"The Risen Lord"

Well, good morning, church. Would you turn with me again to Luke chapter 24?

Luke 24 · chapter mention

I'd like to pick up Luke's resurrection narrative in verse 36.

So that's page 832 in the Pew Bible. Let me encourage you to follow along there.

We will look at Luke 24, 36 through 49.

Let me pray, and then I will read for us.

Father, on this great day when we remember and celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus,

grant us by your Holy Spirit open minds and receptive hearts to embrace the risen Christ

and to live in the hope and the power of his resurrection.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen.

All right, so Luke 24, 36 through 49.

As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them and said,

Peace to you.

But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit.

And he said to them, Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?

See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself.

Touch me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.

And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.

And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them,

Have you anything here to eat?

They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them.

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 and said to them,

Thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead,

and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem.

You are witnesses of these things.

And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you.

But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.

Well, from the earliest days, Christians defined their message, their belief,

their understanding of the person of Jesus with a word that we translate into English as gospel,

or better translated, good news.

You know, but the funny thing is that this word that they used to encapsulate their message,

gospel, good news, it wasn't necessarily a religious word.

It wasn't a word that you'd hear at the local temple or visiting the local shrine.

In fact, you were more likely to hear the word gospel or good news in the marketplace or in the Senate.

It was what we might call today a secular word, a word about realities in this world.

You know, the word gospel was used in the Roman Empire often to describe great victories that had been won

or momentous events that changed the live reality of those in the empire.

Something like, you know, Caesar has conquered the barbarians along the Danube.

Send forth the good news.

Our borders are now safe.

Four is over.

Prosperity is on the way.

You know, some kind of imperial edict like that.

But isn't that interesting?

For the first Christians, what happened in the person of Jesus was not an event that could be relegated

or put into a merely religious or spiritual category.

Instead, it had profound history-altering impact on every part of our shared human experience.

It meant something in this world.

But a gospel wasn't just about realities in this world.

It was also good news.

It was news about something that had happened.

You know, we can often mistakenly think of Christianity not as news,

but primarily as instruction or advice, can't we?

You know, we mistakenly think that Christianity is just sort of a new moral code to follow.

I think in our popular imagination, Christianity is not like reading the New York Times.

It's more like reading Better Homes and Gardens, right?

It's not news.

It's just some tips about how to live a better life.

And this mistaken approach to Christianity, I think it goes very deep into our shared cultural memory.

Recently, I've been reading the autobiography of Benjamin Franklin.

You know, and in his mind, nearly every religion could be boiled down to a few core principles.

That there's a God who made everything, and that there will be rewards and punishments based on your moral progress in this life.

So that means for Franklin that religions are really about teaching us how to live moral and virtuous lives.

They're not really good news, but they ought to be good instruction, good advice.

And Franklin was all for religion in that sense.

But the truth is, while Franklin's summary is a woefully inadequate view of any religion,

it misses the mark completely for the heart of Christianity.

Because it wasn't merely good advice or good instruction that Christians proclaimed.

It was good news.

It was like a victory report from the front lines that brought hope and joy,

because something had happened that changed history and had the power to change our lives if we let it.

So what was this news?

Why was the death and resurrection of Jesus good news?

Well, the passage in Luke 24 that we just read shows us.

When Jesus appears to his disciples on this first night after the resurrection,

we see just why his resurrection is gospel good news.

And there are two things here that I want us to see.

The first has to do with our material world.

And the second has to do with our moral world.

In other words, the resurrection of Jesus is good news for our material world,

for our broken creation.

And it's also good news for our moral world, for broken creatures.

So let's consider those two things.

Consider first that if the resurrection of Jesus is true,

then it means that the broken material creation is being and will be mended.

The broken material creation will be mended.

We see this in the first paragraph of our passage, verses 36 through 43.

The risen Jesus comes among his disciples and says,

Peace to you.

And then Luke writes,

They were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit.

Well, I think that's a pretty reasonable response.

Don't you?

I mean, after all, here's something that people in the first century believed

that sounds very modern to us.

Everyone in the first century believed that dead people stay dead.

Right?

Just like us.

Dead people stay dead.

Especially after crucifixion, which was a terrible way to die.

And especially after being in a tomb for a couple of days.

So we mustn't think that belief in the resurrection just sort of cropped up

because first century people were superstitious or pre-scientific.

They had seen Jesus killed and he was dead.

And that was the end of the story.

But now, here was Jesus in front of them.

And how would they account for it?

Perhaps, they thought, it's an apparition.

It's a spirit.

But notice how adamant Jesus is to demonstrate that he is before them bodily.

It's not a spiritual experience they're having.

He's there in the flesh, in his body.

See my hands and my feet.

Touch me.

I'm flesh and bones.

