Jesus Appears to the Disciples | Lk 24:36-53
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· 5 viewsSeries: The Gift of the Holy Spirit
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Introduction
Introduction
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So, if our Sermon Series is on the Book of Acts, why are we starting in Luke.
Acts is a shortened title. The Full name is “The Acts of the Apostles”.
Luke-Acts
The purpose of Luke-Acts is to give a factual, trustworthy account of the ministry of Jesus and the work of the early church, so that the reader can have confidence in all of it.
Luke is the account of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus
Acts is the account of the development of the Church after Jesus was raised again.
So, everything in acts flows from what happened in Luke.
So we are starting in Luke to remember the driving force behind everything.
The resurrection of Jesus.
Text
Text
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.
After His resurrection, Jesus appeared to some of His disciples on the road, but they did not recognize Him.
That’s something Jesus will do sometimes.
But when He appeared to them, He told them about the old testament scriptures and how they were all fulfilled in Him.
And as the apostles, the name for the 12 closest disciples of Jesus are gathered in the same room, they are discussing everything the mysterious man on the road said to them about Jesus.
And as they discuss if it really could have been Jesus, and what His words meant, Jesus Himself shows up among them
Why are they frightened?
Because they still don’t understand. They are hearing and seeing for themselves, but it’s all so much to process. Everything that is happening is so new, so profound, they are in a constant tailspin. What does it all mean? why is this happening? Is This really Jesus in front of us? Last time we saw him we all abandoned him at His arrest.
But in the midst of their fear, Jesus speaks to them gently and pronounces that peace they have in His presence.
And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 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.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.
they’ve heard from Mary that He was alive, but to actually see, it’s still intimidating and confusing.
Is He a ghost? a spirit? is he visiting from the dead?
No it’s the real Jesus in the flesh. Ghosts don’t have wounds. Spirits do not have bodies you can touch.
Still not convinced?
And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them.
Spirits don’t ask for fish and Ghosts do not eat.
There is a human person in front of them
His wounds match the wounds of Jesus.
He looks just like Jesus
He speaks just like Jesus
If it looks like a duck
If it quacks like a duck
If it eats fish like a duck
it’s a duck.
So, now that we’ve established who’s here and what’s going on, we can actually get into the important stuff:
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 for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
look how much Jesus says in just a few sentences. He shares truth that changed the world forever.
first, everything written about Him in the Old testament has been fulfilled. All the promises, the prophecies, the blessings. the story of Adam and eve, of noah, of moses, of Davis, of Elijah, they are all about Jesus
let’s take just one look at the Prophet Isaiah who wrote this hundreds of years before Jesus was born:
Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Second, Jesus then opens their minds to understand.
Is this some magical act? No.
Jesus is simply giving them the right angle to view the whole story of God.
I call it looking through The Lens of Christ. He’s the only way the bible makes sense. without Him, it’s just a bunch of stories. But when we understand that He’s the point of it all, evereything makes more sense.
bowtie diagram
the whole of scripture can even be summed up in this image, called the bowtie diagram.
The old Testament, all the stories, prophecies, promises, they all are about Jesus and are fulfilled in His birth life, death, and resurrection
And everything that happens after, like the book of acts, the mission work, the growth of the church, us here today, it all flows from and is made possible by the resurrection of Jesus.
And Jesus has helped them see the big picture, their minds are now open!
And the third part of this section, is that Jesus reveals the new reality of life with God.
The old Reality: “God loves you if you do enough good works”
The New Reality: “God has already loved you through the work of Jesus”
The way we get close to God is through the forgiveness of sins
Jesus won that forgiveness on the cross by taking our punishment
And we have free access to this forgiveness through repentance
Repentance:
Not only confessing your sin, but actively turning away from it and towards God.
It’s the opposite of Self-help. Repentance is the act of admitting you can’t do it.
It is a humble act. But it is honest.
And while we like to pretend that we can improve ourselves if we just read the right book or ate the right diet or had the right routines, or found the right pastor, we are lying to ourselves.
Only God can help us. And He has promised to. All we need to do is believe in Jesus and admit that we need Him.
But this new reality is not just for the apostles, but for the world! So it hasn’t just become good news, but also their sole purpose and mission in life. To tell everyone that we have life through the death of Jesus, and we are close to God through repentance and forgiveness.
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.”
A witness is not an observer.
The witness tells others what they’ve seen and heard.
But how will they do this?
there is persecution
there is poverty
they must leave their lives behind completely
What if they don’t have the strength or the right words?
The mission is not theirs, the power is not theirs. It’s all God working through them.
And 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 worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.
After His resurrection, and after appearing to the disciples a few times, Jesus went up into heaven. And we’ll actually cover all of that next week when we start the actual book of acts. But for now, all we need to know is that Jesus goes to rule from heaven, and the disciples have been given a job. And the book of acts is the story of how these ordinary men, empowered by the spirit of God, will proclaim the new reality of life in Jesus to the world.
Application
Application
Jesus is alive. Have you fully grasped the new resurrection reality?
Do you see everything through the lens of Jesus?
Not just the scriptures, but the events in your life? It’s not about you or me, it’s all about Jesus, and it’s all for Jesus.
The situations you find yourself in, the people you meet, the responsibilities you’ve been given
When you realize that it’s now all for Jesus, you finally live in the real world of the resurrection, and you’re never the same again.
And you become a living sacrifice to God’s name and mission.
After Jesus appeared to them, the apostles understood. They turned from fearful, ignorant, selfish disciples to bold witnesses who gave their lives for the gospel
They gave up their life to proclaim life in Jesus to everyone
They died as a consequence of proclaiming Jesus.
Today, you remember or realize, that this same calling is for all disciples of Jesus, including you.
So, with your minds open, with the new reality of the resurrection, and with the power of God’s Spirit, we too live our lives believing, repenting, being forgiven, and proclaiming Jesus.
And this is our word from God for today.
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Confession
Confession
