Luke 24:35-43

See, it's ten past, so we'd better get going, I guess.

Great to have you here, and especially a warm welcome if you've come as part of the Council's Christianity Awareness Week.

Particularly good to have you. If you're not here for that reason, it's still good to have you.

What we're doing this week, because Easter is coming up, and because our Christian friends and the Council have put this week on,

we're looking particularly at Easter, because Easter is the heart of what Christianity is about.

And so today's message is, at last, some good news. That's where we're going.

Because we all need good news, don't we? We all need good news.

And at the heart of the Christian message is good news. In fact, the Christian message itself is called the Gospel, which is literally good news.

So what I'm going to do, if you've got a Bible, you can turn to it.

Or if you've got one of the little booklets I put out in the chairs, I'm going to turn to this.

This has a little bit, or two chapters from the Bible. Two chapters from Luke's Gospel, Luke's account of Jesus' life.

And so what I'm going to do is read part of the account of the whole Easter story, and then we'll pray, and then we'll look at what that means for us.

I should say before I start that the guy who wrote this, Luke, was a doctor.

And he says at the very start of his book, you don't have the start, you don't have the end, but it's worth reading the start as well.

At the start, he says he's gone to eyewitnesses to get a reliable account so that people can be sure of what they believe.

So as we read this, you might want to bear in mind it is an eyewitness account.

And you might also want to bear in mind the context of what has happened.

So we're going to be reading on page 21 in these little booklets.

If you've got a whole Bible there, then it's Luke chapter 24.

Luke 24 · chapter mention

We're starting to read at verse 35.

But the context here is that the people we're about to read about had just lost a close friend, Jesus.

Not only a close friend, but someone who was their leader, someone who had touched their lives in profound ways and given them hope.

On a Friday, he had been crucified, a terrible, awful, hideous, humiliating death.

And we pick up the story on a Sunday.

So let me read, then I'll pray, then I'll talk.

And there will be time at the end for questions and hopefully answers.

So if you've got any questions that come to mind while I'm speaking, do write them down.

I'll do my best to deal with them in a Q&A session at the end.

Anyway, here we go.

So this is Luke chapter 24, verse 35, page 21 in these booklets.

Luke 24:35

Then the two from Emmaus told their story of how Jesus had appeared to them as they were walking along the road.

And how they had recognised him as he was breaking the bread.

And just as they were telling about it, Jesus himself, remember he died two days earlier.

Jesus himself stood among them, was suddenly standing there among them.

Peace be with you, he said.

But the whole group was startled and frightened, thinking they were seeing a ghost.

Why are you frightened, he asked.

Why are your hearts filled with doubt?

Look at my hands.

Look at my feet.

You can see there that it's really me.

Touch me.

And make sure that I'm not a ghost.

Because ghosts don't have bodies as you see that I do.

As he spoke, he showed them his hands and his feet.

Still they stood there in disbelief, filled with joy and wonder.

Then he asked them, do you have anything here to eat?

They gave him a piece of boiled fish, and he ate it as they watched.

Then he said, when I was with you before, I told you that everything written about me and the law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.

Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures.

And he said, yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day.

The Messiah was God's promised king.

One he promised would come to rescue his people.

So Jesus carries on, verse 47.

It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of his name to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem.

There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.

You are witnesses of these things.

Well, as Christians, we don't believe the Bible is any ordinary book, but it's God's book, it's God's word.

And so it's right to pray for him to speak to us as we study it together.

So let's pray for a moment now.

Almighty God, we thank you for this reliable eyewitness account of these events.

We pray that now as I speak, as we listen to it, that your word would come to us as it is, not merely as the words of a man, but as the word of God, with power and with conviction and with the Holy Spirit.

May we leave here knowing we've heard your voice.

For we ask it in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, we could all do a good year, couldn't we?

