The Post-Resurrection Appearances of Jesus

We are deep into our study on Wednesday nights of not only the life of Christ, but more specifically the resurrection of Christ. We've been looking at the appearances of Christ following the resurrection and what happens on that Sunday, which really I think we could say is one of the most exciting days in all of human history. One of the days that would be marked as one of the greatest days of history. You think of the day Jesus was born, the day Jesus died, and certainly the resurrection would be right up there with the great days of all of human history. The day that we have seen the gospels record a lot of information about, so we've been taking our time trying to assimilate what all the four gospels teach about the resurrection. And we have seen that it's a day that begins with great confusion on the part of the disciples and gradually moves toward cautious excitement, you might say. Still not fully understanding what's happening, still not grasping, and we'll see it again tonight, not fully grasping everything that's taken place, but coming to a realization of it better and better, the disciples are. Now, there are five appearances of Christ on the day that he was resurrected from the tomb of the ten appearances recorded in the gospels and first chapter of Acts, five of them occur on the day that he arose from the grave. It's an amazing day. And we have looked at some of those already, the resurrection day appearances. He first of all appears to Mary Magdalene, and she goes to tell the disciples, then he appears to the other women that have gone to the tomb with her, Mary evidently leaving first, and then he appears to the other women who are now going back as Peter and John run to the tomb and see it empty. And then somewhere during that day, the guards report to the Jewish rulers, and Jesus appears to Simon Peter. Again, we don't know exactly when that happened, but it was after the first two appearances we know, and before the fourth one, which was on the road to Emmaus with the two disciples that are discouraged going back home, and Jesus appears to them, and we saw that amazing interaction between Jesus and those two. The kind of playful interchange between them as Jesus is not recognized by them, and then finally, as they reach Emmaus, and he breaks bread with them to eat, they are scales dropped from their eyes, and they recognize who he is. They rush back to Jerusalem to let the other disciples know what has happened, and that's where we picked up the story, where we ended the story last week, was with the fifth appearance of Jesus on Easter Sunday, and that was to the 11 disciples and others with them gathered in the upper room. We saw in John chapter 20 that they were gathered in the upper room, that evening, the door is locked, John says, for fear of the Jews. Now, it's important that you get that little detail so that we understand what we're going to read when we start tonight. It's important to understand they are gathered in fear, fearful of the Jewish authorities arresting them, coming after them like they did Jesus, and so they are gathered in fear with the doors locked. They are in secret, they are in hiding, if you will. So that's the scene that John paints for us in John chapter 20. We looked at Jesus' words of comfort to them, as he speaks to them, peace be still. Jesus, or peace be with you, he says, Jesus speaking to them words that we might not expect, or they might not have expected to hear after the way they had failed him so miserably on Friday, the day he was arrested, and crucified, and to hear words of peace. He said, he is the Hebrew greeting, Shalom, God's best to you, well-being in every part of your life, and Jesus is blessing them, rather than upbreeding them for their failure. So, amazing words of comfort. We pick up the story tonight in Luke's Gospel, Luke 24, beginning in verse 36, Luke is covering the same territory as John in John 20, but with a little more detail on the initial phases of what happens in the upper room. So, we'll look at that, and then we'll skip back to John to get a few other details that Luke doesn't cover. Luke 24, verse 36, while they were still talking about this, now to understand what they were talking about, you have to go back to verse 35, the two who've come in from the road to Emmaus are telling the other disciples their experience that has just happened with seeing Jesus, and then Him being revealed to them as they ate with Him. They're talking about that, that's what they're talking about. While they were still talking about this, Jesus Himself stood among them and said to them, peace be with you. Now, that corresponds to what John has told us already. Jesus appears in the upper room. Remember the door's locked, and He just suddenly appears in the room, and gives this greeting of peace. Now, here's where Luke begins to add some detail in verse 37. They were startled and frightened thinking they saw a ghost. Now, put yourself in their shoes, they're already gathered in fear, they've got the door locked. Peter has already seen the Lord. The two disciples coming back from Emmaus have seen Him. The women, a couple of the women, several of the women, Mary Magdalene and some of the other women have seen Him. There have already been four appearances of Jesus already