Resurrection of the Real Jesus (Luke 24)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.360 --> 00:00:05.040 If you were with us on Thursday at our Joint Service With Desert Springs Pca, 2 00:00:05.639 --> 00:00:09.390 you had an opportunity to hear a lot from the gospel of Luke. 3 00:00:09.910 --> 00:00:17.469 I want to continue that and here with you, read to you Luke Twenty 4 00:00:17.550 --> 00:00:26.940 Four, Luke Chapter Twenty Four, and consider the resurrection of our Lord. 5 00:00:28.699 --> 00:00:36.649 This is the marvelous word of God. Give your attention to it. But 6 00:00:36.810 --> 00:00:40.969 not but on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they 7 00:00:41.049 --> 00:00:45.649 went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared, and they found 8 00:00:45.649 --> 00:00:49.729 the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they 9 00:00:49.770 --> 00:00:54.759 did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about 10 00:00:54.799 --> 00:01:00.719 this, behold two men stood by them and dazzling apparel. And as they 11 00:01:00.759 --> 00:01:04.590 were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, 12 00:01:06.709 --> 00:01:10.629 why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, 13 00:01:11.510 --> 00:01:15.189 but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still 14 00:01:15.189 --> 00:01:19.219 in Galilee, that the son of man must be delivered into the hands of 15 00:01:19.379 --> 00:01:26.739 sinful men and be crucified. And on the third day rise and they were 16 00:01:27.019 --> 00:01:32.379 embered his words and, returning from the tomb, they told all these things 17 00:01:32.500 --> 00:01:37.170 to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalen and 18 00:01:37.209 --> 00:01:41.209 Joanna and Mary, the mother of James, and the other women with them, 19 00:01:41.370 --> 00:01:46.810 who told these things to the apostles. But these words seemed to them 20 00:01:46.849 --> 00:01:53.000 an idle tale. They did not believe them. But Peter Rose and ran 21 00:01:53.159 --> 00:01:57.120 to the tomb, stopping and looking in, he saw the linen clothes by 22 00:01:57.159 --> 00:02:04.870 themselves, and he went home marveling what had happened. That very day, 23 00:02:05.030 --> 00:02:08.349 two of them were going to a village named Amaeus, about seven miles from 24 00:02:08.389 --> 00:02:14.069 Jerusalem, and they were talking with each other about all these things that had 25 00:02:14.189 --> 00:02:21.580 happened. While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and 26 00:02:21.780 --> 00:02:28.060 went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him, and he 27 00:02:28.180 --> 00:02:30.650 said to them, what is this conversation that you are holding with each other 28 00:02:30.729 --> 00:02:37.930 as you walk? And they stood still, looking sad. Then one of 29 00:02:37.969 --> 00:02:43.969 them, named Cleopus, answered him. Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem 30 00:02:44.319 --> 00:02:47.639 who does not know the things that have happened there in these days? And 31 00:02:47.800 --> 00:02:53.960 he said to them what things? And they said to him concerning Jesus of 32 00:02:53.960 --> 00:02:59.509 Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty indeed, and word before God 33 00:02:59.750 --> 00:03:04.069 and all people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to 34 00:03:04.150 --> 00:03:08.990 be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was 35 00:03:09.069 --> 00:03:14.580 the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it's now 36 00:03:14.620 --> 00:03:19.580 the third day since these things happened. Moreover, some women of our company 37 00:03:19.620 --> 00:03:23.860 amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning and when they 38 00:03:23.900 --> 00:03:28.449 did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen 39 00:03:28.490 --> 00:03:34.610 a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who 40 00:03:34.650 --> 00:03:38.849 are with them are some of those who were with us. went to the 41 00:03:38.930 --> 00:03:42.319 tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not 42 00:03:42.360 --> 00:03:49.800 see and he said to them, oh, foolish ones and slow of heart 43 00:03:49.879 --> 00:03:54.159 to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Was it not necessary that the 44 00:03:54.199 --> 00:04:00.069 Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory? And, beginning with 45 00:04:00.270 --> 00:04:05.789 Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them, in all the scriptures, 46 00:04:06.189 --> 00:04:12.500 the things concerning himself. So they drew near to the village to which 47 00:04:12.500 --> 00:04:15.379 they were going, he acted as if they were going, as if he 48 00:04:15.500 --> 00:04:19.540 were going farther, but they urged him strongly, saying stay with us, 49 00:04:20.060 --> 00:04:25.209 for it is toward evening in the day is now far spent. So he 50 00:04:25.290 --> 00:04:28.810 went in to stay with them. When he was at table with them, 51 00:04:29.569 --> 00:04:33.810 he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them, 52 00:04:35.290 --> 00:04:42.720 and their eyes were opened and they recognized him and he vanished from their sight. 