The Eleven
Notes
Transcript
We started a new series a few weeks ago where we are looking at the encounters of Jesus he had after the resurrection and before the ascension. The first two are some highly preached encounters. The first was Jesus meeting with Mary at the Garden Tomb the morning of his resurrection. In this encounter we saw Jesus offering us hope in the middle of our pain and grief but talked about the only way we can hear his direction and voice is when we have a personal relationship with him. Last week, we looked as Cleopas and his companion were travelling to Emmaus and met Jesus along the road. The great thing in this encounter is we see how important it is for us to be a part of a community. A place where we can come together with Jesus as our center and build true lasting community. These are the places where our eyes are opened and we can build true revelations. We explained how important it is for us to start our days in the scripture so we can understand where Jesus is calling us to go and we won’t miss it because we have preconceived ideas of the way he is working in our lives.
This morning I want to just read the entirety of the scripture to you first, and then we will break it down. Luke 24:33-49
33 And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together,
34 saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!”
35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.
36 As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!”
37 But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit.
38 And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?
39 See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”
40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.
41 And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?”
42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish,
43 and he took it and ate before them.
44 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.”
45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,
46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead,
47 and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
48 You are witnesses of these things.
49 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.”
Todays encounter comes on the heels of last weeks encounter. As Cleopas and his companion have returned to Jerusalem to tell the twelve of what they had seen, Jesus shows up right in the middle of their meeting.
33 And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together,
34 saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!”
So, Cleopas and his companion have this encounter with Jesus, and they decide they have to run back to the disciples and tell them what has happened, and as they get in the room, the eleven are already talking, they are already saying the Lord has risen, and he has appeared to Simon!
We talked briefly last week about how there were some of these encounters we don’t know much about, we mentioned Jesus encounter with James and not knowing much about what happened, and here we see another encounter we don’t know much about. For some reason, Peter has given them no information about what he and Jesus talked about, he just came back and told all the people he was with he had seen the Lord. Something happened and Jesus was okay with Peter keeping it to himself, for all we know he may have asked him to keep the details to himself, because we never really learn anything about what happened between Jesus and Peter in this first meeting.
I want to stop here and just tell you this is an amazing proof on the accuracy of scripture and let me tell you why I think that is. There are so many people when they look to scripture they talk about how it cannot be proven, all of these things were written too far after the death of Jesus, it was all made up even. And let me tell you, if this was a made up story, this would have been the most ridiculously dumb way to make up a story you could have possibly imagined for their time period. First, the initial story of Jesus meeting and talking with some people is Jesus with the women outside the tomb, and chances are those people who came back and told the eleven what they had seen would have of course been Mary Magdalene, and some scholars say there is a good chance even the mothers of some of the other apostles would have been with her to prepare the body. But in the ancient world you would have never made up a story about women sharing this truth if it was fake. Women were thought of so poorly in that society they couldn’t have been an accurate witness, you know who you would have made the story up about and told all the details through? A guy like Peter, you know one of the leaders in the church in Jerusalem. That would have made a lot more sense, but here, we get no details of that meeting. I think that just points to the fact this story was not made up, these are accurate eyewitness accounts.
So, the eleven are talking about this encounter, Peter had with Jesus, they are pretty stoked about what they have seen, and it says Cleopas and his companion.
35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.
And we should see what is happening here, most of these people in this room have found themselves grieving much like Cleopas on the road to Emmaus. They probably had been sharing stories, or perhaps planning their escape from Jerusalem, and some of them have had this encounter with Jesus in the middle of their despair. And in that hope they have returned to the community they once knew and they are sharing together what they have seen the stories. They still don’t have it all figured out, but the thing that once united them, namely ministry with Jesus, is what has brought them back to this place.
I bet some of you have relationships like that, where you can walk away from them for years and come back and you are united around something in the past that brought you together. Kids sports, a church somewhere… something… story about Hubb since kindergarten.
I want you to understand while they have a new found sense of hope, they still don’t have this whole thing figured out. Which should sound a lot like us when Jesus steps up, we should have hope even when don’t have it all figured out, and look what happens next.
36 As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!”
37 But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit.
One of the critiques of the early church is they were just a bunch of people who would believe things easily. People say oh those people were uneducated and couldn’t really think for themselves, so they were easily swayed into believing everyone else’s fantasy or hallucination about seeing Jesus, not that I have ever heard of 11 people hallucinating over the same thing at the same time. But look, these guys weren’t easily swayed, they see Jesus standing in front of them, and instead of believing the truth right in front of them, they go to something so much easier - its a spirit.