I don't know about you but wherever I look on

websites, on news websites

I'm always tempted to having seen

the sort of dismal headlines to then go

and find a kind of humorous article

or story about the lost dog that's just been found

or whatever it is to kind of take my mind

off the bad stuff and

I found this morning I'm not the only person who does that

so as I checked the BBC news

website this morning with all the news

of atrocities in Syria

and war in Ukraine

impending debates about elections in this country

do you know what the top three most

read news stories on the BBC website

were?

number one, Angelina Jolie

has had her ovaries removed

number two

why nine hours sleep may be bad

for you

number three

deadly dog disease cause

unclear, so typical

British we're concerned about dead dogs from

Crufts or whatever it was, I didn't even look

at the article

so you're so desperate for some good news we'll do anything

to avoid reality sometimes, won't we

we'll do anything to avoid facing how bad things are

I don't know if you remember

but last summer

the comedian and actor Robin Williams

tragically took his own life

having been dealing with mental health problems for a long time

and at the time

his fellow comedian

or at least alleged comedian

Russell Brand

wrote in the Guardian

describing Williams as

a hilarious stranger

that we could rely on

to anarchically interrupt

the all-encompassing

sadness

of the world

we looked to Robin Williams

to anarchically interrupt

the all-encompassing

sadness

of the world

goes on

today

Robin Williams

is part of the sad narrative

that we used to turn to him

to disrupt

in other words

we wanted entertainment

we looked to this man for entertainment

and tragically

he's gone as well

he added

is it melancholy

to think

that a world

that Robin Williams

can't live in

must be broken

is it just melancholy

to think

that a world

that Robin Williams

can't live in

must be broken

this man

who brought

so much entertainment

to so many people

if he can't

hack it

in the real world

then doesn't that mean

the world is broken

I wonder how you feel

about that statement

as we look out

at a world

surely it is broken

isn't it

the wars

the famines

the diseases

as we look at our own lives

we see brokenness

don't we

sudden health problems

sudden relationship

difficulties

suddenly work goes

I know in the council

you've been dealing

with lots of uncertainty

so there is a

death

is if you like

the ultimate manifestation

of the brokenness

and sadness

that we feel

in this world

and so we need

some good news

we're desperate

for some good news

and that's where

the story of Easter

kicks in

because this is good news

if we understand it

if we really grasp

what this is about

then it is the best news

ever

and I want to look at

as we look through

this story I just read

I want us to look at

first of all

the emotions

of the people involved

and how those emotions

changed

and secondly

Jesus' explanation

of what had happened

and finally

Jesus' invitation

to all of us

so if you've got

that little booklet there

you might like to turn

to page 21 again

and we'll follow it

through with me

as we speak about it

now remember

this is Sunday

on the Friday

Jesus had died

Jesus who was

their hero

their lifesaver

who changed their lives

they'd followed him

for years

and to begin with

they just knew grief

so as Jesus was

hanging on the cross

all his disciples

left

shattered

in fact when he was

arrested they all

ran away terrified

they hid themselves

in a room

but as Sunday morning

hit the third day

Friday, Saturday

Sunday, the third day

strange things

started to happen

so first of all

some women

went to Jesus' tomb

to embalm his body

as was the custom

and they found

the tomb empty

and they ran back

they found the tomb

empty and they found

angels telling them

why are you looking

for the living

among the dead

he's alive

so they ran back

to tell all the rest

of Jesus' followers

that this

if you turn back

over the page

to chapter 18

for a moment

almost at the top

of the page

you'll see the response

of the men

who heard that story

verse 11

at the top of page 18

but the story

sounded like nonsense

to the men

so they didn't

believe it

they were cynical

they didn't believe

this coming back

to life stuff

even though

it was their friends

telling them

they just thought

the women were

talking nonsense

even though

they'd heard Jesus

say many times

he would rise again

they thought it was

nonsense

and immediately

before this excerpt

we're looking at

page 21

two people

had just come back in

having walked

to a village

called Ames

having met Jesus

there

they then came back

to Jerusalem

straight away

to tell all these

followers of Jesus

who were now hiding away

that they'd seen Jesus

but despite all this

evidence that something

amazing was happening

look at their reaction

look at their emotions

when Jesus turns up

verse 36

just as they

the two people

from Ames

were telling

about it

Jesus himself

was suddenly

standing there

among them

peace be with you

he said

but the whole group

was startled

and frightened

thinking they were

seeing a ghost

startled and frightened

that's how they felt

literally terrified

and frightened

why?

