Did Jesus Really Rise From the Dead?
Jesus Answers His Skeptic Friends
Luke 24:1-49
Happy Easter! Welcome.
Next week we want to start a new series on Biblical wisdom. It easy to spend our lives in foolishness that hurts others and hurts ourselves. Biblical wisdom gives us a different way to look at the world and ourselves that promotes deeper peace, maturity and character. Maybe you feel you could grow on the wisdom scale. I invite you to join us as we look at the first 9 chapters of Proverbs.
Easter is the holiday Christians celebration the resurrection of Jesus. But did Jesus really rise from the dead? It is a pretty incredible claim. Throughout history there are many who’ve questioned the legitimacy of Jesus’ resurrection: maybe it was a fabricated story from the early church, a legend that took on a life of its own. If you’ve had some doubts about this whole resurrection thing, that’s okay. In fact, in our passage today, Jesus’ closest friends and followers also doubted the resurrection. You’re in good company.
The women going to the tomb expected to put spices on a corpse. They weren’t expecting a resurrection. But the angels appear and remind them that Jesus said he would rise again, so they go and tell the disciples, but they thought it was nonsense, an idle tale. They didn’t believe.
Two Jesus followers were traveling to Emmaus where they met a 3rd traveler. The two of them tell the 3rd guy about how Jesus was “a prophet might in deed and word before God and all the people.” But he was crucified and is now 3 days dead. Women had told them that the tomb was empty and that Jesus was alive . . . but they didn’t believe. The 3rd guy, who we later find out is Jesus himself, tells them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!”
Jesus later reveals himself to these guys, and they run back to Jerusalem.
The disciples are gathered. They’ve heard the women’s claims. The two travelers return and tell their report. Jesus appears and says, “Why do you doubt? See my hands and feet” (where he had been nailed to a cross). V. 41, “they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling,” i.e., it seemed too good to be true. Even with all that, they were still struggling to believe.
We have story after story of Jesus’ closest friends and followers struggling to believe that he had indeed risen from the dead.
Last week we learned some lessons from examining their unbelief (sermon online). Today I’d like to zoom in on the question of how Jesus addressed their doubts. What did he do for them, what did he tell them?
Let’s start with the 2nd story. These two guys are traveling when they meet a 3rd traveler, who is Jesus himself. They’re talking about Jesus was a great prophet. They thought he was going to rescue the Jews from Roman oppression, but he is crucified. We can imagine that they’re struggling with shock, grief, dismay, disappointment, and perhaps some fear that they also are in danger.
Jesus does reveal himself to them, showing that He is alive. But it’s interesting that he doesn’t do this right away. How quick and simple that would have been. “Hey guys, it’s me. I’m alive! You don’t have to be sad or confused. I’m alive. See!”
Instead it says, “their eyes were kept from recognizing him.” Jesus is intentionally hidden from their eyes. Instead of showing them he is physically alive, he points them to the Scriptures.
And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. (Luke 24:25-27)
He goes through what we would call the Old Testament and shows them how the OT was about Himself and told of how he would suffer.
He essentially says they struggled to believe the resurrection because they didn’t believe the prophets. If they believed the prophets they would have believed (expected) Jesus death and resurrection.
Later, as they’re about to have a meal together, Jesus breaks bread, and their eyes are opened and they recognize that this 3rd traveler is Jesus, and then Jesus disappears. Notice the next verse,
They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” (Luke 24:32)
The Scriptures were “speaking” to their hearts. They were beginning to “see” with their hearts through the Scriptures even before they recognized Jesus with their physical eyes.
In the 3rd story, Jesus appears to the disciples. He doesn’t “hide” himself as he did with the 2 travelers. He appears and says, “See my hands and feet. Touch me, and see.” He gives concrete evidence. He eats some broiled fish. That is, he’s saying, “I’m not a ghost. I’m not some figment of your imagination. It’s me. I’m alive!”
