in our understanding
and our ability
to explain it
to others.
I want to point
you to a few
resources.
We're going to
put them up
on the stream
in the chat.
They'll also be
on our website.
One of the great
resources out there
is actually one
of our elders,
James Choi,
on his faculty page
in the School
of Management
at Yale.
James Choi,
you can look it up,
Google his name.
He has a great
thing called
Why I Am a Christian
and it is a page
worth looking at.
There are some
other resources
out there
that I think
are wonderful
resources for you
to become established
and convinced
about the resurrection
and understanding
of it.
William Lane Craig
wrote a book
called The Sun
Rises.
There's also
a great book
out there.
It's edited
by a guy named
David Baggett
but it's called
Did the Resurrection
Happen?
And it's a conversation
and actually
an ongoing conversation
between Gary Habermas
and Anthony Flew.
Anthony Flew
was an atheist
and Gary Habermas
was a Christian
and they debated
the evidence
for the resurrection
but this book
is 20 years later
talking about
the evolution
of their conversation
and involving
some other people
in the conversation
to talk about it.
It's a wonderful exchange.
And for those of you
who are scholars,
N.T. Wright,
the resurrection
and the Son of God
is an overwhelmingly
convincing narrative
testifying to the truth
of the resurrection
of Jesus Christ.
And if you're out there,
if you're in seminary
or if you're in divinity school
or if you're in
religious studies classes
and you're wrestling
with this
at a whole other level,
this is the book
for you to go to.
It's about 700 pages.
It's not easy.
I'm not going to lie.
But it's a wonderful resource
for you to be convinced,
for you to know
these things.
Friends,
these are ways
that you can be equipped
to be convinced of
and understand
why we believe
the resurrection.
but I'll tell you what,
you don't have to know
all those things
to be able to bear witness.
You don't have to be
a New Testament scholar.
You do need to know
His Word
to know how it is an account
of Jesus raised from the dead
and to be willing
to stand up and say,
this is what we know.
This is what we know.
And if this is true,
it changes everything.
So witnesses have something
to share,
don't they?
But they also have
a world to tell.
Jesus goes on
in verse 47
and He says,
repentance and forgiveness
of sin
should be proclaimed
in His name
to all nations
beginning
in Jerusalem.
And this is an amazing thing,
right?
Because Jerusalem
has been the terminal point
of Jesus' life
and ministry.
He ends up there
to accomplish
His work of salvation
by dying and rising
from the dead.
But now Jerusalem,
according to Jesus,
is the launching point.
It is the place
from where
this sound
is going to go out
to the ends
of the earth
to all people.
And of course,
this has always been
God's plan.
This was not a new thought
like,
hey,
we've got a great product.
Let's see how many people
we can sell it to.
This has always been
God's plan.
Going all the way back
to Genesis 12,
God comes to Abraham
and He says,
I am calling you
to trust in Me
and to follow Me
and I will make you
a father of great nations
and I will bless you
and I will make you
a blessing
to all peoples
of the earth.
in the very beginning
of God establishing
His redemptive work,
He said,
the goal of this
is that the whole world
would be blessed.
And we see it
throughout Scripture.
Isaiah 49,
verse 6 says,
it is too light a thing
that you should be
my servant
to raise up
the tribes of Jacob
to bring back
the preserved of Israel.
I will make you
a light to the nations
that my salvation
may reach
the ends
of the earth.
Or Psalm 22, 27,
all the ends
of the earth
shall remember
and turn to the Lord
and all the families
and the nations
of the nations
shall worship before you.
And friends,
this doesn't seem
new to us,
but in the first century
where Jesus,
as a Jew,
coming among Jews
primarily,
initially,
this was momentous.
Now Luke has given us
hints all the way along
where Roman centurions
and Syrophoenician women
and all sorts of people
are being brought in
from the outside.
But Jesus,
risen from the dead,
I have not come
just for the Jews,
but for the Greeks,
for the Ethiopians
and the Arabs
and the Persians
and all the peoples
around in their world.
and now we know
that he meant as well
the Laotians
and the French
and the Aleutians
and the Quechua
and the Russians
and the Maasai
and people from every continent,
from every people group,
from every tribe
and language and tongue.
And we know this
because in Revelation
there's a picture of God
gathering people
from every tribe
and tongue and nation
around the throne
worshiping Jesus.