53 00:04:44.160 --> 00:04:46.839 They said to each other, did not our hearts burn within us while 54 00:04:46.879 --> 00:04:50.519 he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the scriptures? 55 00:04:51.240 --> 00:04:56.910 And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem and they found the 56 00:04:57.029 --> 00:05:00.350 eleven and those who are with them gathered together, saying the Lord has risen 57 00:05:00.389 --> 00:05:05.189 indeed and has appeared to Simon. Then they told what had happened on the 58 00:05:05.230 --> 00:05:10.100 road and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread. 59 00:05:10.139 --> 00:05:15.220 As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them and said 60 00:05:15.259 --> 00:05:20.610 to them, peace to you, and they were all startled and frightened and 61 00:05:20.850 --> 00:05:25.209 thought they have saw a spirit. And he said to them, why are 62 00:05:25.250 --> 00:05:30.370 you troubled and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and 63 00:05:30.050 --> 00:05:36.600 my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, for 64 00:05:36.720 --> 00:05:41.240 spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see that I have. 65 00:05:42.639 --> 00:05:45.720 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet 66 00:05:46.920 --> 00:05:50.750 and, while they still disbelieved for joy they were marveling, he said to 67 00:05:50.829 --> 00:05:55.910 them, have you anything here to eat? They gave him a piece of 68 00:05:55.990 --> 00:06:00.829 broiled fish and he took it and ate it before them. Then he said 69 00:06:00.870 --> 00:06:04.540 to them, these are my words that I spoke to you while I was 70 00:06:04.779 --> 00:06:10.779 still with you, that everything written about me and the Law of Moses and 71 00:06:11.180 --> 00:06:17.379 the Prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled. Then he opened their minds to 72 00:06:17.540 --> 00:06:23.930 understand the scriptures and said to them thus it is written, that the Christ 73 00:06:24.170 --> 00:06:29.769 should suffer on the third day rise, that the Christ should suffer and on 74 00:06:29.850 --> 00:06:33.319 the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins 75 00:06:33.680 --> 00:06:40.079 should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You 76 00:06:40.199 --> 00:06:44.600 are witnesses of these things and behold, I'm sending the promise of my father 77 00:06:44.639 --> 00:06:48.829 upon you, but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from 78 00:06:48.870 --> 00:06:53.629 on high. Then he led them out as far as Bethany and, lifting 79 00:06:53.670 --> 00:06:57.269 up his hands, he blessed them while he blessed them, he parted from 80 00:06:57.269 --> 00:07:02.779 them and was carried up into heaven and they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem 81 00:07:02.860 --> 00:07:15.769 with great joy and were continually in the temple blessing God. Well, I 82 00:07:15.850 --> 00:07:32.600 think I'm done. It's so clear, isn't it? And yet so many 83 00:07:32.639 --> 00:07:42.920 people struggle to see. The disciples struggled to see. There he was, 84 00:07:43.360 --> 00:07:49.949 standing in their midst, with holes in his body, flesh and bones, 85 00:07:50.470 --> 00:07:55.870 eating with them, talking to them with his voice, his words, telling 86 00:07:55.949 --> 00:08:01.980 the things he saw him and they still struggled to disbelieve, or struggled to 87 00:08:01.060 --> 00:08:07.699 believe. They were disbelieving, though not fully. There was a kind of 88 00:08:07.779 --> 00:08:13.089 marveling, a joy, of hope and expectancy. But even when he was 89 00:08:13.209 --> 00:08:18.250 there in front of them, they couldn't see. Now, with the disciples 90 00:08:18.370 --> 00:08:24.810 on the road, he hit it from them. Somehow, by his grade 91 00:08:24.850 --> 00:08:28.800 and divine power, he was able to hide his hide who he was. 92 00:08:30.959 --> 00:08:35.960 He was able to keep himself from being recognized by them. But that didn't 93 00:08:35.000 --> 00:08:39.759 happen when he got to the room with the other apostles. He was very 94 00:08:39.799 --> 00:08:41.509 straightforward with him. He's less here, who at this is who I am. 95 00:08:41.629 --> 00:08:52.029 And yet they still struggled to see with the sense of understanding. I 96 00:08:52.149 --> 00:08:56.940 think that we experience this from time to time with with regular people. I 97 00:08:58.019 --> 00:09:01.100 have you ever thought that you knew someone well and then found out that you 98 00:09:01.220 --> 00:09:05.419 didn't? Maybe you are chatting with someone in a doctor's office, only to 99 00:09:05.500 --> 00:09:09.259 find out, what you read the reach the exam room, that it was 100 00:09:09.340 --> 00:09:13.009 the doctor you were talking to. Or maybe you were close to a person 101 00:09:13.090 --> 00:09:20.850 that you thought was trustworthy and then found out they weren't. These experiences aren't 102 00:09:20.889 --> 00:09:24.799 fun, when we sort of think we understand and know what's going on, 103 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:30.159 but then find out that we don't. They are embarrassing and humbling. But 104 00:09:31.080 --> 00:09:35.919 if we're honest, we know that knowing the truth is always better. It's 105 00:09:35.960 --> 00:09:41.750 always better, and I want to tell you the truth about Jesus. I 106 00:09:41.909 --> 00:09:46.710 want to tell you the truth about Jesus today. Of course, it might 107 00:09:46.750 --> 00:09:52.509 be uncomfortable at times. It requires a certain amount of humility to check our 108 00:09:52.590 --> 00:09:56.220 pride at the door and ask do we really know this Jesus that we hear 109 00:09:56.259 --> 00:10:03.740 about in the Scriptures? It's uncomfortable, but but trust me, it's better. 110 00:10:03.860 --> 00:10:07.809 It's better to be uncomfortable and know the real Jesus. Then to be 111 00:10:07.929 --> 00:10:15.250 comfortable and not know him. It's important that you know the real Jesus, 112 00:10:15.409 --> 00:10:18.409 that you know who he is, that you can see him for what he 113 00:10:18.610 --> 00:10:24.000 is. But many people do not know him. They think they know him, 114 00:10:24.000 --> 00:10:30.879 but they really don't. Now I'm not playing games here or overstating anything. 115 00:10:30.919 --> 00:10:35.559 I really mean in the very plainest sense that many, many people, 116 00:10:35.549 --> 00:10:41.909 maybe even some of you, simply don't know who Jesus really is. I'm 117 00:10:41.990 --> 00:10:48.029 not talking about underestimating him, we all do that. I'm not talking about 118 00:10:48.029 --> 00:10:54.860 doubting him more than we should. Guilty as charged. I'm just talking about 119 00:10:54.299 --> 00:11:01.059 having a basically correct idea about who Jesus is and what he's doing in the 120 00:11:01.139 --> 00:11:07.049 world. Just a basic, basic understanding of who Jesus is and what he's 121 00:11:07.090 --> 00:11:15.049 doing. As I say, not understanding Jesus's identity and mission is not a 122 00:11:15.129 --> 00:11:20.799 new problem. His own disciples were struggling with it even after the resurrection. 123 00:11:24.360 --> 00:11:28.279 But before we talk about that and we're going to think about his time and 124 00:11:28.399 --> 00:11:31.440 how it is that he showed himself to these disciples on the road, I 125 00:11:31.519 --> 00:11:37.830 want to sort of step aside here and have a little sidebar discussion and talk 126 00:11:37.990 --> 00:11:43.909 about the resurrection itself. I want to remind you that we are in fact 127 00:11:43.309 --> 00:11:50.820 talking about a historical event here, something that actually happened. Right these men 128 00:11:50.940 --> 00:11:54.059 that were going on the road. We're not discussing a kind of fury. 129 00:11:56.259 --> 00:12:01.090 They were not sort of speculating about interesting spiritual things that may or may not 130 00:12:01.250 --> 00:12:07.210 be they say to Jesus when he asked them, not knowing who he is, 131 00:12:07.490 --> 00:12:11.370 just a man on the road, and he says what things I say. 132 00:12:11.370 --> 00:12:15.009 Are you nuts? Do you have no idea? Are you not? 133 00:12:15.169 --> 00:12:18.399 I think it's sort of sarcastic. Are you the only person in Jerusalem who 134 00:12:18.440 --> 00:12:22.639 has not the word? Is Not around and didn't see what was going on 135 00:12:24.360 --> 00:12:31.750 there? Are living in this very difficult moment. I think Jerusalem would have 136 00:12:31.789 --> 00:12:35.990 been a fairly stressful place to live in around the death of Jesus. You 137 00:12:37.149 --> 00:12:41.950 have mobs in the streets, crowds of people, your leaders, your priests, 138 00:12:43.149 --> 00:12:50.620 they are obviously afraid, grabbing for power of a crucifixion. Happens? 139 00:12:50.220 --> 00:12:54.299 Pilot, the Roman governor, is doesn't seem entirely steady on his feet. 140 00:12:56.100 --> 00:13:03.769 It's a very tumultuous time and just as you think sort of things might be 141 00:13:03.850 --> 00:13:11.529 settling well, least that's all over. Jesus is dead. They're sad, 142 00:13:11.690 --> 00:13:16.559 of course that says. They're sad. They're frustrated. They thought he was 143 00:13:16.639 --> 00:13:20.000 going to be the one to redeem Israel. Everyone's kind of trying to short 144 00:13:20.080 --> 00:13:24.360 through their feelings when all of a sudden, these women say he's not there. 145 00:13:26.720 --> 00:13:31.509 The tomb is empty, the tomb that had a giant stone rolled over 146 00:13:31.549 --> 00:13:35.590 it, the tomb that the Jews and the Romans were protecting to make sure 147 00:13:37.070 --> 00:13:43.299 no one would steal the body. It's empty. Jesus and isn't there. 