The Resurrection of the Son of God

Today's scripture reading is from Luke chapter 4, the whole chapter.

Luke 4 · chapter mention

! Please follow along in your Bible or the Church Bible.

! Our passage can be found on page 831 in the Church Bible.

On the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared,

and they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.

But when they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.

While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel.

And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the man said to them,

Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has reason.

Remember how he told you while he was still in Galilee,

that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and on the third day rise.

And they remembered his words.

And returning from the tomb, they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.

Now it was Mary, Madeline, and Joanna, and Mary, the mother of James, and the other women with them,

who told these things to the apostles.

But this was what seems to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.

But Peter rose and ran to the tomb, stooping and looking in.

He saw the linen cloths by themselves, and he went home, marveling at what had happened.

That very day, two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem.

And they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened.

While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them.

But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.

And he said to them,

What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?

And they stood still, looking sad.

Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him,

Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?

And he said to them,

What things?

And they said to him,

Concerning Jesus of Nazareth,

a man who was a prophet, mighty in deed and word before God and all the people,

and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death and crucified him.

But we had hope that he was the one to redeem Israel.

Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened.

Moreover, some women of our company amazed us.

They were at the tomb early in the morning, and when they did not find his body,

they came back saying that they had even 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 as the women had said.

But him they did not see.

And he said to them,

O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.

Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?

And beginning with Moses and all the prophets,

he interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

So they drew near to the village to which they were going.

He acted as if he were going farther,

but they urged him strongly, saying,

Stay with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is now far spent.

So he went in to stay with them.

When he was at table with them,

he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them.

And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him.

And he vanished from their sight.

They said to each other,

Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road,

while he opened to us the scriptures?

And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem.

And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together,

saying,

The Lord has risen indeed and has appeared to Simon.

Then they told what had happened on the road

and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

As they were talking about these things,

Jesus himself stood among them and said to them,

Peace to you.

But they were startled and frightened and thought that 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 Lord 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 appoint you,

but stay in the city

until you are clothed with power from on high.

And he led them out as far as Bethany,

and lifting up his hands, he blessed them.

While he blessed them,

he parted from them and was carried up into heaven.

And they worshipped him

and returned to Jerusalem with great joy,

and were continually in the temple blessing God.

Let us believe and respond to God's true and living word.

Great. Thanks, Colin and Kristen.

Well, once again, good morning.

Great to see you here.

If you are visiting for the first time,

my name is Kevin,

and it's a joy to be with you this morning.

Now, each year,

billions and billions of dollars around the world,

which legally belong to individuals,

such as you and I,

go unclaimed and unaccounted for.

Stocks, dividends,

mutual funds purchased decades ago,

long forgotten about,

insurance payouts,

which beneficiaries never knew existed,

contents of abandoned safe deposit boxes,

which are so safe,

they're still in there,

even payroll checks that were from former employees,

employers that were never collected.

Sometimes a loved one dies,

and they've got a life insurance policy,

but their loved ones never know about it.

And so they never collect the insurance policy,

meaning significant sums of money

that the person wanted their loved ones to have

on their passing,

go uncollected and accounted for.

Friends, I wonder how you would feel

if one day you're on your deathbed,

you've got a few hours left to live,

and someone comes here and says,

don't you know those tens,

even hundreds of millions of dollars

that belong to you?

You haven't claimed them?

You haven't collected them?

They're all going to waste.

What a pity it would be

if you never claimed,

never enjoyed all that was rightfully yours.

Well, in order to enjoy the benefits

that are rightly ours,

we need to clearly and thoroughly understand

what it is that has been given to us,

what it is that we have,

what it is that we are entitled to.

Now this morning,

we're looking at Luke's gospel, Luke 24,

and we're going to see a glimpse

of just what it is

that Christ has accomplished for us

through his death and resurrection.

If you've got a Bible, keep it open.

We're going to look at a couple of verses.

We're going to be looking at that

over the next half an hour or so.

But this weekend is obviously Easter weekend.

It is the high point of the Christian life,

the Christian calendar.

I hope that many of you were able

to join us this weekend

at the journey of the cross

as we went through this hall

and followed Jesus on his journey

from Gethsemane to the tomb.

But of course,

the Easter story doesn't end on the cross.

It doesn't even end in Joseph's tomb.

The Easter story continues

through Good Friday to Resurrection Sunday

when the disciples encounter

the risen, resurrected Christ.

And that's what we're going to look at today.

Now if you were paying attention

during the reading,

you'll notice that Luke here

gives three accounts

of very ordinary people

that encounter the risen Christ.

Three different stories of these people.

And these accounts are all similar

and different in some ways.

I don't know if you have ever seen

a piece of artwork

made up of three panels.

There we go, something like that.

It's called a triptych, I think,

is the technical word.

It's one piece of artwork

made of three panels.

And each art piece

is not exactly the same as the others,

but there's a continuation.

There's a story that's told

as you put them together.

