The Resurrection (4)

Okay, we are actually are nearing the end of the life of Christ. In this study I should say of the harmony of the gospels and the life of Christ. But we have found ourselves for some weeks now on the the weekend that he died. The trials, the crucifixion, the burial and now the resurrection of Christ. The reason for that is there is so much material in the gospels, the gospels, all four of them treat it quite extensively, actually giving several chapters to these events. So we're taking our time, we're looking at everything we can find in the scriptures and trying to soak in as much as we can. Let me just remind you we are on the fourth study that we've done on the resurrection of Jesus. Let me just remind you of the sequence of events because it's important not to lose how this day changes. The day begins with despair. It quickly turns into confusion and then slowly but surely builds to excitement. Those three words I think really capture the mood of the day begins with the disciples in despair and then for some time they're confused about what's happening and gradually begin to understand that Jesus really is alive and by the time Jesus appears to them in the evening in the upper room they are excited about what they're hearing and seeing. So just keep that in mind as we build through this day. We remind you of of where we have been thus far in talking about the resurrection. We have spent all four of these studies on the first day, the Sunday that Jesus came out of the tomb and we began with the early confusion of his followers. Remember this quick sequence of events. The women go to the tomb early that morning to prepare his body or to anoint his body with the spices to finish the burial custom of the Jewish people. When they get there they realize the stone is rolled away. They realize the tomb is empty. Mary immediately runs back to tell the disciples and finds Peter and John while she's doing that the other women go into the tomb and see the two angels who explain to them what's happened. They don't grasp everything yet but they're the first ones to get the announcement of the resurrection. So while they leave and go to tell the disciples Peter, Mary, and John are coming toward the tomb and Peter and John running to the tomb Mary kind of coming along behind them. Peter and John actually both look in see the tomb is empty and Mary catches up with them and hangs around weeping while they leave. Peter and John leave and then begins the appearances of Christ on that day of resurrection. There are five of them on that Sunday. The very first one is to Mary Magdalene, resurrection day appearances. The first one is Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene and then she goes to tell the disciples. Now remember the other women have already left to go tell all of the disciples and Jesus then suddenly appears to them. He's appeared to Mary Magdalene at the tomb but now he appears to the other women who are still on their way to tell the disciples. While that's going on the guards report to the Jewish rulers and then sometime during the day before the appearance we're going to begin with tonight sometime during that day Jesus appears to Peter and we know from the way that the two that we're going to look at in just a moment describe it. He has already appeared to Peter by the time he appears to them and so that is the sequence of events as best we can put it together from the gospels where we begin tonight is in Luke 24 with Jesus appearing to two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Briefly introduced this last week we saw that Jesus appears to two disciples, one of whom is named Cleopas in chapter 24, Luke 24 and verse 18. It's possible the other one is his wife Mary. There is a Mary wife of Cleopas who has mentioned in John 1925 as being at cross when Jesus died. If Cleopas and Cleopas are the same there are some who believe they are the same some who do not. If they are the same then this is a husband and wife team possibly and here's the important thing to remember with them. The day is already beginning to build some excitement. In fact we will see as we go through this story they have heard the report of the women so they were in the group of the disciples who heard the report of the women that the tomb was empty and even the report that they had seen Jesus but they are in despair and they still haven't grasped what's happened and so they leave. They leave Jerusalem to go back to Emmaus which is seven miles outside of Jerusalem. I think we still have the map that we looked at last week. Here's Jerusalem and up here is one suggested location for Emmaus that would be north west of Jerusalem seven miles outside the city of Jerusalem. They do not grasp yet what the women are saying they do not understand nor do they do they believe and so they in despair are headed home to Emmaus amidst the growing excitement back in Jerusalem. That's where we pick up the story in verse 13. I want us to kind of see this in sequence and although this is not on your outline tonight I'll kind of fill in with the sequence of how Jesus relates to them and the first thing you would see here is that he joins them. Notice how he joins them in verses 14 to 16. Verse 13 will begin there. Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. Can't you imagine that conversation? Can you imagine the heartache? We know from what we will read as we go on through the story that they have strong emotions. Their faces will be downcast at one point. I'm sure they probably were walking slowly maybe their sandals kind of dragging along scuffling along the road and they had hoped as they will tell us in a moment that Jesus was the Messiah and they are bitterly disappointed. Maybe even feeling confused and maybe somewhat betrayed and so they are a swarm of conflicting emotions and as they're walking home they're discussing everything that's happened over the last three days. Trying to put the pieces together, trying to make sense of it, trying to understand what's happened, why happened, what went wrong, why were they so disappointed, why didn't Jesus take the throne like they thought he was going to do and all of those things. Brokenhearted, no doubt and you can put yourself in their sandals, no doubt, can't you? Times when you have been to use Philip Anci's terms disappointed by God, times when you have expected one thing and it did not happen. Times when maybe you thought God would do this and he did not or he may have done the opposite and all of us have those times in our lives when to use another writer's words James Dobson when God doesn't make sense. When he does things that we just don't understand, no doubt that's exactly where these these two are. But Jesus joins them, look at verse 15, as they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them but they were kept from recognizing him. Now Jesus just walks up, does he just come out of side road, does he catch up with them from behind, it just seems that he is suddenly there and he just starts walking with them but the Bible says they were kept from recognizing him. Now we've seen already that Mary Magdalene did not recognize him when she first saw him in the garden thinking he was the gardener and that may have been for several reasons but here it's clearly stated they were kept from recognizing him. It's clearly indicated that this is something that is sovereign, it is done by God, they are prevented from recognizing him and the reason is I think as we shall see the way the story builds and what Jesus is accomplishing in them. But first of all just quite simple description he joins them, joins them on their journey and he does the same with us wherever you are in your journey no matter what road you're walking down, no matter how difficult it may be, no matter how hard and disappointing it may be, Jesus is there to join you. Remember last time we talked about the fact that it's incredible to think that on the day that Jesus was resurrected, fresh from the trauma of the crucifixion and the glory of the resurrection, when he might have called all of his followers together and appeared triumphantly to them or might have even lingered in heaven to enjoy the celebration going on there instead of any of those things, he appears to two lonely, bitterly disappointed and really unknown disciples. Again if you've ever felt like you were insignificant in the grander scheme of things even in God's eyes remember this story because Jesus seeks out the hurting hearts even if they are people who are relatively unknown and if we can say this unimportant in the big scheme of things they're not one of the eleven they're not one of the major disciples they're never mentioned again in the book of Acts so they evidently don't become major players in the story but Jesus sought them out so whenever you feel insignificant or small remember that Jesus seeks you out to he joins them comments questions there in that first part of the story it is encouraging isn't it it is just to see the heart of our Savior for these two years yes sir well I would say they were not part of the eleven because we know who the eleven were yeah how do we know they were not because one of them is named clopus yeah and so we know we know from the names of the eleven he was not one of them now the other one we can't say with a hundred percent certainty maybe it was Thomas he was absent well no they'll show up in the upper room and Thomas is not there so can't be him either so I still think the best identification is probably this man named clopus and his wife so but they were among the broader band of disciples we can say that because they were with the group that heard the story of the women and there are more than the eleven even when they go back that evening to meet up with the eleven the text will say there are others with the eleven so there's a broader group of disciples gathering in Jerusalem and they were a part of that group so they were disciples in that sense okay yes Max yeah yeah the people will grasp its straws to to put themselves in a position where they are not accountable to God to do anything to discredit the gospel story and you're right it's foolish for people to do that but they do some of the crazy stories have come up and yes I'm sure this one has been used in that way okay not only does he join them what I what happens next I just love I love this story it is so engaging even humorous what he does next he not only joins them he draws them out and and look at how he does this he draws them out there's a Q&A session here and Jesus is asking the questions and so he's he's asking questions to draw them out notice verse 17 he asked them what are you discussing together as you walk along now you know as well as I do he did not need that information he knew exactly what they were talking about but he's trying to draw them out he's seeking to get from them what's happening the verse goes on to say they stood still their faces downcast so they stop you can just imagine the pause there you can imagine how do we explain to this