That should have pretty clearly addressed their questions and doubts. Yup, he’s alive.
But Jesus didn’t stop there.
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.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures (Luke 24:44-45).
He says, “I told you that all that was written in the Law, Prophets and Psalms (the OT Scriptures) must be fulfilled.” Translation: “I told you that I would die and rise again, as the Scriptures talked about.”
“Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.” As with the 2 travelers, he wanted all his disciples to see how his crucifixion and resurrection were told in the OT Scriptures. They began to recognize what the Scriptures were talking about all along.
It’s a lot like movies like The Usual Suspects or The Sixth Sense [picture]. (I’m going to ruin the movie) At the very end of the movie, you realize that Kevin Spacey was Keyser Söze, or that Bruce Willis was dead all along. And that changes the whole movie. You go back and see the movie and you now see it. Your “minds were opened.” So likewise, you see its all about Jesus, its all about how God rescues us.
In the first story, when the women find an empty tomb and 2 angels appear, notice what the angels said:
“Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” And they remembered his words (Luke 24:5-8).
The angels said Jesus is alive. Remember how he said he would be delivered (turned over) to sinful men, be crucified and rise on the third day. Remember he told you this?
Let me put this together with the other pieces. Remember he said he would be turned over to sinful men, crucified and rise on the third day? Remember he said this would happen as the prophets had spoken about? Remember he said how everything written about him in the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms would be fulfilled?
1. Jesus’ death and resurrection were always part of a bigger story.
Jesus’ resurrection was not an isolated miracle, a one-time, stand alone thing.
Jesus is not content to show his disciples that he had risen. He emphasized how his resurrection was part of a larger story. He made sure the disciples understood this.
One of the great things about the Olympics is that it is filled with stories that often tie the victories with their stories. A little over a month ago, Joanne Rochette [http://www.cbc.ca/gfx/images/sports/photos/2010/01/13/584-rochette.jpg]
won the bronze metal for women’s figure skating. It was a big celebration for the Canadians to have one of their own on the platform. But as many of you know, there’s more to the story. A few days before, her mother had a major heart attack and died. In less than 48 hours, this 24-year-old was on the ice, skating her heart out in the short-program competition and did a personal best. It’s not just that Rochette won the bronze. It’s that she overcame her grief, kept her self together, and pressed on. She showed herself to be a fighter, a champion. Her bronze metal was part of a story.
Easter does not stand alone. It’s not enough for the disciples (or us) to know that Jesus had risen. It needs to be understood as part of a larger story.
2. The Bible is a unified story about Jesus.
The Bible has 66 books with over 40 authors written over 1500 years. It can be seem disjoined and seem rather confusing.
Jesus says Moses and the prophets and the Psalms speak about Him. These are not separate, individual pieces. Jesus is the centerpiece of the Bible.
The Bible is not primarily a collection of rules or morals. It is not a book of good examples to emulate or bad examples to avoid. It’s not a history of the Jews or bunch of predictions about the future.
Jesus said the Scriptures speak about Him. The OT and NT are woven together around the person and work of Jesus. It’s a rescue story, and Jesus is the rescuer.
The disciples had to have their minds opened to understand the Scriptures. And when our minds are opened, like the 2 travelers, “our hearts burn within us.” We encounter Jesus. It is theologically about Jesus, but it is more than that. It is also spiritually and experientially about Jesus.
3. The Bible is meant to build our faith.
Jesus kept saying that if they believed the Scriptures they would have believed the resurrection. The Scriptures would have prepared their faith.
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. (Romans 10:17)
As mentioned, the Bible is not primarily telling us what we should do. It is primarily telling us about what God does for us—that we would trust Him.
When I put the kids to bed, we usually have a Bible story. I often ask, so whose the hero? God’s the hero! That’s the story. God’s the hero. He rescues, He provides, He heals, He loves, He forgives. We have story after story, promise after promise of His kindness, power, and love. I want my kids to know there’s a mighty and loving God, and they can trust Him.