And the meaning of the art

is found in both the similarities

and the differences.

As you look at each individual piece,

it tells you something.

But as you look at the piece together,

it tells you a much fuller story.

Luke's description of the resurrection

is something like this.

He gives us three accounts

of people encountering the risen Jesus,

which each speak to us individually,

but also together as a whole.

So let's take a look at them.

So the first story is this.

The first one happens early in the morning.

John's gospel tells us

this happened while it was still dark.

Mary Magdalene and some other ladies

go towards the tomb with spices

that they'd prepared

to freshly anoint the body.

But to their great surprise,

upon arriving at the tomb,

they discover the stone

has been rolled away.

The tomb is empty.

And while they're wondering

what's going on,

they're probably assuming

that either robbers have come in

during the night

or maybe the authorities

have stolen the body

and hid in it.

Jesus was a controversial figure.

While they're wondering

and trying to make sense of this,

two angels appear

and say to them,

why do you seek the living

in the place of the dead?

He is not here.

He has risen,

just as he told you.

And these ladies

discover the empty tomb.

Now, you may be new to church.

You may be new to Christianity.

And you may be saying,

come on, come on, come on.

Dead people don't rise.

Who do you take me to be?

Am I a fool?

Maybe you're a scientist.

Maybe you say,

listen, this is the 21st century.

We know these things, right?

But isn't that exactly the point?

Just like you and me,

these women went to the tomb

not expecting it to be empty,

not expecting not to find a body.

They went there knowing

that dead bodies don't rise.

They went there expecting

to find the tomb sealed,

Jesus behind the tomb,

and dead as he was on Friday.

N.T. Wright,

the famous theologian academic,

said ancient people knew perfectly well

that dead people don't rise.

We don't need modern science

to tell us that.

And that's exactly true, right?

Despite everything

that Jesus had said to them,

they were expecting a tomb

that was sealed in the body

behind the stone.

They were no more expecting

an empty tomb

than you and I would expect

to come home

from our grandmother's funeral,

to walk into the living room,

and there she is,

sitting, eating dim sum, right?

That's what they were expecting,

a tomb

with a stone rolled over,

Jesus behind there.

The other gospel writers

tell us

that the tomb

was sealed,

shut.

There were guards

put in place

to make sure

that no robbers

could steal the body,

and the disciples

couldn't come

and take the body

and claim that he was risen.

And yet,

despite that,

every precaution

was taken

to make sure

the body of Jesus

remained in place.

And yet,

these first eyewitnesses,

against their own intuition,

against everything

they knew

about life and death,

came to see

that the once sealed,

heavily guarded tomb

was empty.

Now,

some people might say,

yeah,

but, you know,

the disciples,

they were obviously

intellectually

or emotionally biased.

I mean,

they were looking

for a resurrection.

And so,

they confused

the hallucinations

with visions.

And they confused

these visions

thinking they saw

the real Jesus.

They thought

this was appearances

of Jesus.

But friends,

can't you see

the whole point

the historical writers

are making

is just how much

these first witnesses

were not expecting

to find Jesus.

They weren't biased at all.

They weren't looking

for a risen Christ.

They were looking

for a dead body.

And yet,

despite everything

that they should have known,

what they saw

was the empty tomb

and were reminded

of what Jesus said.

Okay,

first story.

Second story,

what happens?

Now it's mid-afternoon.

Sunday afternoon,

three days after,

Jesus has been crucified.

It's Sunday afternoon.

Here we have two disciples.

One of them is a man

called Cleopas.

The other one,

we don't know their name.

And they're walking

the 11 kilometer journey

from Jerusalem

to a town called Emmaus.

And along the way,

Jesus himself

comes and walks

alongside them.

And he hears them talking

and Jesus plays the fool.

He plays ignorant.

And he says,

hey,

what are you guys

talking about?

And they say,

where have you been?

Don't you know?

Jesus of Nazareth.

The one that we had

high expectations for.

He's been killed.

The authorities killed him.

And they say,

don't you know

what's been going on

in Jerusalem?

And sorry,

Jesus says,

no, no,

what's been going on?

Tell me.

And they tell him

about himself.

They say,

you know,

Jesus,

the one we had hoped

would save Israel,

rescue Israel.

And Jesus plays along

for a little while

and then Jesus says,

but isn't that what

the Old Testament

scriptures said

was to happen?

And starting with

the Old Testament,

Jesus goes through

all the Old Testament

and shows them,

reveals to them

how the Messiah

has to die in judgment

for the sin of his people.

Rise again in vindication.

And then they stop

for an early dinner

and as they are

breaking bread,

suddenly their eyes

are opened

and they realize

who it is

that's in front of them

and Jesus is no longer there.

And what do they say?

They say,

did not our hearts

burn within us

while he talked to us

on the road

and opened the scriptures?

Here they encountered Jesus

in such a profound way.

It wasn't just intellectually.

It wasn't just like,

oh wow,

okay,

I guess let's just

connect the dots.