guy if he hasn't heard what's happened how do we even begin to explain and so I can just see them drop their heads how do we even start to explain what's happened and so one of them verse 18 named Cleopas asked him are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days you see they know that this has been such a climactic event in Jerusalem the arrest the trials I mean just one week before this discussion Jesus has written into Jerusalem to the acclaim of the crowds the whole city knows what happened everybody is aware of what happened and he was very publicly crucified and there was a great crowd that gathered to call for his crucifixion of the trials at least the Roman part of the trials with pilot and so they're incredulous that there could be someone in the vicinity of Jerusalem who doesn't who wouldn't expect what everybody's talking about and so they ask are you the only person around that hasn't heard about what's happened in Jerusalem and look at Jesus response in verse 19 what things he asked I mean this is so engaging Jesus is really drawing them out hey fellas what are you talking about or mr. Miss Cleopas what are you talking about are you the only person that hasn't heard about's happened in Jerusalem the things that happened there what things I mean this is just amazing what he's doing he's not playing with them by the way don't take it that way although it is quite humorous because he's the one all these things happen to it looks like he may just be kind of leading them on but I don't think that's it I don't think he's playing with them I don't think he's playing with their minds at a time when he knows where they are and they're hurting so badly I think he wants them to talk I think he's drawing them out that's what he's doing there's a purpose for his questions and one of the most interesting studies in the Bible is to study the questions of God when God asks questions of people it's never for information God doesn't need information he's got all of that God's questions are typically to cause the one being question to look deep in his or her heart to understand and begin to express and verbalize what's going on remember the first time that happened where was the first time God asked someone a question in the garden right the Garden of Eden Adam where are you was God frantically looking for him couldn't find him of course not where are you he wants Adam to think about where he is and how he got there and that begins some deep soul heart searching I think that's exactly what Jesus is doing here he wants them to talk about what's happened in Jerusalem to him and so he draws them out and then thirdly he listens to them and this is amazing he listens to what they have to say verses 19 to 24 they expand quite quite willingly on what's happened in Jerusalem what things he asked about Jesus of Nazareth they replied he was a prophet powerful and word indeed before God and all the people this is interesting how they refer to him do you notice anything there what do they calling I'm not trying to trick you it's right there calling a prophet right calling a prophet that's about all they can muster today now did they believe he was more than that I'm sure they did we're going to hear it from their own lips here in just moment but they're so confused about what's happened and so disillusioned that about all they can muster as they think about him right now it was it was a prophet he was obviously much more than that and they knew that but it just illustrates their confusion verse 20 the chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death and they crucified him now look at verse 21 but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel and what is more it is the third day since all this took place and I think that phrase is basically saying you mean you haven't heard of this three days later you haven't been hearing any of this we we had hoped you see the ear to the spare in those words we had hoped that he would be the one to deliver redeem Israel right now all we can say is that he's prophet he said some great things and he did some wonderful things we hoped for a lot more we thought he was a lot more I mean they're starting to pour out what's in their heart you see let they keep going verse 22 in addition some of our women amazed us the word amazed literally means to catch off guard we didn't expect what we heard from them they amazed us they went to the tomb early this morning but didn't find his body they came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels who said he was alive then some of our companions went to the tomb who are they talking about Peter and John yeah some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said but they did not see Jesus now what I want you to notice is the sense of despair and even depression in their description of things here they are too down to even hint at the idea or make any connection that he might actually be alive that he might really be resurrected they're not even willing to suggest that at this point notice how everything is negative and and that's the way it is when we're down when we're depressed when we're disillusioned when we're discouraged everything becomes negative we have an amazing ability to resist any comfort okay women went to the tomb they had an amazing story but they didn't find his body notice how everything ends on the the negative didn't find his body they came to us and said see an invasion of angels said he was alive some of the companions went to tomb found just like but they