Jesus is resurrected

Introduction

Last week we looked to Christ’s return;

today, His resurrection;

and next week, Pastor Rick will take us to the cross in our quarterly topical series on salvation.

It may feel out of order, but it’s one picture, God’s redemption in Christ.

Luke 24 shows disciples who had all the pieces of the puzzle.

the prophets,

Jesus’ teaching and miracles,

the cross,

even an empty tomb,

yet no “box top.”

How could the Messiah suffer and still conquer?

Their expectations collided with Scripture,

so doubt and confusion followed because they couldn’t put the pieces together.

Jesus meets them and,

piece by piece,

fits it together from the Word until despair turns to joy and blindness to sight.

By the end of the chapter, they are worshiping God and going out as His witnesses.

That’s our aim this morning:

to see how the Word reveals the risen Christ and to be changed by Him.

Let’s ask the Spirit to do for us what He did for them, opening our eyes and hearts to the truth of the resurrection.

Pray(KEEP IT SHORT)

our road map today takes us from..

I. Lost in Doubt – Pieces Scattered

II. Led by Scripture – Picture Revealed

III. Launched as Witnesses – Puzzle Complete

So let us begin by looking at the Disciples, as well as the women’s confusion and doubt.

I. Lost in Doubt – Pieces Scattered

First, We can see from the end of chapter 23 that it was the women who went to the tomb to wrap his body and apply the spices that were commonly put on the dead in that time.

Why were they doing this?

Well, they clearly believed that he was still dead and his body would need this to be better preserved.

This makes sense right?

I mean, dead people stay dead.

That is our regular experience as humans that we come to expect is it not?

sure, they saw Jesus raise Lazarus and others from the dead, but how could He do this when He was dead Himself?

It is clear that they, as well as the disciples completely missed where Jesus told them that He would rise from the dead.

Luke 9:22 – “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” Luke 18:32–33 – “For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.”

These seem pretty clear to me, and they are not the only times He gave this teaching.

Even the Angel who appeared to the women at the tomb told them to remember of how Jesus told them He would rise.

But what is even more astonishing to me,

is that even though His own followers clearly didn’t understand these words of Jesus,

the Chief priests and Pharisees clearly did.

Let’s look at Matthews account of His Burial in chapter 27.

Matthew 27:62–64 ESV

62 The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 63 and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ 64 Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.”

Even though they clearly did not believe what Jesus said would come true,

they did at least know that Jesus taught it,

meaning that this was a well known prediction by Jesus.

My point being, if the Chief priests knew that Jesus claimed He would rise on the third day,

His closest followers,

the women and His disciples would had to have heard this claim from Him as well.

So do we see the Women and disciples running in faith to the grave on the third day to see it empty, in hopes to find their Risen Messiah?

No, we see the women going to the grave fully expecting to find Jesus dead so they may prepare His body with spices.

But lest we pick too much on the women, a quick look at the disciples shows that they were no better.

Luke shows us their reaction in verse 11 when the women ran to them to share what the angels told them

Luke 24:11 ESV

11 but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.

Let’s just pause for a second and think about that…

These disciples had trusted Jesus with their lives,

Had listened to Jesus tell them multiple times that He would rise,

but when the report came that He had done just that,

and on the day He said He would do it,

they considered it nonsense.

I mean… That’s pretty bad guys.

It shows that Their unbelief was not because of lack of information,

they had all the information available to make the right conclusion.

But their unbelief was because of a their eyes simply not seeing the truth.

Let’s look at the verses shortly after what we read earlier when Jesus told the disciples that He would rise.

Luke 9:45 – “But they did not understand this saying, and it was concealed from them, so that they might not perceive it. And they were afraid to ask him about this saying.” Luke 18:34 – “But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said.”

Jesus would later in verse 25 call them…

“slow of heart to believe”.

In other words, their blindness was the fruit of a deeper hardness.

Their hearts resisted the truth,

and that slowness to believe only deepened their blindness.”

We see this happening even after the Resurrection.

Two of the Disciples were walking on the road to Emmaus,

and Jesus appears to them,

but we see a fascinating truth in verse 16.

Luke 24:16 ESV

16.…their eyes were kept from recognizing him.

We see the extent of this blindness as Jesus is talking to them and in speaking to Jesus about the recent events taking place in Jerusalem, said in verse 21…

Luke 24:21 (ESV) 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel….

Did you catch that? They spoke in the Past tense.

It begins to be clear that their hope had died on the cross.

Their incomplete concept of who the Messiah would be had them blinded in confusion.

How could the Messiah who was supposed to defeat their enemies and usher in His kingdom on earth be killed by their enemies???

A murdered Messiah must have seemed like a contradiction in terms.

And because of this lack of understanding, Their faith was shattered and broken when He died.

So much so that even hearing He was risen didn’t open their eyes,

nor did seeing Jesus face to face.

Can you begin to see the extent of their spiritual blindness?