And then he says, do you have anything to eat?

And he takes the broiled fish that they hand him and he eats it before them.

That's a wonderful kind of earthy scene, isn't it?

It's so earthy that it just sort of has this ring of truth about it.

In other words, it's hard to believe the disciples making up a story like this.

I mean, if I were making up a story, right, about someone conquering death and overcoming the grave,

I don't think I'd have it run like this, would you?

There he stood in our midst.

We were scared out of our minds.

He showed us his hands and feet, his flesh and blood.

And then, oh, then, he ate some lunch.

I mean, talk about an anticlimax, right?

But if it is true, perhaps this risen body of Jesus is more important and wonderful than we realize.

Why is the risen Jesus so adamant that they know that he's been raised in the flesh?

Well, think about the last time they saw Jesus' body.

He was hanging a few feet above the ground, arms splayed, nailed to an implement of imperial torture, a cross.

And his body had been wounded and torn and bruised and pierced.

There was the one that they had begun to put their hope in.

There was the one they thought was their king, and perhaps even more than a king.

But as they saw him crucified, how could any of those things be true?

He was beaten and torn, his body broken, never to be mended.

And yet now, now here he was before them, whole, mended.

And it would take time for them to realize the full meaning.

But don't you see?

If in Jesus God took human flesh,

then that means the creator willingly became a part of his material creation.

Though it was broken and full of pain,

God didn't reject it or abandoned it.

Instead, he entered into it.

And on the cross, he endured the worst that the material world could endure.

Suffering, pain, brokenness.

The broken body of Jesus that went into the tomb

was the creator's solidarity with the brokenness of the whole fabric of the material world.

Every grief that you and I feel,

all the decay, all the death, all the loss,

Jesus Christ willingly became one with the whole story

of the broken and groaning material world.

So don't you see what wondrous love this God has for you and me?

But that wasn't the end of the story.

When Jesus emerged from the tomb on Easter in the same body that was torn,

it meant a new direction for all creation.

You see, the God who made all things

and in solidarity suffered with all things

was now making all things new.

The healing of the material world began on Easter Sunday.

God was righting the wrong

and mending his broken world from the inside out.

But of course, right, we rightly ask,

where is this healing today?

There's still brokenness.

There's still injustice.

Still creation is groaning.

And yes, God's healing, mending work is not yet fully complete.

But because of Jesus' resurrection,

we know it will be.

How so?

Well, how do you know that spring is coming?

Yeah?

Well, the days get a little longer.

The weather gets a little warmer.

Unless you live here in New England,

then it's always cold and it's always dark.

And we live in utter despair.

But then one day as you're walking along,

you see something utterly out of place.

Where once there was only withered grass and dirt,

a flower has pushed through to the sky.

A crocus pushes through a sign

that winter's cold will be broken

and a new season is coming.

And how do you feel in that moment?

What do you feel?

Hope.

Hope.

Now, friends, if we feel that way

because a flower pushed through the dirt,

how much more can we live in hope

knowing that in Jesus,

God has taken our material creation into himself,

suffered its deepest pain,

and broken through death into resurrection life.

The mending has begun

and it cannot be turned back.

And do you know what this means?

It means that the human longing,

the human longing for justice

is not a mere wish, dream,

or a cruel joke.

Our hearts cry for the world to be put right,

to be mended,

to be restored.

That hard cry is not just a mirage.

You see, I think when humans long for justice,

what we want,

what we really want,

is more than just for people to be treated fairly,

although that's certainly part of it.

I think what we yearn for

is what the Bible calls not merely justice,

but shalom,

peace,

the fabric of the world repaired,

and the world made right and whole.

What is it that sustains you?

What is it that sustains you

to keep longing

and keep working

for that sort of healing?

Do you have an anchor?

Do you have an anchor that supports you

through disappointment,

through setback,

through failure?

What will be your ballast

when the brokenness

seems to have the upper hand,

when the dark winter of injustice

seems to be never ending?

What will be your anchor and your ballast?

For Christians,

we have an anchor.

There is a ballast.

There is a sturdy hope.

The resurrection of Jesus,

the body of our Lord,

mended,

promising

that all of creation

will not be abandoned to the gay,

but one day healed.

Do you have that kind of ballast

in your life?

But the resurrection of Jesus

wasn't just good news,

isn't just good news,

for a broken creation.

It's also good news

for broken creatures.

What this passage of Luke

is showing us

is that if the resurrection

of Jesus is true,

it means not just that

the broken material creation

will be mended,

it also means that

broken moral creatures,

broken moral creatures

can be forgiven.

Look at what Jesus says

in the next paragraph

of our passage,

starting in verse 46.