didn't see Jesus see how both statements end on a negative note and that's how people live when they've given up hope when they're discouraged and in despair they live in the negative when we find ourselves discouraged don't you tend to think that way someone will try to give you some encouraging news yeah but well that's easy for you to say but there's always but and then the negative comes but they couldn't find his body but they didn't see Jesus so they're just kind of pouring out their soul everything is bad news an empty tomb well that just means somebody stole his body they couldn't find his body they're not even entertaining the thought that there has been a resurrection they haven't grasped that at all yet and what's Jesus doing during all this he's just listening he's just listening he let him pour it all out now when Jesus comes to you on your road to a mess when you're going back home after you thought so much and you've been disillusioned discouraged you're in despair and he finds you on your road to a mess he joins you he wants to draw you out he wants to get you to pour out your heart to him and you know what he's gonna do he's gonna listen he's gonna listen he wants you to get it all out he did that with Job in the Old Testament didn't he and Job really poured a lot out the further you read in the book the more uh gut wrenching it gets the things Job is saying accusations against God and God just listens I'm so thankful he does so thankfully just listens I've told you this before one of my favorite passages in all Bible Psalm 103 where it describes the amazing love of God for us and the passage there that says he knows our frame he remembers that we are but dust and so he is not angry with us that text says he just listens he just listens now once they've poured everything out and they're beginning to sound a little bit like E.Y.R. it's all doom and gloom there's no positive silver lining at all as to what's happened this day then Jesus teaches them he joins them he draws them out he listens to them then he teaches them and I wish I could have heard this Bible lesson wow first of all he he does mildly rebute them first 25 he said to them how foolish you are and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory you see the Jews had two strands of truth about the Messiah that they could clearly see in the Old Testament the Messiah sometimes is presented as a conquering hero who will restore Israel to her greatest time yet that's a very prevalent theme in the prophets but there are glimpses of a suffering Messiah too he's called the servant in the book of Isaiah and much of what Isaiah has to say in Isaiah chapters 40 through 53 have to do with the suffering servant and there are other passages that describe that too they had these two strands of truth and they did not understand how they fit together in fact Peter tells us not even the prophets understood how they fit together not even the prophets understood the sufferings in the glory of Christ and how they fit together there were some Jewish rabbis who even believed there would be two Messiah's because they didn't understand how those two strands of truth could come together and you know what Jesus just put it together in the question he asked he just put him both together you see what he said did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory and he says you're not believing all that the prophets have taught yes the prophets did teach both and both are true in one person the suffering comes first and then comes the glory that's how he put him together and what he's going to help them see in just a moment as he takes them on a whirlwind tour through the Old Testament he's going to help them to see that it is the resurrection that ties those two strands of truth together it's the resurrection that makes possible the suffering servant to become the glorious savior and the exalted head of the church it's the resurrection that bridges those two and they haven't gotten that and that's the missing piece of puzzle for them so look at what he does in verse 27 and beginning with Moses and all the prophets he explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning himself wow what a Bible lesson what do you think he covered Genesis 315 the first promise of the seed of the woman who would crush the head of the serpent you think it maybe started there that's in Moses you think maybe talked about Abraham offering Isaac and and maybe how that would foreshadow the sun and the the lamb the the ram that was the substitute maybe talked about that you think maybe talked about the Passover lamb in Exodus 12 that's in Moses I'm confident that he explained the tabernacle and temple worship to them and all of those lambs that died all of those animals innocent animals that took the place of the people I'm sure he explained that to them you think maybe he explained the serpent on the pole the wilderness he had referenced that during his ministry in John 3 I think he probably explained that to them more fully you think maybe you went through some of the Psalms like Psalm 22 that's so highly and clearly prophesized the crucifixion he'd probably explained that didn't you read Psalm 22 come on guys didn't you read Psalm 22 it was right there look at this verse and this verse and this verse I'm sure he explained Isaiah 53 the suffering of the servant who would die for their sins all we like sheep have gone astray turn each one to his own way and the Lord have laid on him the iniquity of us all I'm sure he explained who the him