And I want you to know Hutong that when we today go into our view of Christianity with a wrong or incomplete idea of who Jesus is, we too are going to be blind to the truth in the real power of the resurection.

if you see Jesus as JUST a prophet or good teacher, then you are likely going to deny the resurection because there is no power in a good teacher rising.

if you see Jesus as a revolutionary figure to bring forth your brand of governance on earth, then you are going to be blinded to the power of the resurection to bring forth eternal life and not just earthly rule.

if you see Jesus as one to affirm your every desire and lifestyle and not the perfect, Holy, righteous, Son of God, you are going to be Blind to the entire purpose of the death and Resurection being to deliver us from these sins, not celebrate in them.

but let’s continue to see how blind us as humans can truly be to the truth in front of us

The story continues as they later go and meet the others,

and while they are speaking,

verse 36 tells us that Jesus Himself stood among them.

Their reaction is yet again, shocking.

They have heard Jesus say He would rise from the dead.

They have heard the testimony of the women,

They have heard the testimony of Peter,

They have heard the testimony of the two,

and yet they still so blinded to the simple reality of Christ’s resurrection that verse 37 tells us they thought He was a ghost!

Instead of concluding that Jesus had truly risen as He said He would,

They believed He was a ghost!!!!

Do you see the extent of their spiritual blindness here? And these were those closest to Jesus, and yet they were utterly blind to who Jesus was.

This is the picture Luke is painting for us.

the pieces of the puzzle are everywhere ,

Pick up puzzle pieces

the empty tomb,

the angelic witness,

the women’s testimony,

the words of Jesus,

His very presence among them,

but the disciples cannot put it together.

Their grief,

their expectations,

their fear,

their unbelief

and their spiritual blindness

scattered all the pieces to a point that they were blinded and could not see the big picture.

But you know, as I examined this passage this week, and reflected on both my life as well as the lives of those who have shared with me their struggles, the disciples doubts began to make sense.

How often have we seen those who have the truth of salvation,

who have everything they need to accept Christ,

Have had His goodness shown to them time and time again and yet they continue to not believe?

I have wept over these situations on multiple occasions.

This clearly speaks to the lost, and their need of having their spiritual eyes open to the truth of Christ.

But if we are honest, even Christians can often struggle with seeing the complete picture God has given us in Scripture, even though we hold the puzzle pieces…

of scripture,

nature,

and His visible work in our lives.

That leads us to an important question.

What do we do when we see our selves doubting God’s promises,

living in anxiety,

or simply lost in understanding the Will and plans of God?

What do we do when the pieces simply don’t make sense to us,

or for someone else you are close to?

That’s when we must pray the prayer of the desperate father in Mark 9:

“Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.”

We pray this because we recognize that we can not see what is hidden on our own power.

We pray this because we recognize that ultimately, only God can open blind eyes.

I mean, Let’s be real with ourselves here.

If those who physically walked with God for years could be this blind,

what hope do we have today?

Well, we have the Same Hope the disciples had, and God has promised this Hope freely to us.

And that’s exactly what we are seeing here in Luke 24.

Jesus doesn’t leave His followers in confusion,

and He will not leave us there either.

He Instead,

takes them to the very place where true faith must be rooted,

not in sight,

not in feelings,

but in the unshakable Word of God.

This leads us to our second point…

II. Led by The Spirit – Picture Revealed

When we cannot see clearly, the Spirit of God steps in to open our eyes.

But notice, when Jesus rebukes the two disciples on the road,

He doesn’t say,

“You were blind, so you couldn’t help it.”

He says,

“O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken”

Their unbelief was inexcusable because the truth was right in front of them.

Their slowness of heart was the soil in which their blindness grew.

Only the Spirit could break through that hardness and bring clarity.

What we see here, and throughout scripture is that one of the primary ways the Spirit opens our eyes to the truth is through the already spoken words of God.

Notice first how the angels speak to the women at the tomb.

They don’t give them a brand-new revelation.

Instead, they remind them in verse 6 of what Jesus had already said:

“Remember how He told you…”

This was the angles speaking here, but it is also how the Spirits work in our lives as well.

He brings God’s Word to mind and gives it life in our hearts.

The pieces are already on the table, but now God slowly begins to arrange them into a picture we can see and understand.

it is also what we see Jesus doing as He walks with the two on the road to Emmaus.

He doesn’t perform a miracle or show them the scars in His hands just yet.

Jesus simply opens the Scriptures in verse 26 and shows them that the prophets have taught all along that this would take place.

This was showing them,

and us today,

that this was always God’s plan.

The prophets had spoken of it.

The psalms had sung of it.

The Law had foreshadowed it.

But the disciples had never been able to put the pieces together.

Only the Spirit could take those scattered prophecies and reveal how they all pointed to Jesus.

This is so important for us to see.

Our faith is not built on visions

or emotions

or even experiences.

Those things can fade,

and our hearts can deceive us.

Therefore, Our faith must be grounded in the unshakable Word of God,

revealed and made clear by the Spirit.

Because simple head knowledge is not enough.

You and I can know the Bible from cover to cover and still miss Christ if the Spirit does not open our eyes.

We will see this in a few weeks in the life of the Apostle Paul as we study Acts together.

when our eyes are opened, suddenly everything changes.

Suddenly the cross is not a defeat but a victory.

The resurrection is not a rumor but the very power of God.