Friends,
if you've ever wondered
whether Christianity
is an exclusive religion,
whether it is inaccessible,
whether it is only for
a certain group of people,
here we see so clearly
it is not.
God has opened wide
the doors of his banquet hall
to the world
and he has said
by the proclamation of Jesus
to the end of the world,
he is inviting everyone
to come in.
Come and take part
in his salvation banquet.
Turn from the fruitless meals
of your own life
and feast here in Jesus.
Believe in him.
He's not just
the savior of a tribe,
but he's the savior
of the whole world.
Friends,
we here at Trinity
have a great opportunity
because we live
in a wonderful city
that is a crossroads.
Did you know
that over 16% of people
who live in New Haven
were not born in America?
It's really interesting,
isn't it?
Yeah.
It's a high percentage,
far higher
than the national average.
Because we have universities
that are world-renowned,
because we are a sanctuary city
for refugees,
we have people
from all over the world
who are our neighbors
and our friends
and our co-workers.
What an opportunity
we have
to bear witness
to Jesus
to the ends of the earth
right here.
But I also want you
to know
that the elders
at Trinity
pray regularly
that we would not
merely be a place,
a church that witnesses here,
though we want
to do that well.
But we pray
that some of us
from our midst
would hear the call
to go to places
like Jonathan and Natalie,
go to places
where Christ is not known,
go to places
where people
have not heard
about a resurrected Savior,
that they would be willing
to spend their lives
doing this.
We pray that Trinity
would be a church
that launches people
into the world
ready to be witnesses
for them.
So what about you?
Are you ready
to be a witness?
Whether near or far,
are you ready
to stand
and tell the story
of Jesus
who came
and lived
and died
and rose again
for our salvation?
Feels pretty daunting,
I'll bet,
to many of you,
as it does to me
often.
The good news
is that Jesus
knows how hard it is.
And so at the very end
of this passage
we see two things
that give us great hope.
One,
in verse 49,
he gives us a promise
that we don't have
to do this alone.
Luke says it
very briefly.
He'll expand on this
in the book of Acts
hugely.
That he is going away
to the Father
so that the Father
can send the Holy Spirit
down on his disciples
to empower them
and fill them
with confidence
and joy
in the resurrected Christ
and to loosen
their tongues
to proclaim him.
And so he tells them,
go to Jerusalem
and wait
because this is
the next move.
I'm going to pour out
my Spirit
and I'm going to
empower you
for this mission
that I've called you to.
And then finally,
look at the way
that these disciples
end their days.
He led them out
as far as Bethany
and they lift him
and he blessed them
and he goes up
to heaven.
And again,
this is a very brief
account of what we see
more expanded
at the beginning
of the book of Acts
where Jesus bodily
raises up,
right,
so that he's
with the Father
sending the Spirit
with the promise
that he will come again.
And the effect of this
is that when he had
parted from them
and was carried up
to heaven,
what did they do?
They didn't say,
huh,
that was weird
and go home.
It's what I might have done.
Instead,
they go back
to Jerusalem
as he told them
and they worshipped
in the temple.
And remember,
the temple
was the very place
where four days ago
the leaders of the temple
had crucified Jesus
and they're going
right back
to that place
to worship God
with great joy
anticipating
God's helping power
coming upon them
so that they will
live out this calling.
if at the beginning
of this passage
they were still
where I am often,
I believe,
Lord,
help my unbelief.
At the end of this passage,
they are worshipping
courageously
in the face
of their enemies
with joy
because they have seen
and know
that Jesus
is risen from the dead.
May that be ours as well.
Let's pray.
Lord,
we thank you
for this passage.
We thank you
for
the way
that it comforts us,
the way
that it challenges us,
and the way
that it calls us.
Lord,
I pray for those
this morning
who may be
wrestling with
the truth
of the resurrection.
Lord,
will you
come alongside
of them
and equip them
and help them
to know
and to understand
this truth.
Lord,
I pray for all of us
that we would
be strengthened
in our faith,
filled with joy,
and that our tongues
would be loosened
to bear witness
that Christ is risen.
He is risen indeed.
Lord,
that we would do
this here
in New Haven
and in the New Haven
area
and to the ends
of the earth.
We pray this
in Jesus' name.
Amen.