148 00:13:43.580 --> 00:13:48.779 And, moreover, there are angels. We are seeing angels who are telling 149 00:13:48.860 --> 00:13:56.049 us that he's alive, that he's risen. There wasn't just one person saying 150 00:13:56.090 --> 00:13:58.570 these things, it was multiples, please people saying these things, and Peter 151 00:13:58.730 --> 00:14:03.929 himself goes to check it out, see if it's true, and sure enough, 152 00:14:03.090 --> 00:14:09.639 nobody, no one in the history of the world ever produced a dead 153 00:14:09.720 --> 00:14:15.279 body. No one ever said, you guys are all liars. He's obviously 154 00:14:15.360 --> 00:14:18.480 over here. You got the wrong tomb, or yeah, we stole it, 155 00:14:18.679 --> 00:14:26.590 or here he is. The evidence for the resurrection is Piling Up, 156 00:14:26.870 --> 00:14:35.029 piling up history. Christianity is rooted in history. It's a historical faith. 157 00:14:35.029 --> 00:14:41.100 It's a historically rooted faith that people are talking in this way, because it's 158 00:14:41.139 --> 00:14:43.899 the life that they're living. They're all having to deal with the fact that 159 00:14:45.340 --> 00:14:52.970 the one that they crucified is now alive. In the history of the world, 160 00:14:54.169 --> 00:14:58.210 no one had ever risen from the dead like this, the way that 161 00:14:58.330 --> 00:15:05.370 Jesus had, and this was not something that was an accident or surprise. 162 00:15:05.490 --> 00:15:09.200 As we read several times in this chapter, Jesus had been telling them that 163 00:15:09.360 --> 00:15:13.559 this would happen. Not only did Jesus tell him, but all the Old 164 00:15:13.600 --> 00:15:18.600 Testament was telling him that this would happen. It's because of this fact that 165 00:15:18.679 --> 00:15:24.309 the Apostle Paul says that if Jesus did not rise from the dead, our 166 00:15:24.429 --> 00:15:31.509 faith in him is worthless. That's true. Jesus Promises Eternal Life, he 167 00:15:31.629 --> 00:15:37.059 promises forgiveness of sins, he promises freedom from the bondage of Satan's and all 168 00:15:37.139 --> 00:15:41.659 of this through his work on the cross, and that work is proved true 169 00:15:41.740 --> 00:15:48.379 when he rises from the dead. If Jesus had not risen from the dead, 170 00:15:48.419 --> 00:15:52.169 he would have been just like any other person who had come along, 171 00:15:52.210 --> 00:15:56.330 every other great teacher, every other person, though small in number, who 172 00:15:56.330 --> 00:16:00.889 had done miracles in the world. But he also would have been a liar, 173 00:16:03.210 --> 00:16:07.720 because he said he would rise, he said he was the son of 174 00:16:07.799 --> 00:16:12.159 God, he said that he was powerful over all the things in this world 175 00:16:12.320 --> 00:16:19.909 that bring us fear. But Jesus wasn't a liar. And yet, for 176 00:16:21.070 --> 00:16:23.590 some reason, and I've experienced this personally in talking with people, it's like 177 00:16:23.629 --> 00:16:30.509 they've never thought about this. They just assume, without any thinking, that 178 00:16:30.590 --> 00:16:36.779 the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, an empty tomb, because he rose 179 00:16:36.860 --> 00:16:41.379 from the dead, as simply impossible. And then when you press them on 180 00:16:41.500 --> 00:16:45.460 this point, they hem and haw and come up with some kind of hair 181 00:16:45.620 --> 00:16:52.049 brained explanation without really working it out, without really thinking. What other possibility 182 00:16:52.250 --> 00:16:55.570 is there? Not only is this what he said was going to happen, 183 00:16:56.129 --> 00:17:00.850 not only was he powerful to make it happen, but all the evidence points 184 00:17:00.889 --> 00:17:06.039 to the fact that it would happen. Maybe you've heard some of these responses 185 00:17:06.079 --> 00:17:08.799 and I want to share some of them with you, some common examples and 186 00:17:10.960 --> 00:17:17.029 and I'll share all. So some following responses written by a PC, a 187 00:17:17.150 --> 00:17:22.789 pastor in San Diego named Nick Davis. So one option is swoon theory. 188 00:17:22.950 --> 00:17:27.750 Perhaps you've heard of this. Basically, this is the faking faking it theory. 189 00:17:29.910 --> 00:17:33.859 The swoon theory claims that Jesus fainted on the cross, awoke in the 190 00:17:33.980 --> 00:17:37.980 tomb sort of starry eyed and a little day, a little days, and 191 00:17:38.059 --> 00:17:44.099 then got up and left right he he didn't merely he didn't rise from the 192 00:17:44.180 --> 00:17:51.849 dead, he just sort of resuscitated himself. Now this might seem plausible, 193 00:17:51.890 --> 00:17:57.640 I suspect, if you didn't know what a crucifixion was. Can you imagine? 194 00:17:59.559 --> 00:18:02.119 Some of you, you know, you get a cold and no one 195 00:18:02.200 --> 00:18:07.000 can rise you from your bed. Jesus, when he went to the cross, 196 00:18:08.359 --> 00:18:15.190 he was flogged, he was beaten, he was tortured, they drove 197 00:18:15.349 --> 00:18:21.670 nails through him, they drove a spear through him. The Romans were practitioners 198 00:18:21.869 --> 00:18:26.980 of this, they were experts at crucifying people. They made sure that it 199 00:18:27.019 --> 00:18:32.900 would happen. And even if Jesus happened to have survived all of these terrible 200 00:18:33.019 --> 00:18:38.579 things that he had to endure in and before the crucifixion, can you imagine? 