was boy what a Bible lesson that must have been beginning with Moses and going all the way through the prophets he explained to them what was said in all the scriptures the Old Testament scriptures concerning himself he tied it all together so he taught them any comments or questions before we finish up the story it could be I mean even the term the the term man could be a term that would refer to the male gender but it can be used generically in the New Testament I have to actually look at my Greek text and see what the word is used there but that would not necessarily rule out a couple husband and wife but it could also refer to two men okay yeah it is possible the word can be a generic reference to a mixed gendered couple okay look at what happens next in verses 28-32 he shows them who he is verse 28 and I love this to it's just so amazing the way the Lord deals with them at verse 28 as they approached the village to which they were going Jesus continued on as if he were going further they're walking along and they're approaching the village and they're getting ready to turn down first street and head up you know center avenue to get to their house and Jesus is just going to walk right on he's going to walk on through town can you imagine what had happened if what would have happened if they wouldn't have said anything but they did verse 29 but they urged him strongly stay with us for it is nearly evening the day is almost over so he went in to stay with them if they had not said anything would Jesus have kept on going it's impression you get isn't it obviously God's in control of all of this glad they did they were motivated to invite him in verse 30 when he was at the table with them he took bread gave thanks broke it and began to give it to them now there are some who say oh well verse 31 says then their eyes were open and they recognize him there are some who say oh the upper room the Passover meal no they weren't there remember that was only the 11 the 12 until Judas left so these two were not there they didn't see that probably what's being referred to here is simply he took bread and gave thanks and began to eat with them as he probably had with groups of disciples many many times as they traveled along the roads going from one place to the next but it was at that point their eyes were opened was it something that he did something that he said that doesn't really necessarily seem to be the case they were providentially kept from recognizing and God just takes the blinders off and they they recognize him now they know who he is but he disappears immediately from their sight so the moment they recognize him he's gone he's gone but he did show them who he was and then this story ends by by them saying we can't keep this to ourselves and they go to tell the others verse 33 they got up and returned at once to Jerusalem do you think maybe their journey back to Jerusalem was a little faster than the one to a mess you think they were scuffing along this time I think their faces were downcast this time I don't think so I think they got there quickly there they found the 11 and those with them okay by now there are more disciples gathered with the 11 in the upper room remember there were women who had come back from the grave to tell them that Jesus was written no doubt they are there who else were not sure but there were others there earlier in the day Cleopas and his wife or whoever's with him they were there too because they had heard the women come back and report about the resurrection so they must have been there too they knew where to find them so they found the 11 those those with them assembled together and saying it is true the Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon who's saying that look at it who's saying it is true the Lord has risen as a pure Simon I think you're right Max I don't think it was the two not yet I think it is the other disciples the way it reads the two get to the upper room they find the 11 those with them they find them assembled together and they find them saying all of those participles go with the 11 they find them saying as they walk in the disciples are kind of talking with one another you know it's true it's true the Lord has risen Simon Peter's tell us now he appeared to him so they've heard from Mary Magdalene they've heard from the other women and they've heard from Simon already and so the evidence is beginning to mount the excitement is beginning to become real they're beginning to put together what's happened and all of a sudden these two show up and as they come in the disciples are reaching a conclusion it's true what we're hearing is true he must be alive and they add their testimony to the mounting evidence in verse 35 then the two told what had happened on the way and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread so they tell their story too and the excitement is building it really is what an amazing story this is I it's one of my favorites in in all of the Bible the story of the two for so many reasons well yeah it is it is interesting that Luke would would do that and God used the personalities obviously of the authors to write the way they did certainly as a as a medical doctor even in that day Luke would have been very conscientious no doubt detail oriented keep good records make sure you know what's going on that kind of thing and he's the one that tells us this story the other gospels mark just briefly references it okay anything else okay we got about five minutes let's jump into the next appearance Jesus