They understood that the same way then as we do today, a spirit is without body or force, its just this force moving around. Jesus will show us this is what they believe about spirits by his response.
38 And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?
Lets just stop here, and I think there are so many times Jesus says the same thing to us when we are going through things in our lives. Why do you doubt? Why are you troubled? Can’t you see me? Why aren’t you looking at me right now? Know that I am here with you in the middle of all of this. But he continues
39 See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”
40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.
We need to know in the ancient world spirits were believed to not have hands and feet. I am not sure why but thats what they believed, so this is why Jesus is saying all of this, he wants them to know he can’t possibly be a spirt because he has hands and feet. So Jesus is confronting their doubt head on.
And this is what Jesus does in our life and what true faith should do, it confronts doubt head on with truth. And Jesus continues to confront their doubt head on.
41 And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?”
42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish,
43 and he took it and ate before them.
Verse 41 is almost a little bit confusing, it says they still disbelieved for joy and marveling and this is almost like they felt it was too good to be true so, they still couldn’t believe. Some of you have had those moments in your life were something really good happens and you think, pinch me, this must be a dream there is no way this can be real. That is kind of how I felt when Jennifer wanted to keep going on dates with me after the first one, because she was way out of my league, and I had many coworkers who would continuously let me know this. And it was almost impossible to believe because the truth was so good.
You know why Jesus asked for something to eat? Because Spirits don’t eat. They have no need to eat, because they have no body to use the food for. So Jesus is just giving them more direct statements about who he is, he is making it crystal clear he is there in physical form. He wants there to be no doubt.
Look at what Jesus does next
44 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.”
45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,
Its is interesting to see what is happening here. Much like last week when Cleopas was on the road and was being opened to the scripture from the beginning about Jesus, here we see Jesus opening their minds to the scripture. I just want you to understand how amazing all of this is, that Jesus is showing them all the truth of scripture and how in their moment of weakness and need he is pointing them back to the answer they truly need.
Jesus is illuminating here the importance of scripture, because as we see all scripture points to Jesus; all of it - it is all about Him. I want you to understand something, I always tell people they should read the entirety of scripture from beginning to end. It is all important and God breathed for his people. Normally I will tell new people who are struggling through the Old Testament is okay to go and read the New Testament first and see a picture of Jesus in whom our faith is built, but unlike Andy Stanley, it is impossible to unhitch yourself from the Old Testament. Everything we read about in the Old Testament is a picture of or pointing to the Christ, Jesus, to come. From Genesis and the creation story being in OUR image. To Moses and David pointing to Jesus, it is all over the Biblical Narrative, it all points to Jesus, all of scripture is about Him.
And Jesus needs them to know this, because it changes everything. It is foundational to everything that happens after. He understands in this moment everything they are about to do, and the places he is about to send them is foundational on them understanding that all of scripture is pointing to him. He goes on.
46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead,
47 and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
And this last part of this is the hardest for us. People today will tell you they can’t believe in something they can’t see or prove with their own hands. They kind of have what will be this Thomas moment, but the truth is we have no trouble believing in things we cannot see. We believe in things of History we cannot see, some believe in this theory of evolution they cannot see. No, when people tell you they cannot believe because they cannot see when it comes to Jesus what I Think is really happening is they can understand, but by believing it changes everything. If I say I believe in this moment, that this man Jesus lived and died and came and did all these things and was risen from the dead, then I have to live the life he wants me to live. And people just don’t want to do that. ITs too contrary to the life they want to live.
48 You are witnesses of these things.
49 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 he tells them, they are witnesses of these things. You and I, through testimony are witnesses to the things of Jesus. To be a witness means you have to tell about it. It doesn’t mean you just saw and understood what happened, those are spectators. We are witnesses we are called to share what we know and what he has done in our lives, it is time for us to start doing that.
Some may think, but wait, he told them to wait until they are clothed with power from on high, I have to wait for that, No, what Jesus was talking about is the thing we are leading into, Pentecost Sunday when the Holy Spirit came upon them. We as followers of Jesus already have the power of the Holy Spirit, it has already come it is time for us to be witnesses to the power of Jesus in this world.