201 00:18:41.250 --> 00:18:44.769 Well, it's hard for me to imagine how, any how anyone would 202 00:18:44.769 --> 00:18:49.730 survive that and they made sure that he didn't to a cross and the asphyxiation 203 00:18:49.890 --> 00:18:53.490 that would have happened from hanging there and not being able to breathe and all 204 00:18:53.569 --> 00:18:57.920 the rest, that somehow he would have had the strength and health condition to 205 00:18:59.160 --> 00:19:06.240 roll away a giant stone, overpower the Roman Guard ords and disappear into the 206 00:19:06.240 --> 00:19:14.349 night with no one seeing the swoon theory Jesus faked it. He faked his 207 00:19:14.470 --> 00:19:19.390 own crucifixion. It doesn't account for the evidence, it just makes an idea 208 00:19:19.470 --> 00:19:23.380 up and doesn't think about the things that would have happened, the things that 209 00:19:23.819 --> 00:19:30.420 both Christians and non Christians would have testified to. The Romans would have most 210 00:19:30.460 --> 00:19:33.940 certainly said no, we did our job, we did it right. Do 211 00:19:33.980 --> 00:19:37.299 you think pilot would have admitted to the fact that he somehow got it wrong? 212 00:19:38.410 --> 00:19:41.809 It was his job to get it was right. It was the Roman 213 00:19:41.930 --> 00:19:45.130 soldiers job to get it right. They had no interest, no motivation to 214 00:19:45.210 --> 00:19:52.809 to to get this wrong, that these facts are sort of just dismissed by 215 00:19:52.920 --> 00:20:02.039 people without any thought. Another example. Maybe Jesus body was stolen, but 216 00:20:02.160 --> 00:20:07.950 again, who had a motivation to steal Jesus's body? The Romans wanted Jesus 217 00:20:07.990 --> 00:20:11.789 to die. The Jews wanted Jesus to die. It was very much in 218 00:20:11.869 --> 00:20:15.670 their interest to make sure that he died, and they did. The disciples 219 00:20:15.710 --> 00:20:19.670 had no motive either. They believed they're BESIAH was dead. They were sad, 220 00:20:19.869 --> 00:20:25.380 they were scared, they were sort of planning and coluding and waiting, 221 00:20:25.579 --> 00:20:29.339 and then even when people of their own number said he's alive, they didn't 222 00:20:29.339 --> 00:20:36.210 believe them. Why with the disciple steal a body that was dead? Why 223 00:20:36.250 --> 00:20:40.329 would the disciples steal a body whenn't it was all over and they were going 224 00:20:40.410 --> 00:20:45.250 to be in trouble and then grant the point, say perhaps that they did 225 00:20:45.410 --> 00:20:48.650 steal the body? Is it likely that twelve people that had been able to 226 00:20:48.690 --> 00:20:53.640 undergree, be able to agree on things, get along serve one another during 227 00:20:53.680 --> 00:21:00.200 Jesus's ministry would all of a sudden have an air tight agreement with one another 228 00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:03.950 and be and twelve people would be able to deceive the world and never spill 229 00:21:04.029 --> 00:21:11.029 the beans? No again, these are just I call them hairbrain. These 230 00:21:11.109 --> 00:21:17.869 just the sort of ideas. While perhaps this happened, the ideas get crazier. 231 00:21:18.059 --> 00:21:25.099 Maybe thousands of people were hallucinating at one time. Maybe they all, 232 00:21:25.180 --> 00:21:29.220 at the same moment and in the same way, had the exact same vision 233 00:21:29.619 --> 00:21:37.210 hallucinating. This is not how hallucinations work. They're experienced by individuals do disorders, 234 00:21:38.329 --> 00:21:42.049 they're nervous systems, drugs, these kinds of things. To claim that 235 00:21:42.130 --> 00:21:48.079 over threezero people share the exact hallucination at the same time and we're called everything 236 00:21:48.119 --> 00:21:57.680 in the same way just doesn't seem that compelling, does it? Well, 237 00:21:59.119 --> 00:22:03.750 I won't bother to go on and talk about alien abductions and whatnot. The 238 00:22:03.869 --> 00:22:11.069 point is, which I'm trying to encourage you, and perhaps a little bit 239 00:22:11.109 --> 00:22:17.180 of a mocking way, is to just think about it. If you have 240 00:22:17.339 --> 00:22:22.539 doubts about the resurrection, just spend some time thinking about it, give some 241 00:22:22.779 --> 00:22:27.900 thought to the evidence that there is and ask yourself what makes sense of the 242 00:22:27.940 --> 00:22:36.609 data. Jesus was clearly crucified. He actually died. He was buried in 243 00:22:36.690 --> 00:22:40.809 a tomb. These things are documented, these things are witnessed. He was 244 00:22:40.890 --> 00:22:45.759 found missing from the tomb and Jesus is followers claim to have seen a risen 245 00:22:45.839 --> 00:22:52.319 Jesus. It wasn't just one person or two people or a room full of 246 00:22:52.480 --> 00:22:56.799 people, but it was hundreds of people who saw Jesus and testify to the 247 00:22:56.839 --> 00:23:02.710 fact and even died for the fact that he rose again from the dead. 248 00:23:03.710 --> 00:23:07.670 People that, at his death were denying it and saying I don't know him. 249 00:23:07.150 --> 00:23:14.180 Now all of a sudden will say take my life. You see, 250 00:23:14.900 --> 00:23:21.700 at the crucifixion they all thought it was game over. They thought Jesus had 251 00:23:22.259 --> 00:23:25.460 failed in his task, or at least the thing that they were all hoping 252 00:23:25.539 --> 00:23:30.569 he would do he failed to accomplish. But in the resurrection they realized, 253 00:23:32.089 --> 00:23:37.049 Oh no, he did accomplish it and in fact he accomplished much more than 254 00:23:37.089 --> 00:23:41.250 we ever thought he was going to do. And that brings us back to 255 00:23:41.410 --> 00:23:45.039 that road and the two disciples there and to the room with the other apostles. 