Resurrection of Jesus Christ: The Proof, Jesus Appears to His Disciples

Easter 2019  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  12:14
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Happy EASTER! It is a glorious day! Jesus Christ rose from the dead so that we can be free from our sin and the wages of that sin. We are FREE!!!
Wait, how do we know for sure?!?!?! How many of you have ever asked that very question? How do we know for sure? It is the question many people ask when they hear the story of the resurrection for the very first time. It is easy to see how folks would question someone being raised from the dead. It’s hard to fathom…however, and here is the part we need to really grasp…there were many instances where Jesus appeared to his disciples after the empty tomb was discovered very early that first Easter morning. Now, don’t get me wrong, people will still argue that these could just be stories that people made up. But I would counter, have you ever seen a million dollars in one place? No, hmm, neither have I but that does not mean that it could not exist…ok enough of the simple explanations, let’s delve into this story one more time to see if there is a nugget of wisdom for us today...

The Facts as We Have Them...

Jesus was crucified on Friday. He was buried in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb before sundown on that same day. But, three days later, on the first day of the week, that is, on Sunday, at dawn, several women went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared in order to anoint the body of Jesus. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus (Luke 24:1-3). Two angels told the perplexed women, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen” (Luke 24:5-6).
That was our first experience of the Risen Christ and so that is the first evidence that Luke provides for the resurrection of Jesus. The second evidence was the angelic announcement (24:6) to those same women when the angels asked them why they were looking for the living among the dead. The third piece of evidence Luke provides is Jesus’ appearance to two disciples on the road to Emmaus (24:13-35). And the final piece of evidence was Jesus’ appearance to his disciples in Jerusalem (24:36-49). This is the story we have to explore this morning…so let’s take a look at what happens...

The Story...

We know that the disciples are gathered somewhere in Jerusalem, presumably in the upper room where they celebrated the Passover meal together on Thursday. They have closed and locked the doors. They are in hiding…they are afraid. They have heard what the women reported about the empty tomb. They know what Jesus preached and taught them about what would happen after his death. Yet, they still had doubts and concerns about what would happen. They have even heard Peter’s report about the empty tomb.
What we are not told is whether or not any of them ever leave the room to go see the empty tomb for themselves. Now, I don’t know about you, but if someone were to come to me and tell me that the tomb in which someone I loved was lain was suddenly empty, I would want to go see for myself. Not that this is an extremely important fact, but it is something to consider. Luke tells us that these 10 men have gathered together and are talking about the reports they have heard and all of a sudden the one they are talking about appears without them noticing and says, “Peace be with you”. I can see anything but Peace in that moment…but here’s the thing, now they have no choice but to believe that what the women told them was the truth. They have no choice but to believe what Peter told them. And they have no choice but to believe what the disciples who were traveling along the road to Emmaus told them…they had no choice. They had no choice but to believe what they had been told, they were seeing it firsthand. We do not have the benefit of being able to witness this firsthand but we do have some reassurances that Jesus came to them...

The Reassurances of Jesus...

The thing we need to really note about the disciples from that day is their response to what people were telling them (all of their responses are much like the ones we have when we are presented with the resurrection the first time we hear about it). It took multiple appearances and reports from multiple others for them to really believe…and they got to personally witness Christ. We can also easily understand the shock of the disciples at seeing Jesus standing before them. As some theologians have noted, the disciples do not expect Jesus to be raised nor do they expect him to keep appearing. As with most people, they have to be persuaded. The disciples are as skeptical as the rest of humanity. They need proof and that is what the physical appearance of Christ gives them. The are in shock and Jesus tells them certain things in order for them to understand what he is there for. He tells them...
Luke 24:39 NIV
Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”
They thought he was a ghost. So he asks them for something to eat because logically, a ghost cannot eat, right? So there is another reassurance from Christ. He is really there. He is real and he has risen, physically, not just spiritually, from the dead. He sits and eats with them.
Then he does something that only Jesus has been able to do to this point...
Luke 24:45 NIV
Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.
Jesus reiterates what he taught them, stuff that only he and they would know. He reminds them of the teachings of the OT which he preached for the time they were together. He did and said things that only they would recognize as their teacher. He gave them physical proof.

What about us?

So what about us? Where does this all leave us? Well, the definition of faith is believing in that which you cannot see…it is hard to believe in something that none of personally witnessed, unless someone is secretly over 2,000 years old, we could not have been there. I cannot tell you how to see this for yourself, all I can tell you is that you have been given the evidence in multiple accounts of stories told by multiple sources and for the most part they are nearly identical. Yes, there are some slight differences in their telling, but like you and me, we would tell the story differently even if we saw the exact same event. In today’s world, it is hard for us to go about telling others how to see the resurrection but we have to try. We have to try to get these stories in our hearts and live them out in our lives as if our lives depended upon it because in all actuality our lives really do depend upon the stories. Jesus gives us everything we need…the stories, the teachings from scripture because the miracle of resurrection just is not enough to convince most people, and he taught us throughout his ministry how he must suffer and die.
As we go out from these four walls this morning, we need to make sure that our hearts are in the right frame of presence and that we have taken Jesus to heart because we can be transformed just as those disciples were all those years ago...

Prayer

Let us pray…Jesus, we want nothing more in this world than to have the courage and strength to shout from the mountains that you have Risen and are alive to this day, for that is what this day is all about. When we struggle with this Lord, help us to feel your strength and love. Guide us to the next person who needs to know that your love knows no bounds and grant us wisdom to share all that we have learned so that we can gather your people together. Amen.
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