why do they feel

like that

when actually

they'd already heard

that Jesus was alive

or they'd heard

Jesus say

he'd come back to life

well surely

the answer is simple

isn't it

we know

dead people don't rise

that is not the way

it happens

I was at a funeral

a few weeks ago

of a young woman

I call her young

because she was

two years younger

than me

she was 40

and tragically

similar to Robin Williams

she'd committed suicide

and everyone in that room

would love to have

had her back again

but she was dead

dead people don't rise

do they?

that's why the disciples

first reaction

as they see

what looks like

Jesus standing there

is it's a ghost

not only were they terrified

but they were also doubting

look down to verse 38

when Jesus speaks to them

why are you frightened?

Jesus asked

why are your hearts

filled with doubt?

these guys

were not likely

to believe

that Jesus

was risen from the dead

they were doubting

that this could possibly

be what was in front of them

they needed evidence

didn't they?

they needed something

to convince them

and I wonder

is that how you feel

as you read this story?

you say

ok

it's all very well

this is something

written

apparently 2000 years ago

I need evidence

well I can understand that

you're right

to want evidence

I'm a scientist

by training

I did a chemistry degree

almost killed me

but I did it

and I'm someone

who needs evidence

to believe things

and actually

that's what the Bible does

and look what Jesus does

saying why are you doubting

what does he say to them

then?

verse 39

does he just say

have faith

trust me?

look what he says

verse 39

look at my hands

look at my feet

you can see

it is really me

he doesn't say

have faith

he says

have a look

look at the evidence

it's in front of you

look at my hands

you can still see

the nail marks

where two days ago

I was nailed to a cross

look at my feet

you can still see

the marks there

where I was nailed

to the cross

have a look

but was it just a ghost?

was it just a ghost?

did it just look like Jesus?

well Jesus goes on

he gives them more evidence

doesn't he?

verse 41

still they stood there

in disbelief

filled with joy

and wonder

then he asked them

do you have anything

here to eat?