256 00:23:47.559 --> 00:23:52.440 They didn't understand who Jesus was, even though they've known him, even 257 00:23:52.440 --> 00:23:56.230 though they had been around him and they clearly had big ideas about him, 258 00:23:57.190 --> 00:24:04.470 they didn't really know who he was. Think about what they say to him, 259 00:24:07.150 --> 00:24:11.259 about him. They call him Jesus of Nazareth. Correct. They say 260 00:24:11.460 --> 00:24:15.220 in versus, in Verse Nineteen, that he was a prophet, correct mighty 261 00:24:15.339 --> 00:24:19.539 indeed, and word before God and all the people. Correct. How our 262 00:24:19.539 --> 00:24:25.089 chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, correct and 263 00:24:25.289 --> 00:24:30.650 crucified him correct but then Verse Twenty One. But we had hoped that he 264 00:24:30.769 --> 00:24:38.960 was the one to redeem Israel. You See, they're sad, they're disappointed. 265 00:24:41.279 --> 00:24:47.799 They had expected that Jesus was going to save his people, but instead 266 00:24:47.799 --> 00:24:55.230 he was crucified. They ultimately they were disappointed. He must not have been 267 00:24:55.269 --> 00:25:00.589 the great and conquering and King that they were waiting for. But something at 268 00:25:00.670 --> 00:25:04.309 that moment, on that day, was weird. was happening, something they 269 00:25:04.309 --> 00:25:07.460 didn't fully understand. They tell him these events and they say, but there's 270 00:25:07.500 --> 00:25:14.299 this other thing. We've just recently heard about an empty tomb, and we're 271 00:25:14.299 --> 00:25:18.019 not really sure what to make of it. The women were reporting they'd seen 272 00:25:18.059 --> 00:25:23.089 an empty tomb, angels that Jesus was were alive. Others were Corrob Coorse, 273 00:25:23.289 --> 00:25:26.529 corroborating this, but no one, no one knew where Jesus was. 274 00:25:29.329 --> 00:25:33.730 Of course he was standing right there with them. An amazing thing, I 275 00:25:33.849 --> 00:25:37.680 think. A really interesting question to ask at this point then, is why 276 00:25:37.720 --> 00:25:44.279 wouldn't Jesus reveal himself to them? Is An interesting question. There they are 277 00:25:44.519 --> 00:25:48.559 wondering questions. They obviously were loyal to them. Why didn't he reveal himself 278 00:25:48.599 --> 00:25:56.670 to them say here I am. If he had, wouldn't they have immediately 279 00:25:56.710 --> 00:26:00.549 believed? They wanted to believed, they were primed to believed. They wished 280 00:26:00.630 --> 00:26:07.220 he were alive, but Jesus didn't let them recognize him because he knew that, 281 00:26:07.380 --> 00:26:12.619 despite these positive signs, there was something really basic in their understanding that 282 00:26:12.859 --> 00:26:18.569 was missing. Do you know what it is yet? Do you know what 283 00:26:18.730 --> 00:26:23.569 the essential truth is that they did not get? He says that they verse 284 00:26:23.650 --> 00:26:32.650 Twenty Five, the reverse, twenty six. Was it not necessary that the 285 00:26:32.730 --> 00:26:42.079 Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory? That was the part 286 00:26:42.559 --> 00:26:48.190 that everyone had a hard time understanding, though. He said it plainly many 287 00:26:48.309 --> 00:26:52.349 times, though. The entire Old Testament testified to it, and he would 288 00:26:52.349 --> 00:26:56.910 spend some time with them showing them that. And then, perhaps the most 289 00:26:56.910 --> 00:27:02.500 amazing Bible lesson of all time, Jesus spend some time with these men on 290 00:27:02.539 --> 00:27:06.900 the road and he went through the most went through the Old Testament and said 291 00:27:06.940 --> 00:27:12.220 here's how it all talks about me. Now, they'll say later after he 292 00:27:12.420 --> 00:27:18.650 disappears. Wasn't weren't our hearts burning in within us when we said those things 293 00:27:19.930 --> 00:27:26.369 they say to each other. In a way, weren't we seeing Jesus, 294 00:27:26.410 --> 00:27:33.000 even while we didn't yet see him? By pointing them not just to the 295 00:27:33.119 --> 00:27:37.079 fact that he would come and that the Messiah would come, but that it 296 00:27:37.240 --> 00:27:41.799 was necessary for him to suffer and die. That Gospel message, that that 297 00:27:42.640 --> 00:27:48.710 important, critical piece of information. That's what Jesus was telling them. And 298 00:27:48.829 --> 00:27:52.390 the more and more they heard it, the more and more the she he 299 00:27:52.549 --> 00:27:56.109 