that day. So, it's not like this is the first time He's appeared to anybody, but it is the first time all of them with the exception of Thomas, we'll find later. See Him in since He's been resurrected. So, they're startled, they're frightened. Now, again, again, put yourself in their shoes, try to think of it like they would be experiencing it. He suddenly appears. He did not come through the door. The door was locked, he just suddenly appears in the room. That's probably why they were startled and frightened. It was the manner of his appearance. And still, especially for those who have not seen Him yet, they have not grasped the reality of what the others are telling them that He has risen from the dead. And even if they have grasped that, the ones who have grasped, they still wouldn't expect Him to suddenly just boom, He's there in the room. They would expect Him to walk in. You see, it's so easy for us to look back and understanding what we understand about the resurrection body because of 1 Corinthians 15 and Philippians 3 and other passages. It's easy for us to look back and say, well, come on, come on, guys, it's Him and His resurrection body. Well, 1 Corinthians 15 hadn't been written yet. Okay, so they didn't have that. And they didn't have some of the other things that we have. Try to put yourself in their shoes, they're behind locked doors, scared, and all of a sudden He just appears. He's there. And so that's why they would think they're seeing a ghost. This can't be Him because you don't just suddenly appear in the room. You know, you come walking through the door. That's what they would have expected. See, they don't yet understand and we don't fully understand the nature of the resurrection body, the nature of the glorified body. We're going to find out some things in a moment is a real body, but it has properties that are different from the body we have now. It's recognizable, but it still has different properties than the bodies we have now, if you can suddenly appear in the room. So this is all very different. They've never experienced anything like this. Sure they're frightened, sure they're startled. That's a very natural reaction. It's not a reaction of unbelief necessarily. It's just a reaction of, we haven't wrapped our minds around what's going on yet. That's basically what's happening. So look at how he he assures them in verse 38. He said to them, why are you troubled and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at what he does to reassure them. Look at my hands and my feet. Now why would he call attention to that part of his body? Yeah, scars from crucifixion seems pretty obvious that if you're if he's going to identify himself as Jesus, that's the most obvious characteristic that would readily identify him. He's got scars. He's got prints in his hands and his feet that they can see. Nobody else walking around has that. So it's obvious that he's proving to them. It's really him. This is the one that you saw in the last three days hanging on a cross. Here I can prove it. Here's my hands. Here's my feet. So he shows them that then he says touch me and see a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see I have. So what is Jesus trying to prove to them? He's real. Yes, he's real. It's really me. It's not it's not my spirit. Somehow appearing. You know, it's it's me. It's me in a literal physical body. Now this tells us something about the resurrection or the glorified body. It is a real body. Jesus is proving to them. Come on. I've got a identifying characteristics that you can readily see. Look at my hands. My feet. I've got scars from the nails here. Come here. Touch me. You can feel me. This is a real physical body. It has some different properties than our body before it becomes glorified because he can go through the wall. But it's still a recognizable human body. It is not a spirit form. It is a body. He's going to prove it even further. Look at what he does. Verse 40. Where we left off when he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, notice those the combination of those two things. They're excited. They're joyful. They're beginning to understand that this is Jesus. But they're still trying to wrap their minds around. How can this be? And so there's joy mixed with amazement. They can't figure it out. So while they're experiencing those, he asked them, do you have anything here to eat? They gave him a piece of broiled fish and he took it and ate it in their presence. Again, what's he trying to prove to them? It's him. He's in a real physical body. He can eat just like he did when he was with them before. So he's proving to them that it is really him. It is not a spirit. It's not a ghost. It's not his disembodied state. It is Jesus in his glorified body, a real body. Now that tells us some things about what our glorified bodies will be like because Flipens 321 says that when he should appear, we should we should be changed. Our lowly bodies will be changed to be like his glorious or glorified body. So we will have the same characteristics in our glorified body. It will be a real body. Now, 1 Corinthians 15 says, flesh and blood does not inherit the kingdom of God. What does that mean? What is that talking about? How's that jive with this? What do you think? It will be the same. It will be all that matters. Okay. Hang