appears to the disciples in the upper room this happens this is the fifth appearance now that Jesus has had on the resurrection day on Sunday he's been very busy this day fifth appearance and it happens as the scene we just read about finishes up the story continues in Luke's gospel we're gonna turn to John first John 19 or John excuse me John 20 and we're gonna look at a couple things John says first and then we'll supplement it go back to Luke and look at what Luke says about this John chapter 20 verse 19 and what we find happens first in the upper room is his words of comfort Jesus will give them words of comfort on the evening of that first day of the week when the disciples were together with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders I don't just slide over that it it clues you in to the atmosphere in the room the atmosphere is one of fear confusion anxiety since Friday since the time of the crucifixion as they may be filtered their way back and found themselves in the upper room since that time they've been hiding out in fear that the Jewish authorities were gonna come for them too Peter and John make a mad dash to the tomb and back but they've pretty much been hiding out for fear of the Jews in a locked room okay when the disciples were together with doors locked for the fear of the Jewish leaders Jesus came and stood among them he's just there I mean John makes it clear that the doors are locked he did not open the door he did not knock on the door he just appears in the room now that tells us some things about the resurrection body the glorified body and that is that although it is a real human body and Jesus will prove that on this night don't misunderstand this this is not some kind of spirit being it's a real human body but it is in the glorified state the human body evidently has properties that we do not have now the ability to pass through a wall appear in a room transfer suddenly from one place to the next all of those things Jesus will do on this day and so it raises some very interesting possibilities about the resurrection body the glorified body and by the way our body is going to be like his plenty of scriptures that reference that so whatever kind of glorified body he had in this evening in the upper room we're gonna have that kind of body when we get our new bodies so it's gonna be pretty amazing I want to get this in so let me hasten before we have to stop to say this when they saw him you can almost imagine what the disciples would have expected here because of their behavior on Friday they ran when he needed a most when he was arrested they ran in fear Peter has denied him and although Jesus has already appeared to Peter the others I'm sure would have expected if Jesus did show up they would have expected a review they would have expected correction I'm sure when they saw him and Luke will add the fact that they were startled and frightened and we'll get back to that and see why next time but I'm sure that the hair on the back of their neck was standing up they had goosebumps on their goosebumps I'm sure they they were just waiting for him to light into them because of what they had done because of the way they'd failed him and they all failed him and Jesus says this peace be with you now that becomes kind of a formal stilted greeting in the way we read it peace be with you it sounds like something Shakespearean you know we would never say that this was the the most comforting and warm Jewish greeting that could have been shared peace the Hebrew concept of peace shalom it's the way they greeted people it's a way they said goodbye but in that concept of peace in the Jewish greeting it basically means well-being in the sense then the fullest sense of the word it basically means all the blessing of God be yours it really means I want life for you at its best the fullest most enjoyable most blessed most joyful life you could possibly have in your in your heart in your mind I want you to be at ease that's what's in those words peace be with you shalom that greeting would communicate all of that to these people and I am once again amazed at the kindness and grace and mercy of our Lord rather than chastising them he gives them peace he wants something to know he wants their life to be full of blessing and joy and well-being now there's something there that we can learn from something that that we too often so often fail at I certainly do when people have let us down isn't it easy to really light into them isn't it easy to at least want to give them a dose of their own medicine and to those who have let Jesus down the most he comes to them in his first words are shalom well-being peace fullness of life God's blessing on you that's a wonderful wonderful spirit it's a it's a Christ-like spirit the spirit Jesus has full of patience and grace and mercy and knowing that they are confused and frightened and not clear what's going on he seeks to set the mideys ever the selfless humble merciful gracious savior he seeks to set the mideys all that we could be more like that people have come for peace well our time is up let's pray father thank you for who Jesus is thank you Lord that in these moments we can see our savior in ways that thrill us and also challenges may we be careful to reach out to the unknowns and to help them through times of despair may we also treat those who have failed us with grace and wish your best for them sincerely from our hearts understanding that we're all weak and we all fail help us to be more Christ-like we pray in his name amen