And he said to them,

thus it is written,

that the Christ should suffer

and on the third day

rise from the dead,

and that repentance

for the forgiveness of sins

should be proclaimed in his name

to all nations

beginning from Jerusalem.

Because Jesus died

and rose again,

there is forgiveness of sins.

And according to Jesus,

nearly all of Scripture

pointed to him in this way.

That's what he says

in the verses leading up

to what I just read.

Nearly all of Scripture

pointed to this central fact.

Think about it.

In the law of Moses,

the rock was struck

and water poured out.

A Passover lamb was slain

and the people escaped slavery.

In the prophets,

the return from exile

was foretold

because a coming king

would in a mysterious way

bear the sins of the people.

And in the Psalms,

we hear the psalmist cry out,

my God, my God,

why have you forsaken me?

But then we also hear

the psalmist say,

you will not abandon

my soul to the grave

or let your Holy One

see corruption.

These threads,

these tunes,

this symphony of the Old Testament

resonates with the recurring theme

again and again

that sinners will be reconciled

at a great cost

and that cost will be borne

by another.

But who will bear it?

Who will bear the cost?

A lamb?

A servant?

No.

No.

The king will.

God will bear it for his people.

God will divest himself of glory

and stand in the place of sinners.

The offended one

will take the offense

so that the offenders

can be forgiven.

Do you see what was happening

at the cross?

The true rock

was being struck.

The true lamb

was slain.

The true king

cried out,

my God, my God,

why have you forsaken me?

What was it

that was happening there?

Well, an innocent one

was being condemned

as a criminal, right?

But why?

Because he stood there

in our place.

It wasn't just the suffering

of material creation

he took upon himself

at the cross,

but it was the just sentence

of our failed moral record.

The judge of all

was judged

in our place.

But in the resurrection,

in the resurrection,

a new verdict

was cast.

If at the cross

Jesus was condemned,

in the resurrection

he was vindicated,

he was justified,

he was pronounced innocent.

But that new verdict

that overturned

the old verdict,

that new verdict

wasn't just for himself.

If he died for us,

he also rose for us.

In his death,

we see our sins

and all their horror.

But in his resurrection,

we see our forgiveness

and our healing

and our acceptance

in all of its beauty.

So the risen Jesus

stands among his disciples

and he says,

peace to you.

Peace to you.

And the forgiveness

of sins

can now be announced

to all people

everywhere

starting right here

in Jerusalem,

he says.

But it won't stop there.

This forgiveness

is for not just Jerusalem,

but for Judea

and for Samaria.

And then the gospel

will advance.

It's for India

and it's for Ethiopia

and then it will keep going.

It's for Rome

and it's for Shanghai

and then it will keep going.

It's for New Zealand

and it's for New Haven.

The forgiveness of sins

is for you, friends.

Now I wonder,

is the forgiveness of sins

a practical matter for you?

Of course,

if there is a God

who created us,

then a reconciled relationship

with our Creator

seems fairly practical,

I think.

But if you're struggling

with that,

think about it this way.

You know,

in this life,

you are certain

to have broken relationships

with fellow humans.

As human beings,

the one thing,

tragically,

we seem really good at

is hurting

and offending one another.

And of course,

we're told

we must forgive.

We have to forgive.

It's the only way

to release

the bitterness

and the pain.

It's the only way

to stop

the cycle of violence.

we have to forgive

each other.

But how?

How will you forgive

those who've wronged you?

How will you release

the bitterness

and pain

that eats you up inside?

Or must you carry it

all your days

like a weight

that drags

against your soul?

How will you do it?

Friends,

try as we may.

The reality is

only those

who've been

forgiven

have the power

to turn

and forgive.

When you see

the weight

of your wrongs

and failings

borne by Jesus,

when you see

that His resurrection

is the real verdict

over your life

that you've been released

of your great

and many wrongs,

only then

can you turn

to those

who've wronged you

and do the unthinkable.

Only then

can you too

forgive.

How many friendships,

how many marriages,

how many wars

and conflicts

could be healed

if we knew

this power?

If this power

was ours

that only

the resurrection

of Jesus

can bring?

And friends,

this is a power

held out to you.

And so,

the resurrection

of Jesus

is good news.

It's good news

for this world,

not just some

corner of our lives

we call spiritual

or religious.

It's good news

for our material lives

and our moral lives.

It's good news

of justice.

It's good news

of reconciliation.

It's the good news

from the front lines

that the decisive victory

has been won

and now we're called

to order

our entire lives

around it.

To take this truth

into our hearts

and our lives,

to receive it

with what the Bible

calls belief

and to order

our whole lives

around it.

And that reordering

is what Jesus means

by the word

repentance.

repentance.

In verse 45.

Now,

of all the words,

that one sounds

like a religious word,

right?

Come on.

Repentance.

But it simply means

to change your mind.