they gave him a piece

of broiled fish

and he ate it

as they watched

now I don't know

if you like the films

the Pirates of the Caribbean

films

the first one's good

they'll get worse

after that

but in the first film

of the Pirates of the Caribbean

excuse me if you're not

into this

but in the first film

we discover

some way through the movie

that actually

Captain Barbosa

is the captain

of a whole crew

of ghosts

on the Black Pearl

and so as

Captain Barbosa

played by Geoffrey Rush

turns to the glamorous

heroine

Miss Elizabeth Swan

played by Keira Knightley

he says

you better believe

in ghost stories

my dear

you're in one

at which point

he takes a flagon

of rum

and starts to drink it

he pours it in

of course the special effects

are great

so it always pours out

on the floor

going down his skeleton

point being of course

ghosts can't eat and drink

and it wasn't just

the Pirates of the Caribbean

that told us that

the disciples knew that

as well

2,000 years before

that's why Jesus

says give me some fish

and he eats it

for these doubting people

he wants them to know

that he is solid

he is real

he is not a figment

of their imagination

they are all seeing him

there is a lot of

other evidence

that convinces me

that Jesus has risen

from the dead

that this is real history

not just fantasy

not just myth

you might want to ask

about that later

I won't go into it now

but there should be time

for Q&A a bit later on

but I hope you'll see

that contrary to popular belief

contrary to what

Richard Dawkins

would tell you

the Christian faith

is not about

believing in the absence

of evidence

or even in the teeth

of evidence

the Christian faith

is about believing

someone

trusting someone

who has shown himself

to be trustworthy

trusting someone

who has shown himself

to be trustworthy

not just believing

wishful thinking

I suppose at this point

another question

might come into our heads

well it's alright

for then

it's alright

for these people

in Jerusalem

2000 years ago

but what's that

got to do

with my life today

what's that got to do

with me

when I live in

what Russell Brown

described as

a broken world

well to understand

why this is good news

we need to look now

at Jesus' explanation

of what had happened

and then the invitation

he makes

off the back

of that explanation

so let's look at the explanation

in verses 44 to 46

then Jesus said

when I was with you

before

that is before he died

I told 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 he said

yes it was written

long ago

that the Messiah

would suffer

and die

and rise from the dead

on the third day

now what's that

what in the world

is that about

what's the law

of Moses

and the prophets

and the Psalms

Jesus is talking about

what we call

the Old Testament

the Hebrew scriptures

the Old Testament

the first part

of the Bible

now I don't know

what you think

about the Bible

many people think

the Bible

is just a whole bunch

of myths

put together

or maybe it's

a rule book

for life

or maybe it's

a nice

religious teaching

to give us

a philosophy

the Bible

isn't really

any of those things

primarily

the Bible

is God's word

to us

and it's a story

it's a great

rescue story

it's a great

rescue story

or a great

love story

which is about

rescue if you like

and like any

classic heroic

rescue story

it starts with

everything being

good

God made a

perfect world

where everyone

was happy

and then

disaster strikes

and everything

goes wrong

in the Bible

that's

the disaster

is people

turning away

from God

people no longer

treating God

as ruler

in his world

but the story

doesn't end there

because it's a

rescue story

because God

loves his world

he loves what

he's made

and he's committed

to it

and so the

Old Testament

is full of

promises

of God

coming to

fix what

was broken

that one day

God would

mend what

we had

corrupted

that one day

the creator

would come

and put back

everything

we'd unraveled

and Jesus

says

that is

fulfilled

in him

in what

he had

done

now there

are two

things I want

to say briefly

about that

why does it

matter that

Jesus was

fulfilling

everything that

happened in

the Old Testament

well it tells

us two things

at least

first of all

it tells us

we cannot say

that God

doesn't care

about us

we cannot say

God doesn't

care about

his world

because there

in the Bible

we read this

record of promises

that he'd come

and deal

with the pain

deal with death

deal with the

brokenness

deal with the

dysfunction

and the disease

and the sadness

we cannot say

God doesn't

care

if he's fulfilled

those promises

and we also

cannot say

that God

isn't powerful

some people say

there's suffering

in the world

because God

doesn't care

or because God

isn't powerful

not true

he's powerful

enough to keep

his promises

we all know

how hard that is

don't we

and if we're

in any doubt

I had two

election manifesto

things on my

table this morning

as I was having

my lunch

promises from

the Tories

promises from

labour

tick when we've

kept our

pledges

oh yeah

right

because it's

very

we're the best

will in the

world

it's very hard

to keep promises

isn't it

but God is

powerful enough

we cannot say

he doesn't care

we cannot say

he's not powerful

he has done

everything he said

and that leads

us on to

Jesus' invitation

that's his

explanation of

what's happened

look at his

invitation

verse 46

he says

yes it was

written long ago

that the Messiah

God's king

would suffer

and die

and rise

from the dead

on the third

day

it was also

written that

this message

here comes the

invitation

would be

proclaimed in

the authority

of his name

to all the

nations

beginning in

Jerusalem

there is

forgiveness

of sins

for all

who repent

you are

witnesses

of all these

things

do you hear

the invitation

it's an invitation

for everyone