on to that thought. Tommy's on to something there. Anything else you think of? It's clear the glorified body is a real body. That's exactly what Jesus is trying to prove to them. But how does that jive with 1 Corinthians 15 that our body is sewn, put in the grave like a seed, a natural body. It is raised a spiritual body and a flesh and bones cannot inherit the kingdom of God. What is that? How does those two fit together? Okay. The body is a part of what Jesus has redeemed at the cross. That's how it can be changed and glorified made perfect. It's not a mortal body which means what does a mortal body? What is mortality? We're going to die, right? Mortality means we're going to die. That really is, and picking up on what Tommy said earlier, that really is what Paul is talking about in 1 Corinthians 15. He's talking about the fact because he gets to the end of that and I read it a lot at that grave side services. This mortal must put on immortality. This physical mortal decaying, dying body has to assume different properties because a mortal decaying, dying body cannot inhabit a perfect place because those don't mix. While it is still a real body, it is not the mortal body that we have here that is decomposing, dying, decaying, aging. It doesn't have those properties. It is in that sense that Paul is saying flesh and bones can't inherit the kingdom of God. It's not that it's not a real body, but it's not the same kind of body we have here. At least the same nature. It's not a decaying, dying, mortal body. It's still recognizable as your body, although I have the assurance that it will be perfect. A lot of imperfections will not be there anymore, but it will still be me. It will be recognizable as me. It will be a real physical body, but it will also have different properties. It will be a body, but a spiritual body. Not a spirit, but a spiritual body. Most theologians say that means a body that is now controlled by spiritual principles and not just physical principles. That's the distinction. It is a real body, but it's a glorified body, so it has properties that are unlike our present mortal bodies. Interesting thought, isn't it? Yes. How old are we going to be in that glorified body? Well, the Bible does not make that clear. A lot of people assume that we will be 33 because that's the age Jesus was when his body was glorified. That may be the perfect age where humankind is perfect at age 33, although I think early 60s is more like it. I hope it's not 77. We really don't know, but it could be that since Jesus's body was glorified at age 33, then we'll be age 33. But I don't know. Nobody knows that for sure. Yes, John? I didn't answer. There's a shoutout to the people in that lecture today. Lastly, we're so nervous to hear you. Yes. In that lecture, you can see a lady calling David and dressing at this point over the week before I gave you interviews said Mary isn't the right person and she didn't answer that. By June 10th, you were talking to Robert Potter. Exactly. They don't understand a glorified body yet, like Robin is saying, they have seen a resurrection before. They saw Lazarus, but remember for Lazarus to come out of the tomb, they had to move the stone. Lazarus couldn't pass through the wall of the tomb, like they've seen Jesus just appear in the room. So there still, is this a body or not? Is this really Him or is this his spirit? Sure they're confused. They've never seen anything like this. And you're exactly right. Even the resurrections they have seen, and we know Jesus raised three people from the dead that were told in the scriptures in the gospels. The resurrections they did see those people were resurrected in a mortal body that still had the same limitations. So yeah, sure they're confused. Good point. John, did you have a question also or a comment? We've yet to see anybody who has been able to recognize Jesus. We know that he really says, that's what the old Jesus, Jesus has asked him to look at his hands, feet, and sign. Yeah. But nobody is actually in the book of the valley. Kind of, I mean, Mary Magdalene was first to see him. She didn't recognize him. She was sticking for the gardener, but we explored a couple of reasons why that might be. She's weeping, so her eyes are a little cloudy, maybe. We don't know her vantage point. We don't know if he veiled himself in such a way. So she, but then she did when he spoke her name, she did recognize him. Okay, and then we don't know about Peter. We're not told anything about that, that meeting. We're not told anything about the, the other women except that they did follow his feet and worship him. So they evidently recognized him. The two on the road to Emmaus, the Bible clearly says they were kept from recognizing him, which seems to be a supernatural kind of blindness or something, inability to recognize, and then all of a sudden that's removed and they recognize him. So I, you do have this kind of strange stuff going on where people don't recognize him, but then they do. And so how much of that is engineered by God, how much of it is because they're so incredulous, they can't put it together yet, how much of it is, does he look different? It's just hard to know what all the reason for that. I think we will, I think we will eat in heaven. I don't necessarily know that we will need to, although we might. I think