And the scattered pieces of life begin to take shape in the picture of God’s redeeming plan.

Jesus confirms this again when He later appears to the larger group of disciples.

He points them back to the Scriptures, saying in verse 44…

“Everything written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled”.

Luke continues in the next verse,

“He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures” .

For us today, this is the word of the Holy Spirit.

He takes the Word and presses it into our hearts so that we not only hear it but truly see Christ through it all.

So Does it now make sense why we always pray before we open the Bible?

Why we ask God to open our eyes each Sunday when we gather?

Or each Tuesday when we meet to study His Word?

Because without Him, the pieces will never make sense.

But with Him, the picture of Christ shines clear.

But what then?

What are we to do when the Spirit makes clear the words of God to us?

What should our response be?

Well, it should be the same response the Disciples had.

III. Launched as Witnesses – Puzzle Complete

And what a response it was! Once the Spirit opened their eyes, the disciples could no longer remain the same.

The confusion and despair that defined them for most of this chapter gave way to

clarity,

joy,

worship,

and mission.

Luke shows us that when the pieces of the puzzle finally came together,

it launched His followers out into the world as witnesses of the truth of the resurection.

A. The Witness of the Women

The first witnesses were the women who went to the tomb.

They went expecting death but returned proclaiming life.

At first, their testimony was dismissed as idle tales,

but God chose them as the first heralds of the risen Lord.

B. The Witness of the Two

Next, the two disciples on the road to Emmaus.

Their eyes were opened in the breaking of bread,

and their immediate response was to return to Jerusalem,

even at night,

Which was dangerous in the ancient world,

But they wanted to tell the others of the resurrection of Christ!

Do you have that desire Hutong?

I hope so because a True recognition of Jesus cannot be kept to ourselves.

C. The Witness of the Apostles

Finally, we see response of the larger group of disciples.

Jesus opened their minds to understand the Scriptures and commissioned them in verse 48 where he said…

“You are witnesses of these things.”

They were not just believers,

they were to be declarers!

Their witness was grounded in Scripture,

confirmed by experience,

and empowered by the Spirit.

And from this small group in Jerusalem,

the message of repentance and forgiveness in Christ spread to the ends of the earth.

We today as Believers from countries around the world meeting together in China can thank the bold preaching of the resurrection of these early witnesses of the event.

Because without them, the faith would never have reached us today.

And they paid the ultimate price for being witnesses of the resurrection.

Although not in scripture, Church History and tradition records how the disciples died.

Beheadings, stabbed by a sword,

Stabbed by a spear

Killed with an ax,

Crucified upside down

Boiled alive in oil,

All for joyfully teaching what they knew to be true because they were witnesses to it

But it was not just the testimonies of the women,

of the disciples,

and other eye witnesses of the resurrection that spread the gospel across the globe was it?

It has continued to spread,

and continues to spread today, because faithful people who’s eyes have been opened to the truth of the resurrection continue to go and proclaim this truth to a lost and dying world.

This leads us to our last subpoint,

D. The Witness of Hutong

Matthew’s Gospel account ends a bit differently than Luke’s.

He gives a great commission, or task to the disciples, and by extension, to us today.

I would like to end by quickly looking at this great commission, and asking what this means for us today at Hutong Church.

Matthew 28:18–20 ESV

18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

So what does this look like for us today at Hutong Church?

It begins here, with gathering on Saturdays to hear God’s Word and worship Him together.

But it cannot stop here.

This is why we emphasize small groups.

We want everyone being discipled and/or discipling.

Conversion is just the start;

From there

we grow together in sanctification and that includes passing the truth on to others.

Small groups are our best training ground for disciple-makers.

As we’re discipled,

groups multiply and new teachers emerge.

So let me ask you: Are you being discipled?

Do you have someone pouring into you,

teaching you,

walking with you beyond Saturday mornings?

If not, come to small group.

Reach out to Rick and I.

Let us help you take that step.

The next important question is are you making disciples?

If you’re not ready yet,

If you still need to grow more first,

that’s okay,

small group is where you’ll be trained.

But if you are ready,

then be intentional.

Who in your life can you walk with,

teach,

and encourage in the faith?

That may mean meeting with a couple people periodically,

or it may mean helping lead a small group.

again, Rick and I can be helping with this.

Come talk with us.

Because This the proper response to the resurection. This is the natural outcome of our eyes being opened to the redeeming power of Christ’s death and resurrection.

This is how the gospel continues to spread in Beijing and beyond.

through people whose eyes have been opened to the risen Christ,

who gather in worship,

grow in truth,

and go out as witnesses.

That is the witness of Hutong Church.

That is why we as a Church exist.

To boldly proclaim the risen Christ and grow closer and closer to Him in sanctification, through discipleship, for the Glory of God.

So let us go together as a Church and pray that we will be a Church who not only have our eyes open to the truth, but feet running to tell others about it.

I encourage you to use these points to guide in your prayer:

Pray for Salvation for those who have not accepted Christ.

Rejoice in our salvation.

Worship God for defeating death and rising from the grave.

Pray for how to be a disciple/disciple maker.

Pray that Hutong will be a Church that produces disciples who produce disciples.