Announcements

SPRC will meet after worship this morning.

Finance Team meeting has been cancelled for today.

Pleasant Grove Church Council will meet next Sunday at 7:00 PM.

Opening Prayer

O God, who chased the gloom of the disciples with the gospel of Easter and drowned their desert of despair in a sea of grace, surprise us this day. Take from us the presumption that leans on our strength instead of yours, that mistakes our wisdom for yours, and equates our will with yours. Assure us once again that our Lord's promise to be with us always still holds good. And be present with us now, as in the days of Jesus, to make us whole and to make us holy.

Opening Hymn

“Great Is Thy Faithfulness” #140

Morning Prayer

Lord of Dawn and Darkness, how grateful we are for your loving mercies. You saw our fear and doubt, our suspicion, our mistrust, and you banished them from our lives, replacing them with hope, peace, love, and joy. You called us to be your witnesses, to all the world, unafraid of what others might think or say about us. We have been invited out of our darkened hideaways, into the light of your world as emissaries of hope and justice, peace and compassion. Be with us, as we participate in ministries of healing and hope through this church, in our community, region, nation, and world. Give us courage and strength to be your disciples in all the circumstances of our lives; for we ask this in Jesus’ Name. AMEN.

Hymn of Praise

“Precious Lord, Take My Hand” #474

Scripture Reading

Luke 24:36–48 ESV

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.

The Truth of the Resurrection

Introduction

1. Jesus’ resurrection was a bodily resurrection. (vs. 36-43)

Luke 24:36–43 ESV

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.

1 Corinthians 15:12–14 ESV

12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.

When Jesus arrives among the disciples, there is fear that overwhelms them. After the events of earlier that morning when the women and Peter saw the empty tomb and the disciples along the road to Emmaus met the risen Jesus along the way, we can expect there to be great confusion about what has happened. So when Jesus shows up among them, their first thought is that that they are seeing a ghost or perhaps they are just imagining things.

However, Luke is very clear in this passage that the disciples are not witnessing a ghost but the very same Jesus who was crucified. Second century bishop, Ignatius, phrased this passage, “I am not a bodiless ghost.” This has been a question for Christians from the very beginning. Paul addresses some of those questions in 1 Corinthians 15:35, “But some will ask, ‘how are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?’”

For Christians, the resurrection of Jesus is central to our understanding of the faith. Jesus is not a ghost or a vision. The same Jesus was that killed on a cross is the same Jesus that rose from the dead and is standing in front of the disciples. Why is believing and understanding the bodily resurrection of Jesus so crucial? Paul tells us that if we do not believe that our faith is futile and we are dead in our sin. The gospel message is predicated on Jesus’ death and resurrection.

1 Corinthians 15:3–5 ESV

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

The connection between Jesus being crucified and raised is the heart of our discipleship. The suffering of Jesus has meaning for us in our suffering. However, our suffering is provided with purpose in the resurrection. Discipleship means that we must take up our cross and die with him. In dying to sin, we are raised to life through our faith in him. Suffering in this life does not last. Physical ailments do not last. All that happens in this life is only temporary. However, the suffering that we experience in this life has purpose and meaning as we are identified with Christ in his suffering. That suffering always leads to resurrection.

Now, if we just believed in a spiritual resurrection or that the disciples were suffering from some kind of disillusionment, what purpose does our suffering? If there is no resurrection, where is our hope? As Paul says, if our hope is only in this life and there is no resurrection, we are most to be pitied. The bodily resurrection of Jesus points to the kind of restoration God is pointing our world toward. It means that the world we see before us now with all of the pain and suffering that is experienced is going to be transformed and renewed. The resurrection of Jesus points to a future of redemption and renewal that is only possible in God. As Paul says in Colossians, the resurrection of Jesus is the first fruits of what is to come.

All that is laid out for us in Revelation 22 with the new heaven and the new earth where death will be no more and all tears will be dried is given to us in a glimpse with Jesus’ resurrection. The disciples are witnesses to this promises even when there is amazement and disbelief on some level. God’s plan of redemption and restoration is the hope for us all.

2. Jesus’ resurrection was a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. (vs. 44-46)

Luke 24:44–46 ESV

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,

Psalm 16:9–10 ESV

9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. 10 For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption.

Hosea 6:2 ESV

2 After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.

The plan of God was laid out before us through the prophecy of the Old Testament. God’s word gives us a consistent path of God’s revelation from Genesis to Revelation. Even all the way back in Genesis 3:15 we are told that Christ would come to crush the head of Satan. The consistency of scripture is what Jesus is pointing toward when he begins to lay out how his death and resurrection have been prophesied. Jesus’ use of scripture in this way proves its authority and truth. It is a reminder that all scripture is “God-breathed,” coming straight from the mouth of God.

