The Lord Has Really Risen (Luke 24:1-35)
INTRODUCTION:
He is Risen! (He is Risen indeed!) This morning we celebrate the greatest, most important event that has ever taken place, the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. If Christ had not risen from the dead, His death on the cross would have been for nothing. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:16-18, “For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of all men most to be pitied.” (1 Corinthians 15:16–19, NASB95)[1] The truth is the tomb is empty, and Jesus Christ is risen, and the Scriptures give us the testimonies of the eye witnesses that saw Him alive after His resurrection. Luke records the events that took place that first morning, he writes in Luke 24:1-12, “But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing; and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, ‘Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’ And they remembered His words, and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now they were Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James; also the other women with them were telling these things to the apostles. But these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings only; and he went away to his home, marveling at what had happened.” (Luke 24:1–12, NASB95)[2] The tomb was empty, the angels had told the women that Jesus Christ had risen from the dead just as He had told them. This is the event that took place early on that Sunday morning. Let’s pray and then look at our Scripture for this morning.
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles this morning to Luke 24:13-35, this will be our jumping off point this morning. We will be focusing mainly on one verse in this passage that will take us back to the Old Testament. Please stand, if you are able, in respect and honor of the reading of God’s Word.
Luke 24:13-35,
“And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them. But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him. And He said to them, ‘What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?’ And they stood still, looking sad. One of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, ‘Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?’ And He said to them, ‘What things?’ And they said to Him, ‘The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to the sentence of death, and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened. But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see.’ And He said to them, ‘O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?’ Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures. And they approached the village where they were going, and He acted as though He were going farther. But they urged Him, saying, ‘Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening, and the day is now nearly over.’ So He went in to stay with them. When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight. They said to one another, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?’ And they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found gathered together the eleven and those who were with them, saying, ‘The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon.’ They began to relate their experiences on the road and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.” (Luke 24:13–35, NASB95)[3]
WERE NOT OUR HEARTS BURNING WITHIN US (Luke 24:32)
Jesus appeared to two disciples in the afternoon of that first day of the week, the day He had risen from the dead. These two were returning home after being in Jerusalem for the Passover. Their home was in Emmaus, a town about seven miles northwest of Jerusalem. The name of one of the disciples was Cleopas and the other disciple is not named but it is possible they were related, two brothers or a father and son. As they were making their way home, Jesus approached them and began walking with them and conversing with them. When He had approached, they were talking about all that had happened in Jerusalem that week and Jesus began to question them about the events. They related the events, the crucifixion of Jesus and His burial and then the amazing story of the women who had gone early that morning to the tomb with more spices to anoint the body of Jesus, only to find the tomb open and empty when they arrived and then they saw angels who told them Jesus had risen and was alive. Some had gone to investigate what the women said and found the tomb empty, but they did not see angels or Jesus. Upon hearing all this Jesus responded, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” (Luke 24:25–26, NASB95)[4] Then Luke records for us, “Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.” (Luke 24:27, NASB95)[5] When these two at last recognized Jesus as He was blessing and breaking the bread in their home, He vanished from their sight. “They said to one another, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?’” (Luke 24:32, NASB95)[6] What was it that Jesus said to them that caused their hearts to burn within them, what did He explain to them about Himself from the Scriptures?
THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS (Luke 24:27)
Verse 27 says that He began with Moses and with all the prophets explaining the things concerning Himself. Moses and the prophets refer to the Old Testament, the Hebrews Scriptures, often called the Law and the Prophets. What did Jesus teach them? I want to spend the time we have remaining looking at some of the Old Testament Scriptures that Jesus may have used to explain the things concerning Himself.
I like to think that Jesus began at the beginning, that He began in the first book of Moses, the book of Genesis and He did not have to go far to come to the first verse that would have been about Him, what theologians call the proto-evangelium or the first gospel. In Genesis 3:15 God made a promise to mankind. This promise was part of the curse God gave to the serpent. God said to Satan, “And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.” (Genesis 3:15, NASB95)[7] God first spoke of the hostility and hatred that would exist between Satan and Eve. This hatred and hostility would grow over the years between Satan’s offspring and the woman’s offspring. Satan’s offspring would refer to those who have chosen to continue in rebellion to God and the woman’s offspring would first refer to those descendants that chose to follow God which eventually included those who believed in the nation of Israel and on down through history. Through all of history there has been enmity between Satan’s followers and God’s followers. God then gets specific and talks of One of Eve’s offspring, this One will bruise or crush Satan on the head, and Satan will bruise His heel. Jesus would have explained that He is this One and His crucifixion was Satan bruising Him on His heel, but His resurrection from the dead was the crushing blow to Satan’s head sealing His condemnation and judgment forever as Jesus Christ conquered Satan, sin, and death.
Jesus certainly would have directed these two disciples to Numbers 21 where we read of the incident when God sent venomous snakes into the Israelite camp as a punishment for their complaining in which they spoke against God and Moses. The people were being bitten by these snakes and dying and when they repented, Moses interceded for the people and in verses 8-9 we read, “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live.’ And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.” (Numbers 21:8–9, NASB95)[8] Jesus would explain like He did to Nicodemus in John 3 that this serpent on the standard was a picture of Christ’s death on the cross and how looking in faith at the serpent saved those who were bitten, so looking in faith at Christ and His death on the cross saves us from God’s wrath against sin. Jesus had told Nicodemus in John 3:14-15, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.” (John 3:14–15, NASB95)[9]
Jesus may have directed these two disciple’s attention to Psalm 16:10 where David writes concerning the Messiah, “For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; Nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.” (Psalm 16:10, NASB95)[10] Jesus would have explained that this speaks of His resurrection, that His body would not be left in the tomb where it would rot and decay, but that God would raise Him from the dead in triumph.