To change your mind

and to live your life

in light of the good news.

I remember hearing

a story of World War II

about a Japanese soldier

stationed on a remote island

in the Philippines,

I think in like 1944

or something,

as the war was

kind of grinding on

in the Pacific.

But when the war

had come to an end

in 1945,

this soldier

apparently kept fighting.

At first,

he hadn't heard the news,

but then search parties

actually did reach him,

but they couldn't convince him

that the battle had ended.

One article I read

said that they actually

carried photos

from his family members

to him,

but he thought

that they were fakes

because his hometown

during the war

had been bombed and rebuilt

and the buildings

and the images

didn't match his memories.

So he couldn't be convinced.

So for 30 years,

apparently,

he held out

continuing to wage war

on his little island

despite all the messages

he had received.

Imagine if this lonely soldier

had just believed the news.

He could have come home.

He could have been reunited

with his family.

He could have been

part of rebuilding

his life and his country.

I wonder,

what do you make

of this good news

of Jesus' resurrection?

Perhaps you're not ready

to fully embrace it

and order your life

around him as Lord.

And that's understandable

if you're new to Christianity

or still trying to figure out

what you believe about Jesus.

But, you know,

what is on offer

in the resurrection of Jesus

is so great.

The news is so good

that you can't just

sort of forget about it.

You have to look into it.

You have to look into

what this passage calls

the witnesses.

Jesus says to his disciples

in 48,

you're witnesses

of these things.

The best thing you can do

is to consider

these witnesses

for yourself.

Take up a book

like the Gospel of Luke

or the Gospel of Mark

and read it.

Consider this good news

for yourself.

And if you do,

it's good to keep in mind

a few things

about these witnesses.

Consider the date

of these witnesses.

Most of the New Testament

was written only a few decades

after the events

that they describe.

Historically,

that's incredibly close

to the events themselves.

Certainly not enough time

for sort of legends

to grow in the telling.

And consider not just

the date of those witnesses,

but consider the character

of the witnesses.

As you read,

do they seem to be

spinning a tale

for power or prestige?

Historically,

we know that nearly

all of them

died as martyrs

for their testimony

to Jesus.

They had very little

to gain,

earthly speaking.

Their character

seems trustworthy.

But finally,

consider not just

the date

or the character

of the witnesses,

consider also

the power,

the impact

that they had.

Kenneth Scott Lotzerey

was a church historian

at Yale

in the first half

of the 20th century,

and he wrote this

in one of his works

on Christianity.

He said,

why did Christianity

succeed despite

getting more severe

opposition than

any other religion?

Why did Christianity

succeed though it had

no influential backers

in high places

but consisted mainly

of the poor and slaves?

How did Christianity

succeed so completely

that it forced

the most powerful

state in history

to come to terms

with it

and then outlive

the very empire

that sought

to uproot it?

It is clear

that at the very

beginning of Christianity,

there must have

occurred a vast

release of energy

perhaps unequaled

in our history.

How does a failed

messianic movement

in first century

Palestine

change the world?

How do you explain

that unprecedented impact?

But you know,

as you consider

these witnesses,

it would be helpful

to consider

your own beliefs too.

You know,

don't just put the

message of the

resurrection to the test,

put your own beliefs

to the test.

What resources

do you pull from

to work for justice

when the setbacks

and failures

seem insurmountable?

What resources

do you pull from

to practice forgiveness

when you've been

hurt or wronged?

Is there anything

in your worldview

to empower you

to live

the way the

resurrection of Jesus

could empower you

to live?

And if not,

why do you keep

on holding on

to your worldview?

Why do you remain

on the island

fighting a long

forgotten war

when the victory

has been won

and the new creation

is underway?

Give your life

to Him.

Hear Him say,

peace to you,

your sins are forgiven.

Now go and live

as an agent

of the new creation

right here in the

midst of the old

until the great day

comes when the glory

of God

covers the earth

like the waters

cover the sea

and God makes

all things new.

Let's pray together.

Father, we pray

first a prayer

of great rejoicing

and thanksgiving.

that Christ

is raised

and the great

hope that we have

not just for the

life to come

but the great

hope and strength

it gives us

for living our lives

now.

Father, we ask

that you would

grant faith

to those who

have been wrestling

with the claims

of Christ.

Let them surrender

to His beauty

and to know

your peace.

Father, grant

courage to those

whose hearts

are drawn to

consider these things

more deeply

Lord, help them

to follow through

with the curiosity

and the desire

to explore these

things more fully.

And for those

who believe in you,

grant us renewed

hope

that life in your

resurrected kingdom

is life abundant.

Make us a people

who rejoice in hope

and who live as

people of hope

loving and forgiving.

to the praise of

your name, Jesus.

Amen.