there are a couple of indications of that. One is the Tree of Life in Revelation 22 has 12-man or a fruit on it, you know, a different kind each month. It's not a big deal, but still it's kind of interesting. I mean, I'd kind of like to know I'm going to eat in heaven. But, you know, there are a couple of indications that we may well. Eat the marriage feast of the lamb is going to be in the millennium. Of course, that would be a time when people would eat anyway. That's on earth. We have to look at it. We have to have a saw and be full star. Yeah. Sure. Yeah. He does look different in the timely last sawing for sure. Yeah. So there's a lot going on here that we don't quite understand. John, what I thought you were going to ask, this has been debated by theologians through the centuries. And that is he ate a piece of fish. When he passed back through the wall, did the fish stay on the wall? I thought maybe that's what you were going to ask. But, okay. Quite an interesting experience these men are having. All right. Let's get back to John's account in John 20 because John now adds a few more details that Luke doesn't have. And John 20 and verse 21, you can see back in verse 20, verse 20 summarizes what we've just read in several verses in Luke's account. John 20, 20 says, after he said this, he showed them his hands and side that disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. So you can see this growing apprehension and joy, although still mixed with amazement, at beginning to grasp what's happening. Now in verses 21 to 23, whereas we've been looking at his words of comfort and assurance, now we find words of commission. Jesus actually commissions them. And this is the first indication that he's preparing them for the job they will do in the book of Acts. Okay. So he starts here in verse 21. And Jesus, again, Jesus said, peace be with you as the Father has sent me, I am sending you. So this commission that Jesus gives them is to be sent out just like the Father sent him. Now Jesus has already referenced this in his high priestly prayer in John 17. When he prayed for them as they're leaving the upper room before they go to the Garden of Gethsemane, and he prayed that God would take, would not take them out of the world, but would leave them in the world. He says, just as I am not of the world, they are not of the world, but they are to be in the world. And so we are to be sent out into the world just like God sent Jesus into the world. In other words, we are to have a literal physical presence and verbal testimony in this world, just like Jesus did. We're to shine our light and we're to share the gospel. Both of those things were true about Jesus. And so that's what we're supposed to do. As he was sent into the world, we are to be sent into the world. But notice what he says next, and this has been the cause of not a small degree of controversy. Verse 22, and with that he breathed on them and said, receive the Holy Spirit. Now, what is happening there? And you see the dilemma, don't you? With Acts 1 and Acts 2, where the Holy Spirit comes on them and they have pinnacost. When were they indwelt by the Spirit? Then, when they were born again, that's certainly our experience in the church age. When did the church actually begin? When did the church age start? At pinnacost. What did Jesus tell the disciples in Acts 1? They were supposed to wait in Jerusalem for. The promise of the Father that he had told them about and he mentions the Holy Spirit will come upon them and he mentions also in Acts 1, 5, the baptism of the Spirit, which would inaugurate the church. That would start the church and it doesn't happen until Acts 2. So what's going on here is this is before Jesus ascends to heaven, the church can't start until the head is exalted, Ephesians 1, it makes that clear. Christ, the head of the church has to be exalted at the right hand of the Father before the church begins. So it's obvious the church doesn't begin to lack the ascension, doesn't begin to lack the Spirit when the Holy Spirit comes and empowers them and baptizes them into the body of Christ. That's when the body of Christ starts. What's happening here? Some days, maybe weeks before. A pledge of the promise of the Holy Spirit to come, okay? What do you think? That is one of the three views of this passage by the way. That it really is a pledge that of what will happen and and by the way there is a use of the present tense in the Greek language that's called a futuristic presence and that's what many scholars believe is happening here that Jesus is saying receive the Holy Spirit in the sense that we would say you will receive the Holy Spirit. So that that's one explanation for it. He breathed on them for a purpose, okay? That action that accompanies his saying leads many to take a different view of this. That he's not talking about the death in a cause and not talking about the future. Something happens here. Okay, we'll get to verse 23 in a minute and it is tied. