Experience the Victory
Notes
Transcript
Scripture
Scripture
36 And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
37 But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.
38 And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?
39 Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.
40 And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet.
41 And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat?
42 And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb.
43 And he took it, and did eat before them.
44 And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.
45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,
46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:
47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
48 And ye are witnesses of these things.
Life can be described by many symbols. It can be viewed as a school where each experience is a lesson; or as a body where each experience represents growth; or, it may be seen as a painting where every experience is a brush stroke moving the picture toward completion; or as a symphony where every experience is a note urging the composition toward fulfillment. But to many, life is a war, and each experience a battle to be won or lost. One of the church’s favorite songs of past generations was “Onward Christian Soldiers,” where under Paul’s inspiration (Ephesian 6:10-17), the church was pictured as a mighty army. Although Luke does very little editorializing (he just tells the story), underneath the facts, the battle is apparent to those who are perceptive.
There was a battle between Jesus and the Jewish leaders (Luke 22:1-6, 47-53,66-71). There was a battle between the Jewish leaders and Pilate (23:16; 1-6, 13-25) and between the Jewish leaders and Herod (23:7-12). There was conflict within Peter, between who he was and who he wanted to be (22:31-34, 54-62). There was a conflict within Judas, between who Jesus wanted him to become and who he became (22:3-6, 47-48). There had already been a conflict between the two thieves condemned to die with Jesus (23:32-43). And above, beneath and around all these events was the war raging between Satan and God. On Good Friday, God apparently lost—Jesue was condemned to death, tortured, crucified and buried (23:13-56).
It was a happy day for the devil and the forces of evil. Did they have a victory party in hell that night? Did they have a ticker tape parade down the streets of the Inferno to celebrate the death of God’s Son? Didn’t they know that their victory was temporary? Didn’t they know that God seldom loses a battle and never loses a war? Hadn’t Satan told his demons about the Garden of Eden? Moses in Egypt? Or Joshua at Jericho? Hadn’t they read about Deborah and Sisera? Gideon and the Midianites? Or David and Goliath? Well, both the unknowing forces of evil and the unbelieving good people were in for a big surprise. Because God always has the last word and that word is good.
1 Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.
2 And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.
3 And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.
4 And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments:
5 And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?
6 He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,
7 Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.
8 And they remembered his words,
The final chapter of Luke records the experiences of a number of people who had firsthand experiences with the risen Messiah. In each case the people were depressed because of Jesus’ death. But after meeting with Him, they were joyful and praised God.
The WOMEN and the APOSTLES
The first people to learn of the resurrection of Jesus were the women who had been faithful in following Him. They found out about the Resurrection first because of their devotion to Him. For after His death they brought more spices for His burial on the first day of the week. They did not find the body they were looking for. Instead they saw two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning, and obvious reference to angelic beings. These men reminded them of the words Jesus had spoken about His crucifixion and resurrection (9:31, 18:31-34). The women went to report to the apostles and others what they had seen.
The apostles did not believe the report the women brought them because their words seemed … like nonsense. This was because they had seen Jesus’ death and had seen His body placed in the grave. But Peter ran to the tomb and found what the women had described. Still he did not understand what had happened.
2. JESUS’ APPEARANCES TO HIS FOLLOWERS
In these two appearances—to two men and to the gathered disciples—Jesus taught His followers from the Old Testament the things that had been accomplished among them. It was not until after Jesus had explained from the Old Testament that the Messiah had to die that His followers began to understand what had occurred the past few days.
Jesus chided them for not understanding and believing. He explained from Moses and all the Prophets what had been said about Him. He implied that these disciples should have understood from the Old Testament what had happened.
It was not until after Jesus had broken bread with them that their eyes were opened and they recognized Him. Their experience with Jesus caused them to hurry back to Jerusalem (seven miles) and affirm the Resurrection to the Eleven and others who were meeting together. The two men now acknowledged the truth of the reports about Jesus’ resurrection for they had recognized Him themselves. The disciples who were meeting together now had at least three reports of the Resurrection: the women, Peter, and Cleopas and his companion. But still they did not understand.
In this appearance three things about Jesus are evident.
First, Jesus proved to His followers that He had really been resurrected. Not only did He stand in their presence so they could see Him and His wounds, but He also ate food before them to show that He was not a ghost.
Second, Jesus showed His followers all the facts written… in Old Testament about the Messiah. The Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms are the three divisions of the Old Testament sometimes referred to in Jesus’ day. More often, however, Moses and the Prophets were said to comprise the Old Testament. In other words He showed them from different parts of Old Testament that He is the Messiah and that He must suffer and rise from the dead. Because of His death and resurrection, the message of repentance and forgiveness of sins could be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem for they were witnesses of His death and His rising from the dead. This became the outline for Luke in his second book Acts 1:8
8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
Jesus commanded His followers to remain in the city of Jerusalem until they had received power from on high, a clear reference to the Holy Spirit, who was promised by the Father.
Closing
He is risen. Jesus had to be nailed to the cross, scorned, and left to die to pay the cost of our sins. Jesus paid the debt of our sins on the cross. But Jesus Christ also had to rise from the dead, to show that not only had he paid our debt, but he had also adopted us as his beloved children, and given us eternal life. If God can raise Christ from the dead, which he did, then he will also raise us from the dead after we die, to enjoy relationship with Him in the eternal city, the new Jerusalem.
He is risen. This moment changed all history. It was the surprise that established the kingdom of God, the church on Earth, setting it’s foundations in stone. All of our hope is upon the resurrection of Christ. And if he were here bodily with us right now, as he was with the disciples, we would see the scars on his hands and on his side, where he was pierced for our transgressions, and slaughtered for our mistakes. Yet he is risen. He did everything for us. Jesus has become all things to us and everything is about Jesus. Praise God for this mighty gift. He is risen!
The final statement in Luke 24:31 says, "and He vanished out of their sight." The example is now gone. The display has been taken down. It is now our turn to be the kingdom example to others. It is time for us to walk as Jesus walked, doing the work of the kingdom everywhere we go.
The Resurrection opened the way.... The Resurrection gave us hope. It gives us a place to turn to. Jesus said, I came that you might have life .....
The ability to make intelligent, kingdom decisions is one of the secrets of having that abundant life that Jesus spoke of.
As I go to my seat, Paul says in 1Corinthians 1:18
18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
We now, because of the cross, have the power to:
* change the way we think
* Change the way we act
* change our lives
* overcome the influences of sin
* have the victory over drugs, alcohol ....
* heal broken marriages
* comfort the heart torn apart by grief
*’bring families back together