Jesus’ use of scripture helps us to see that all that happened to Jesus in his crucifixion and his resurrection was part of God’s plan that was decreed from the beginning of time to redeem and reconcile humanity. That is why when we see memes on Facebook or Twitter that reduce the death of Jesus to him being oppressed by the state and religious authorities it is completely unbiblical and makes it sound as if God did not already know exactly how all of this would play out by his own sovereignty. This is not the case. God’s plan of salvation was already in place even before the creation of the world. God knew that humanity would fall away because of free will. Because of humanity’s sinfulness, God already knew exactly how he would bring sinful humanity back to himself. So to deny that the cross and the evil hearts that brought it on were completely unknown to God is a denial of God’s very nature.

The only way to properly interpret scripture is through the light of Christ. The passages that Jesus quoted to them were ones that they would have been familiar with. However, they did not understand them in light of the Messiah. Proper interpretation and application can only be applied through knowledge of Christ. That is why there are those who can read the Bible as if it were just another book. The Bible is no different than Shakespeare or C.S. Lewis. Certainly, scripture has the power to transform as it did St. Augustine as he was reading Paul when he was converted. But even those Jewish leaders who were very knowledgeable of scripture in Jesus’ time missed what was said of his coming, death, and resurrection. Jesus opened their minds in the power of the Spirit so that the disciples might rightly discern what scripture says. Jesus taught them precisely what they were to know about the scriptures that were fulfilled in him. They in turned passed this same teaching on to us through the New Testament that we might rightly discern what scripture says.

This reminds us that we can read scripture all day long but if we are not interpreting it rightly, we miss the point of scripture. It is interpreted rightly based on 2,000 years of Christian history and interpretation by people who are much smarter than any of us. Thinking that somehow, we in the 21st century are better at interpreting scripture than the early church fathers is an act of arrogance. Jesus’ use of scripture and his high value of scripture helps us to understand the authority that scripture has in our lives as well. John Wesley said, “Scripture can only be interpreted through the same Spirit by which it was given.” The Spirit that inspired scripture is the same Spirit that interprets it to the seeking mind. Our reading of God’s word should be preceded by asking God to help us to understand it and apply it appropriately to our lives.

3. We are commanded to proclaim the resurrection of Jesus to the world. (vs. 47-48)

Luke 24:47–48 ESV

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.

Acts 1:8 ESV

8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Now that God’s plan of salvation has been fulfilled in Jesus, it is now the call of those who witnessed it to spread the word about what God has done through Jesus. Jesus’ words to his disciples are clear that in order for salvation to come and humanity be reconciled to God, he had to die on the cross. The essentials of the gospel are laid out here: repentance and forgiveness of sins. Peter lays this out in Acts 5:31:

Acts 5:31 ESV

31 God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

This was the message of the gospel in the early church. The problem that we have today is that we have tried to add onto the gospel. In the modern culture of the church, many have tried to bring a work’s righteousness into the gospel through social justice. Social justice is not the gospel of the early church. It was not the gospel Jesus proclaimed. The gospel is a transformation of the human heart so that each of us have the capacity to love as Jesus has loved us. It is not something that we gain through works. It something that has been done for us and to us through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross and the power of the resurrection. Adding to this gospel is taking away from the simplicity of the message. When we equate forgiveness and repentance to work that we do, then it is no longer about grace. It is about what we earn, and we can’t earn anything.

This message is the one that the disciples were to begin preaching in the very place where Jesus had been killed. The call to repentance was first given to the very people who were responsible for Jesus’ death. This is the mercy of God in full action. If God reaches out in forgiveness to those who killed Jesus, imagine the message as it goes out to the world. Through Jesus, God forgives us of our sin and reconciles us to himself.

In order to be the church, we must be witnesses in telling this gospel message to the world. We cannot stay in the places of comfort and hide. We have to go out into all the world and share this good news to all. This is message is for every person in our community. The life-changing power of the gospel brings us into relationship with the God who paid it all so that we could be with him for eternity. God has accomplished so much in our lives. Why do we not get excited to tell someone else about it? Why do we hide the fact that we serve a God who accomplishes his work by raising his Son from the dead? This is not a God who needs to be hidden. This is a God who is already out working in the world while we sit by and wait for him to show up in our Jerusalem. He calls us to go out not say in. He tells us to proclaim not be silent. He tells us that we are empowered not weak. The same God that raised Jesus from the dead is alive in us right now. We preach the simple message of repentance and God’s forgiveness. That is how the world is changed. We can go through every program that is offered to us to reconcile us to one another. But that reconciliation is never going to happen unless the human heart is first changed by repentance and forgiveness. Justice will never be possible in this world unless there is repentance and forgiveness in all human hearts.

That is the power of the gospel of our risen Lord. We do not serve a God who is dead. We serve a God who is alive forever more and rules and reigns in authority and power right now. Let us never forget that fact!

Closing

Closing Hymn

“Be Thou Vision” #451

Benediction

Go in courage and peace, proclaiming the Risen Lord to all! Be those who bring hope and justice to a hungry and hurting world! The peace of the Lord is with you now and forever. AMEN.