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay. That is another view of the passage and that's the view I would take but again I'm not ready to start a denomination on it. I'm not ready to be that dogmatic. I think this is the kind of thing where you have to say, you know it's a little difficult to tell for sure what's happening but there are those who say receiving the Holy Spirit and I think there's Old Testament precedent for this is not necessarily indwelling but it is a temporary enablement of the Spirit. The Spirit would come on people in the Old Testament and we're not in the church age yet. We're still under kind of the Old Testament way of doing things. The Holy Spirit would come on people to empower them for tasks they needed to do and the disciples are going to need divine empowerment for the next 40 days to know what to do and so forth until Jesus ascends and the Holy Spirit comes to I believe in dwell and baptize them into the body of Christ. So I think that's a very good possibility that maybe he is saying receive the Holy Spirit in the sense of he breathes on them and the Holy Spirit gives them that enablement and power to do what they need to do for the next 40 days and to begin to understand what's happening and so forth and then obviously the third view is that this is when the indwelling of the Spirit actually started that it started here and not in Acts 2. So those those three views of the basic ways that this passage is looked at and I don't know that you can definitively prove any of those but it's certainly become a very interesting passage regardless of which of those three views where there Jesus is saying receive in the sense that I'm making you this promise you will receive the Holy Spirit and they have been agost or is he actually indwelling them now or is this a terminology for special enablement that they will need from here right on through regardless of which of those you take here's the key thought in order to fulfill whatever Jesus is telling to do he's saying I'm sending you out like I've been sent out you can't do this on your own you need the Holy Spirit's power to do it okay regardless of the details of exactly what's happening here it's clear that they must have Holy Spirit enablement to do what Jesus is telling them he's going to send them out to do that much is clear okay so we can say that much with with assurance now there's one other thing he's going to tell them that Sammy mentioned we're going to get to that in just a second but any further question about this receive the Holy Spirit passage yes yes and and what Robin is talking about is the promise in John 14 15 and 16 really especially 14 16 that Jesus will send the Holy Spirit when he leaves them he's not going to leave them comfortless or orphans he's going to send the Holy Spirit he says it's it's it's in it's necessary for me that I go away but I'm sending you a comforter who will be through forever and that by the way is one of the reasons why I don't think this is where the indwelling starts because I don't think the Holy Spirit comes to indowel until Jesus is back in heaven until he actually leaves them he's going to be with them granted off and on but he's going to be with them until the ascension and so I don't think he sends the Holy Spirit to do that indwelling work in the sense that he's talking about until he leaves and then he sends the comforter all right this look the next thing he says in verse 23 and this has caused some difficulty as well if you forgive anyone's sins their sins are forgiven if you do not forgive them they are not forgiven did you know that the Roman Catholic Church interprets this verse to mean that the church is given the responsibility from the apostles to forgive sins that's where they get this from or that's where they get that teaching from that it is the church that forgive sins the priest that forgives sins because it came straight from the apostles and they claim to have the direct line to the apostles through Peter and so that's why one of the seven sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church's extreme function which is when you're dying you got to get a priest there to confess your sins to because he forgives you of your sins okay are they get it from a passage like this is that what Jesus is saying I don't think so I would agree with Banner I don't think he's saying that and the reason why that is in all likelihood not what he means is it goes against everything else in scripture I mean even the Pharisees remember told Jesus only God can forgive sins they knew that they knew that for him to claim to forgive sins remember when he the man that they let down through the roof and Jesus said your sins are forgiven and the Pharisee said nobody can forgive sins but God and so Jesus says well what is it what's easier to say your sins are forgiven or take up your bed and walk what he was saying was I will show you that I am God and I have the authority to forgive sins so and obviously only God forgives sins the rest of scripture teaches so Jesus is not teaching that we are the ones who absolve people of their sin and make them right with God he can't be teaching that the key I think to understanding this passage is is uh kind of in the verb tenses that's a little difficult for us to grasp in in English but in verse 23 if you forgive anyone sins their sins have been forgiven it's past perfect in the Greek and so it literally has have been forgiven or their sins stand forgiven they are forgiven it's not that our forgiveness creates God's forgiveness what he's basically saying is I'm giving you the authority to declare on earth what I've already done in heaven you