for the whole

world

it's an invitation

to receive

forgiveness

of sins

in the

authority

of Jesus

who died

and rose

again

now at this

point you

might be

thinking well

sins so

what

we've got two

completely wrong

ideas about

sins haven't we

sometimes in

popular culture

at least

sin is a little

bit of naughty

indulgence

so sin this

Easter will be

eating too

much chocolate

but that's not

what the Bible

describes as sin

on the other

hand we can

go to the

other extreme

can't we

so you know

sin is

Jimmy Savile

and all that

terrible child

abuse

sin is

what IS

are doing

to people

in Iraq

and Syria

and even

Libya

sin is

those terrible

things

I'm not like

that

but the Bible

says that

that's not how

the Bible

talks about sin

it's not some

little thing

that doesn't

matter

it's not just

horrible

horrible

horrendous

things

that other

people do

the Bible

describes sin

as the

cause of all

the problems

in the world

and it describes

it essentially

as ignoring

God in the

world he made

or not

treating God

as ruler

in the world

he made

some people

do that

by using

God

we all hate

being used

don't we

some use

God to

try and

control others

some use

God to try

and boost

their own

self esteem

or their own

identity

through their

religious behaviour

so some use

God

they don't

treat him

as ruler

that way

many other

people ignore

God

and don't

treat him

as ruler

in his world

no I hate

being used

and ignored

don't you

a few years ago

I was cycling

home from work

one day

and cycling

through Hampton

Hill

if you know

Hampton Hill

and I came to

some traffic

lights in the

middle of

Hampton Hill

High Street

and as I

cycled towards

them I noticed

three things

first

there were red

traffic going

in my direction

second

the pedestrian

crossing going

in my direction

was green

that meant

it was safe

to go over

the red lights

on my bike

because I knew

no traffic was

going to come

third

I noticed a policeman

standing on the

opposite side

of the junction

but the thought

went through my mind

it's safe

it's not going to

harm anyone

the policeman

will understand

so I ignored

the policeman

there

I ignored the

red light

and went straight

through it

as soon as I

done

and he stepped

out

waved me down

with his hand

I said

oh no

so I said

yes officer

did you see

the red light

there sir

yes officer

do you have

a driving

licence sir

yes officer

so you know

what a red

light means

then sir

yes officer

did you see

me standing

here sir

yes officer

what's the

world coming

to

you saw

me standing

here

a police

officer

and you

still went

through the

red light

of course

he's absolutely

right isn't

it

what is the

world coming

to

if everyone

sees the

rightful

authority

standing there

on the street

corner

and still

disobeys traffic

laws

it'd be

carnage

on the road

it'd be

gridlock

out there

on Broadway

but yet

that's a

picture of

our world

where does

the carnage

come from

where does

death and

disease and

breakdown

and envy

and hatred

where does it

all come from

it comes to

the fact we

ignore God

the rightful

ruler in

the world

he made

and like me

going through

that traffic

lights

we can

rationalise it

for ourselves

I'm alright

I'm not that

bad

I'm not

hurting anyone

God will

understand

he knows

I'm a nice

person

so we try

and rationalise

it but

actually

we're ignoring

God like I

was ignoring

that police

officer

he is there

for our good

and we

ignore him

he is the

rightful ruler

and that's

why the

world is

in a mess

that is

why we

live in a

broken world

to use

Russell Brand's

line again

and we're

all in that

boat

naturally

we all

use or

ignore God

in different

ways

that's why

we all need

what Jesus

invites us to

here in

verse 47

there is

forgiveness

of sins

for all who

repent

Jesus paid

for sin

by dying

on the cross

the one

innocent person

who'd ever

lived

died in

place of

others

so if we

will repent

trust in

him

then we

can be

forgiven

too

now that

word repent

means to

turn around

to go the

other way

instead of

living for

ourselves

to say

no Jesus

is king

I'm going to

live under

his rule

instead

Jesus died

so we

didn't have

to

Jesus rose

to life

again

to show

that one

day the

brokenness

can be

fully

mended

there can be

wholeness

again

because God's

rescue is

complete

this is his

invitation

this is why

it's good

news

to all of us

who are in

trouble

to all of us

who face

God's right

judgment

for our

rebellion

for our

ignoring

and using

him

Jesus says

I have

paid the

price

come

believe in

me

turn around

and you can

have life

and forgiveness

and the hope

of the brokenness

being mended

and you see

again

how these

disciples

attitudes

emotions

were changed

during this

whole encounter

they started

off fearful

they started

off grieving

when Jesus

was dead

they then

moved to

cynicism

he can't

really be

alive

to doubting

is this

real

and if you

turn over

to the very

last page

well not the

very last page

of the gospel

account

page 22

those last

lines

what happened

after Jesus

had gone back

to heaven

verse 52

so they

worshipped him

and returned

to Jerusalem

filled with

great joy

hopelessness

despair

grief

fear

turned to

joy

why

because Jesus

is alive

that's the

invitation he

makes to us

I'm going to

pray for us

we've got a few

minutes for

questions before

everyone has to

run off and leave

let's pray

heavenly father

we thank you

that you love

a broken world

so much

you came in

the person of

your son

god the son

came to put it

right

thank you that

Jesus is alive

thank you for the

hope that gives

to those of us

who know him

we pray you'll

help us now

as we

perhaps ask

some questions

give me wisdom

to be able to

answer faithfully

in Jesus name

Amen