In our stories today, it is not that the disciples were courageous and strong in their faith. They were filled with doubt, confusion and fear. It is a story about Jesus reaching out to his disciples, revealing Himself, teaching them the Scriptures and building their faith. Jesus is the hero!
That translates to us as well. We may struggle with various fears and doubt, and Jesus is still reaching out, revealing Himself and building our faith.
One of the main ways is through the Bible. When Jesus wanted to help his friends believe the resurrection, he opened the Bible.
Let me encourage us to consider reading the Bible ourselves. In it we can see more of Jesus and have our faith strengthened. Or maybe you’d like to hear more teaching on what the Bible says or join a group where we can study it together. Please feel invited.
4. The story.
So what’s the story? Notice Jesus’ own summary of what the Scriptures say,
“Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. (Luke 24:46-47)
§ Jesus would suffer and die, and on the 3rd day rise from the dead.
§ The significance is that now we can repent and find forgiveness for our sins in Jesus.
§ This forgiveness isn’t just for Jews but for all people, all nations.
Let me give you the short version of the story of the Bible, in 3 chapters.
Creation. In Genesis 1, God created the world. The Bible says that we are not some cosmic accident, but God created this world, and He created us. This is His world, and He chose humans to bear His image and to have a relationship with Him.
Fall. However, in Adam and Eve, humanity rebelled and disobeyed our Creator. We rejected Him and so became guilty and condemned. We didn’t just commit a sin, we became sinners. In our very nature we love ourselves, not God; we elevate ourselves, not God; we serve ourselves, not God. We ignore our Creator, we disobey and disregard Him. We act like He doesn’t exist or doesn’t matter. We’ve rejected Him and replaced Him with ourselves—we live like we are god. So we live in alienation and under condemnation.
Rescue Plan. Though we’ve sinned, God didn’t want us to remain under sin and condemnation. So God implemented a rescue plan. He chose a people, the Jews, from which a Savior would come. This Savior was God Himself who became a man. God got off his heavenly throne and came to live with us, to show us in human form, what God’s love, God’s mercy, God’s glory looks like.
Rescue Plan: the Great Exchange. The plan was that this Savior would perform what some have called the Great Exchange. This perfect God would take upon himself all our selfishness and pride, our violence and greed and lust, our self-righteousness and condescension, and our rebellion against Himself. That’s why Jesus had to suffer—he had to take our punishment. When Jesus died on the cross, he was taking our condemnation, our hell. The cross was part of the plan.
But because Jesus is actually perfectly righteous, because his righteousness is greater than our sinfulness, death could not hold him down. He is more powerful than sin and death. The language in the Bible is that He conquered death itself. So he rose from the dead, showing that he is in fact righteous and victorious over death. In this great exchange, Christ took our sin, and he “credits” us with his righteousness and glory, His purity and love, His victory over death. The Bible talks about how Jesus has gone to prepare a place for us, how we will be physically transformed, how we will participate in Jesus’ own glory.
It is God’s plan to take those who have sinned against and rejected Him, to take their sins and die on the cross, and then to give them his righteousness, give them his victory and glory, to make us acceptable and loved by God.
This isn’t just for Jews. This is for all people. You are invited to be part of this story.
But you have to believe (1) that you’re in a mess, that you need to be rescued, and (2) that in Jesus there is forgiveness and life with God.
5. Its a story of joy, its good news.
We call this message the “gospel,” which simply means “good news.”
It’s easy to overlook a really obvious pattern. In every story we begin with people in grief, sorrow, shock, disappointment and dismay, but upon believing the resurrection, everything changes. There is joy, celebration. Everything changes.
This is good news! There is a God who cares, a Savior who has come, a sacrifice paid, a victory won, a heavenly home prepared, a love demonstrated—that’s what the resurrection means.
Easter is a celebration of joy! We begin that celebration here on earth and then continue it in heaven for the rest of time.