heard the voice of the shepherd and recognized it and they said that's him. 300 00:27:57.700 --> 00:28:03.019 And in the same way they did, we do. We don't see Jesus 301 00:28:03.099 --> 00:28:07.180 with our eyes, but our hearts burn within us when we hear his words, 302 00:28:07.180 --> 00:28:11.779 when we know him and come to recognize him. And that's what Jesus 303 00:28:11.859 --> 00:28:18.730 did for them. He wanted them to recognize that this suffering, that is 304 00:28:18.809 --> 00:28:23.250 humiliation, that is where things were found. I think that if he had 305 00:28:23.250 --> 00:28:26.799 a merely appeared to him, they would have gone back to all their old 306 00:28:26.839 --> 00:28:32.960 presuppositions. All the the cross didn't really matter. Here you are after all, 307 00:28:33.039 --> 00:28:37.920 and now look, you're you're even stronger, right. But he wanted 308 00:28:37.960 --> 00:28:44.069 them to see that the cross was absolutely necessary. They thought it was unnecessary. 309 00:28:44.390 --> 00:28:48.549 They thought the Cross was the the big thing that made everything fall apart, 310 00:28:49.069 --> 00:28:55.900 but it was just the opposite. The Cross itself was glorious, powerful 311 00:28:56.180 --> 00:29:03.900 and effective for the redemption of Israel. Jeremy Treat in a really wonderful book 312 00:29:03.900 --> 00:29:07.940 called the crucified King As commenting on the gospel of John, and puts it 313 00:29:08.059 --> 00:29:15.049 this way. For John, everything is moving towards this climactic hour when Jesus, 314 00:29:15.170 --> 00:29:21.210 being lifted up on the cross, is truly being enthrall owned in glory. 315 00:29:22.210 --> 00:29:26.119 It was on the cross that glory happened, and before the Cross too, 316 00:29:27.319 --> 00:29:32.519 but the cross itself demonstrated the glory of God. He was lifted up. 317 00:29:32.559 --> 00:29:37.670 Jesus didn't become a king after his resurrection. The Cross didn't thwart his 318 00:29:37.829 --> 00:29:42.029 kingship. He was a king from the very, very beginning, when he 319 00:29:42.150 --> 00:29:47.269 was born as a king, when he was announced as a king by the 320 00:29:47.430 --> 00:29:51.950 angels, when he lived his life as a king, when he died as 321 00:29:52.029 --> 00:29:57.900 a king. Continuing the quote, the Cross becomes not only the center of 322 00:29:59.019 --> 00:30:03.579 redemptive history, but the full crem on which the logic of the world is 323 00:30:03.700 --> 00:30:10.730 turned upside down. Shame is transformed into glory, humiliation is exaltation, foolishness 324 00:30:10.769 --> 00:30:15.609 is wisdom and the cross is the throne from which Christ rules the world. 325 00:30:15.650 --> 00:30:25.799 John Calvin calls the cross the Triumphal Chariot of Christ. You see how different 326 00:30:25.880 --> 00:30:29.200 that is from the conception of the disciples. In the conception of the people 327 00:30:29.279 --> 00:30:33.599 in that room and maybe the conception of some of us here, some of 328 00:30:33.640 --> 00:30:38.910 US see Jesus is perhaps this excellent man who did these wonderful things, who 329 00:30:40.029 --> 00:30:45.230 is powerful and good. That's it. The Cross is kind of absent from 330 00:30:45.230 --> 00:30:49.299 our understanding. The resurrection comes to the fore because, well, that's good 331 00:30:49.539 --> 00:30:56.460 and and, I guess significant in some ways. But the resurrection is is 332 00:30:56.819 --> 00:31:03.180 in some ways. It's the culmination of the work on the Cross. It's 333 00:31:03.259 --> 00:31:10.650 the inauguration of the things that were accomplished there in the enthronement. It was 334 00:31:10.730 --> 00:31:14.849 on the cross that we read in Colossians that Jesus put all the powers and 335 00:31:14.930 --> 00:31:19.559 rulers and authorities of the world to shame. Now the world doesn't see that 336 00:31:19.599 --> 00:31:23.920 that way. The world sees the Cross and mocks Jesus. His disciples thought 337 00:31:23.960 --> 00:31:30.799 the Cross was unnecessary, but Jesus wants them to understand that it was absolutely 338 00:31:30.079 --> 00:31:37.829 critical to quote again from Jeremy Treat The resurrection is not the beginning of Christ's 339 00:31:37.869 --> 00:31:44.829 Kingship, but the revelation of Christ's kingship and the inauguration of his kingdom on 340 00:31:45.069 --> 00:31:52.539 Earth. This message that Jesus gave to the disciples on the road to Amus 341 00:31:53.539 --> 00:31:56.420 is the message that he would then give to his disciples as well, or 342 00:31:56.500 --> 00:32:06.490 as up the apostles. The these men on the road, they're planning to 343 00:32:06.529 --> 00:32:12.049 go to amaus. They checking into the hotel. Jesus break spread with them, 344 00:32:12.170 --> 00:32:17.559 right, he observes, he gives them the Lord's supper. Their eyes 345 00:32:17.599 --> 00:32:22.359 are open. Then all of a sudden they see him physically, they recognize 346 00:32:22.400 --> 00:32:27.680 him for who is, and then he vanishes right and then what do they 347 00:32:27.720 --> 00:32:32.509 do? They throw there, you know, Hotel keys at the desk and 348 00:32:32.630 --> 00:32:37.029 they book it. They leave. They run back to Jerusalem and they say 349 00:32:37.470 --> 00:32:42.630 he is here. They meet with the disciples that very night. They head 350 00:32:42.710 --> 00:32:45.900 back and they say, we saw him, and then Jesus appears to them 351 00:32:45.940 --> 00:32:52.859 all again and he does the exact same thing in verse forty four. These 352 00:32:52.900 --> 00:32:54.579 are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you. 353 00:32:55.019 --> 00:33:00.089 That everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the 354 00:33:00.130 --> 00:33:05.410 psalms must be fulfilled. Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures and 355 00:33:05.569 --> 00:33:08.329 said to them. Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer on 356 00:33:08.450 --> 00:33:16.880 the third day and rise again from the dead. The Cross of Christ is 357 00:33:17.119 --> 00:33:23.240 necessary because this is how the Lord becomes king, and he becomes king in 358 00:33:23.440 --> 00:33:28.589 this way and in this way alone, because of what he says in Verse 359 00:33:29.549 --> 00:33:37.269 Forty Seven, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his 360 00:33:37.430 --> 00:33:43.460 name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You See, we like to 361 00:33:43.500 --> 00:33:46.420 skip over the cross of Christ, because the Cross of Christ condemns us. 362 00:33:47.700 --> 00:33:53.099 The Cross of Christ tells us about our sins. It makes us look at 363 00:33:53.140 --> 00:33:57.609 them and see what it is they deserve, and we don't like that. 364 00:34:01.289 --> 00:34:08.489 It hurts to think that the son of God, the most lovely thing and 365 00:34:09.079 --> 00:34:16.480 all the world and all time in and all space, died because of my 366 00:34:17.639 --> 00:34:32.989 nastiness, my corruption, my pollution, my sins. I deserve that, 367 00:34:35.230 --> 00:34:42.940 not him. The judgment of God for sins is something that I deserve, 368 00:34:44.739 --> 00:34:52.860 not him. And yet he went and he didn't do it because he was 369 00:34:52.969 --> 00:34:55.650 forced to. He didn't do it because he fell into it by accident. 370 00:34:57.969 --> 00:35:05.329 He did it willingly, deliberately. For All of human history, God had 371 00:35:05.409 --> 00:35:10.559 been saying, I'm going to do this thing from the very moment of the 372 00:35:10.760 --> 00:35:15.320 after the very first sin, God said to Adam and Eve, I will 373 00:35:15.360 --> 00:35:22.869 give you a son and he will be bruised, but he will crush the 374 00:35:22.630 --> 00:35:29.429 head of the deceiver, he will destroy evil and the evil one and he 375 00:35:29.550 --> 00:35:37.300 will make things right. Jesus would make things right, but he would be 376 00:35:37.539 --> 00:35:44.380 bruised, he would die, as the whole sacrificial system taught us, as 377 00:35:44.500 --> 00:35:49.219 the life of the Kings would taught would teach us, as the prophets would 378 00:35:49.219 --> 00:35:53.090 tell us over and over again throughout the scriptures. This was pointing that they 379 00:35:53.250 --> 00:35:59.050 pointed to this fact. All this to say and to remind you, that 380 00:35:59.090 --> 00:36:05.880 Jesus wasn't pushed into this. It was planned before the beginning of the world, 381 00:36:07.800 --> 00:36:10.960 and that's important because it means that Jesus came and did what he did 382 00:36:12.840 --> 00:36:21.349 in love. The Cross of Christ was necessary because Jesus loved us. The 383 00:36:21.510 --> 00:36:28.030 Cross of Christ is necessary. The suffering was necessary because Jesus wanted repentance and 384 00:36:28.190 --> 00:36:32.059 the forgiveness of sins to be proclaimed throughout the world in his name. He 385 00:36:32.300 --> 00:36:38.260 wanted you to know that your salvation is accomplished. And if you have any 386 00:36:38.300 --> 00:36:44.860 doubts about that, just look at the empty tomb and hear the words of 387 00:36:44.980 --> 00:36:51.130 Mary and Joanna and Peter and these disciples on the road and all and and 388 00:36:51.730 --> 00:36:57.969 Paul, and hear them testifying to you, saying he has risen, he 389 00:36:58.050 --> 00:37:02.639 has risen. Indeed, the world has changed. Everything that we were waiting 390 00:37:02.679 --> 00:37:09.039 for and hoping for has been accomplished. Jesus didn't die and stay dead. 391 00:37:09.360 --> 00:37:17.309 He is a king. He indeed entered into his kingdom. This is the 392 00:37:17.429 --> 00:37:22.710 truth about who Jesus is, and this is what I want you to know. 393 00:37:23.110 --> 00:37:28.789 More importantly, it's what God wants you to know, that Jesus came 394 00:37:28.829 --> 00:37:37.980 as he did for a reason, on purpose. These things were necessary and 395 00:37:37.139 --> 00:37:47.090 in accomplishing them, he saved the world from its sin. So repent, 396 00:37:50.010 --> 00:37:58.489 believe, trust, do not wait for some kind of glory to come apart 397 00:37:58.530 --> 00:38:01.719 from the Cross of Christ, there is no other. In him and in 398 00:38:01.760 --> 00:38:07.360 him alone, we have everything that we need. Let us pray