see you can declare on earth that if a person trusts Jesus as their savior their sins are forgiven if that person has trusted Christ as savior I've already forgiven their sins and what has been done in heaven you can declare on earth on the basis of the clear teaching of scripture that sins are forgiven through faith in Christ so if you forgive men sins they have been forgiven in heaven the heavens forgiveness takes place first we're able to announce that on earth because of what God says if you do not forgive them they are not forgiven so in other words basically we have the authority to say if you trust Jesus's savior God has assured us that your sins have been forgiven if you do not trust Christ as your savior I have the authority to tell you your sins are not forgiven it's not that I forgive them it's not that I can withhold God's forgiveness from anybody it's that I can announce what God says has already taken place in heaven if someone either trusts Christ or doesn't and I think that's the best way to look at this verse when you try to harmonize it with all of what scripture teaches the rest of what scripture teaches about the forgiveness of sins okay yes gee what is the thing that you are doing in the middle of the earth is to end it all because of the forgiveness of sins yes it's it's the tragedy of false teaching the tragedy of false teaching is if it leads anyone to place their hope of eternity in anything other than the shed blood of Christ on the cross then it is a false gospel now that's yeah yes and I I want to say this is kindly and graciously as possible but that is a satanic deception it really is and it's the danger of that kind of false teaching anytime you place anybody's hope of heaven in any institution or any person and not Christ Paul said in Galatians 1 that's a that's another gospel that's different than the true gospel and Paul said it very clearly God's judgment is on those who teach another gospel now that's how serious God takes it and I think we should take it just as seriously now you know in dealing with people who are deceived by false teaching we need to be very gracious and kind second Timothy 2 says that the man of God must be patient in his rebuking of false teaching so you don't just go with both barrels blazing you know and and blow people out of the water but still you have to make it clear that is false teaching any confidence in any church or any priest past a rabbi whatever you want to call him is misplaced trust only Christ can forgive us of our sins and people who are literally placing their confidence in that to save them are not saved now let me let me say this I'm not I want to make clear that I'm not saying categorically all Roman Catholics are going to hell they're not saved I don't believe that because I have known and and talked with some people who are in the Catholic church who I believe have genuinely trusted Christ and are trusting in him for their salvation they are still in the church because of family or because that's how they grew up and there are things that kind of bind them there and they don't swallow everything that is taught but they're placing their faith in Christ and so regardless of what church or denomination a person is in if they're placing their faith in Christ they're going to be in heaven whether they're Catholics Presbyterians Methodist and I think maybe even a few Baptists will make it but that's not the issue is it the issue is if your faith is in Christ your faith is in Christ now your faith is in a church the same can be said also Presbyterians Methodist Baptist Presbyterians and whatever if my faith is in the fact that I've gone to church since I was a child or my parents brought me up in church I mean there are a lot of Baptists who believe that and are putting their faith in that that's no different from a Roman Catholic saying I'm putting my faith in what the church has told me anything other than Christ is false okay so we we dipped into a more theology than I had thought we would deny it but that's good it's good for us to understand what these verses are and are not teaching all right any any other questions about what happens in the upper room that night what an amazing meeting that was and that was the fifth appearance of Jesus on the resurrection day and he will not appear again for an entire week at least it's not recorded in the scriptures he may have but it's not recorded in the scriptures a whole week passes before he appears to them again and we'll take that one up next week okay all right let's pray father we are we are grateful for the fact that we can be assured that our forgiveness is certain if we trust Christ as savior so certain that we can proclaim it here on earth that if we've trusted Christ our sins which have been forgiven by you in heaven we can state we are forgiven and we thank you for that confidence although not in ourselves totally in Christ thank you lord for his beginning teachings and and and challenge and instruction to his disciples even on the evening that he came out of the tomb to prepare them for the great work they would do in the book of acts may we recognize that we are carrying on that work today we continue on that work which was begun back then thank you father to to be involved in this great work that you're doing on this earth in Jesus name amen