Certainly, Jesus led them to Psalm 22 where again David writes and in graphic detail describes the crucifixion of Christ before crucifixion was even a form of execution and then over to Psalm 69 where again David describes events that happened at the cross.
From the Psalms Jesus would have led them into the Prophets and coming first to Isaiah would have directed them to Isaiah 53 where again the crucifixion of the Messiah is graphically detailed for us, but not only the crucifixion but also the resurrection. Isaiah 53:10 says, “But the Lord was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.” (Isaiah 53:10, NASB95)[11] Jesus would rise and live to see His offspring, those who come to faith in Him, His days will be prolonged forever, and the pleasure of God will prosper in His hand as God is pleased with the sacrifice of His Son.
From Isaiah the Lord would have taken them to Jeremiah 23:5-6 where it is prophesied that the Messiah would come from David’s line and that He would bring salvation to Israel and the name by which He will be called is The Lord our righteousness.
Jesus could have taken them to Daniel 9:25-26. In Daniel 9, Daniel is praying, and the angel Gabriel is sent to Daniel to give Him insight and understanding concerning the future. Daniel 9:25-26 says, “So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress. Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.” (Daniel 9:25–26, NASB95)[12] In these verses Gabriel gives Daniel an important revelation concerning the division of the 70 “sevens” or “weeks.” Daniel was told to know and discern from the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be two divisions in the seventy “weeks.” The first will be 7 “weeks” or 49 years and the second will be 62 “weeks” or 434 years. Two things will happen in these two divisions. The first 49 years will begin with a decree to rebuild Jerusalem. This took place on March 5, 444 B.C. when the Persian king Artaxerxes decreed the rebuilding of Jerusalem’s walls. This is recorded for us in Nehemiah 2. The second division of 434 years is ended with the appearance of Messiah, the Prince and this is speaking of Jesus Christ. Now if you have been doing some math in your head you know that 7 “weeks” and 62 “weeks only add up to 69 “weeks” or 483 years. We are lacking one “week” or seven years to make the full 70 “weeks” or 490 years. Gabriel explains this later on in this chapter. Gabriel tells Daniel that in the first division of 49 years that Jerusalem would be rebuilt with a plaza and moat, even in times of distress. The rebuilding of Jerusalem was a 49-year project and from Nehemiah we know how the people building the wall were distressed by the surrounding peoples. Even though the wall was done in 52 days, there was still much work to do as debris and rubble had to be cleared away and the city rebuilt. The plaza speaks of the city streets and squares where the people would assemble. The moat or trench was added protection or fortification of the wall.
Verse 26 says that after the second division of 434 years the Messiah, whom we know to be Jesus Christ, will be cut off and have nothing. This is the exciting part. The 49 years and the 434 years run consecutively with no division between them. They begin on March 5, 444 B.C. and end on March 30, 33 A.D. the very day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the colt of a donkey, fulfilling the prophecy of Zechariah 9:9. The holiday of Palm Sunday which we celebrated last Sunday. Jesus in that one dramatic public act declared Himself to be the Messiah of Israel. According to verse 26 in Daniel 9 Jesus was not cut off in the 70th “week” but after the 7 and 62 “weeks” had run their course, which indicates that there is an interval between the 69th and 70th “weeks.” In this interval Jesus died on the cross five days after riding into Jerusalem as the Messiah. This interval was anticipated by Jesus Christ for the establishment of His church. This interval is that great parenthesis in the Bible that was a mystery in the Old Testament but was revealed in the New Testament and which we call the church age or the age of grace. The 70th “week” will take place at the end of this age when the church is raptured into heaven. The cutting off of the Messiah is a phrase that means to execute the death penalty on a criminal, so Jesus could again point out to those two disciples that His crucifixion was again prophesied. That He would have nothing at His crucifixion refers to His rejection by Israel and that He would not receive the kingdom, not sit on David’s throne as Israel’s king at this time. Dwight Pentecost writes, “Daniel’s prophecy, then, anticipated Christ’s offer of Himself to the nation of Israel as her Messiah, the nation’s rejection of Him as Messiah, and His crucifixion.”[13] Verse 26 continues with a description of the judgment that would come on the generation that rejected their Messiah. It is the same judgment which Jesus predicted when He wept over the city of Jerusalem when He rode in on the colt. It speaks of the Romans military under Titus destroying the city and the temple which took place in 70 A.D.
CONCLUSION:
These are just a few of the Scriptures that Jesus could have explained to His two disciples as He walked with them from Jerusalem to Emmaus. These and other Scriptures that Jesus brought to their attention and explained to them the things concerning Himself, this is what caused their hearts to burn within them as their minds were opened to the truth of the coming of the Messiah, not as a political conqueror but as a spiritual conqueror delivering them not from human bondage but spiritual bondage.
As these two disciples rushed back to Jerusalem to tell the apostles and other disciples that they had seen the risen Lord Jesus Christ and what the women had said was really true, the Lord has really risen. Upon their arrival they heard the others proclaiming the same thing, Jesus had appeared to Peter also. The Lord has really risen. What does this mean for you and me? It means that our faith is not in vain because through His death and resurrection the Lord Jesus Christ has forever conquered Satan, sin, and death! Our resurrection is assured by His. “Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 15:50–58, NASB95)[14] He has risen! (He has risen indeed!)
[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[3]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[6]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[7]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[8]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[9]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[10]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[11]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[12]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.
[13]Walvoord, John F., ; Zuck, Roy B. ; Dallas Theological Seminary: The Bible Knowledge Commentary : An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL : Victor Books, 1983-c1985, S. 1:1364
[14]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995.