It wasn't just emotionally.

They didn't have

an emotional reaction.

There's something

so profoundly deep

within them

that the deepest longings,

the deepest yearnings,

the deepest hopes

of their hearts

were being engaged

as they realized

Jesus is not dead.

He's alive.

And the point here

is that these disciples,

they didn't see

the empty tomb.

For them,

they encountered

the risen Jesus.

How?

In the scriptures

and in the sacraments

as they connected the dots

and saw that Jesus was alive.

How about the third story?

Well, the third story,

it's now evening time.

So we've had morning,

we've had afternoon.

It's now the evening.

And Jesus appears again

amongst the rest

of his disciples

in the house

where they're staying.

And they not only see him,

but they touch him.

Jesus says,

feel my hands,

look at my feet,

where the,

he says,

touch me and see.

Look,

a spirit doesn't have

these things.

And the point here

is that Jesus appears

to them in physical,

bodily form.

This is not a spirit.

This is not,

Jesus just rose

in their hearts

philosophically.

Jesus didn't appear

from another world

and send them a message

from another world.

Jesus physically,

bodily appeared

in their midst

and showed them

that he had risen

from the dead.

And he eats with them

and he speaks with them

and he communes with them

and he reveals himself

to them.

Okay,

so there's three

different stories.

Now,

what's the point

of all this?

Why is Luke

telling us these stories?

Why didn't Luke

just give us one story?

Luke is building a case here.

Luke is like a good lawyer,

a good barrister,

right?

And he's building

an argument

and he's getting

all his witnesses

in place.

Imagine here in Hong Kong

there's a motor car

accident somewhere,

right?

And somebody

is tragically killed.

And the prosecutors,

the DOJ,

they want to prosecute

the driver

for maybe manslaughter

or reckless driving.

And so they're building

their case

and they get

all their witnesses

and they find a lady

who was on the side

of the road

and witnessed the accident.

And then they see

there's a residential block

across the road

and there's a guard

that stays in the guardhouse

and he witnessed everything.

And then they find

the car driving behind

and they've got

a dashboard camera

and the camera

witnessed everything

and they get

their three witnesses

all from different angles

and they say,

tell us your story.

What did you see?

What did you see?

And the witnesses

all tell the same story

but from a different angle.

Oh, I saw this happen.

I saw this happen.

It's the same story.

Luke here is like a barrister.

He's building his case

and each narrative

tells us the same story

from a different angle.

The woman discover

an empty tomb.

The stone is rolled away.

There's nobody inside

and they get a message

saying this is the place

of the dead.

Why are you looking

for living people here?

The disciples

on the road to Emmaus,

they encounter Jesus

but they don't recognize him.

They encounter Jesus

in the scriptures

and in the sacraments.

As Jesus opens

the scriptures

and breaks bread

and they recognize

Jesus is with us.

And then the other,

the 11 apostles

and the others with him,

they see Jesus physically.

They touch him.

They hold him.

They look at the marks

in his hands.

And Luke is saying,

look at all the witnesses.

But each time

the case is building

and the evidence

is getting more

and more substantial.

So the two women,

they go to the tomb

but they don't actually

see Jesus.

They just see the tomb

is empty

and they hear angels.

It's not the most

compelling evidence.

But then,

the two disciples,

they actually see Jesus

and they've got

a thousand years

of testimony

and witness

and oh,

it makes sense.

And then finally,

the 11 apostles,

these are God's

authorized disciples

that are going to go out.

They actually physically

see Jesus

and touch him.

The case is building,

building, building.

And Luke's point here is,

it's real.

It's not what any

of the disciples expected.

It's not what they

were looking for.

No one had the bias

that Jesus is going

to rise again

and yet it happened.

It's true.

It's real.

Jesus really rose.

Except,

Luke is saying

more than that,

isn't he?

You see,

in Luke's gospel,

Luke's account

of the death

of Christ

is different

from all the other gospels.

In fact,

each gospel

has its own emphasis.

And Luke pulls out

things that the other

writers don't pull out.

And so,

look at one or two

of them with me.

One of the things,

in the build-up

to the crucifixion,

Luke makes the point

that there is kind

of demonic,

satanic activity

that's kind of

brooding around here.

Three times

in Luke chapter 22,

Luke 22 · chapter mention

Jesus references

Satan,

or Luke references

the work of Satan.

Look at verse 3.

He says,

Satan entered Judas,

called Iscariot,

and he went

and conferred

with the chief priest

how he might

betray him.

Verse 31,

Jesus says,

Simon, Simon,

Satan has demanded

to have you

that he might

sift you like weak,

but I have prayed

for you that your faith

may not fail.

And then when

Jesus arrests

in Gethsemane,

he says,

this is now the hour,

the power of darkness.

And there's the sense

that the forces of evil

are like a kettle

of velchers.

They're kind of circling

or a pack of hyenas.

They're smelling something

and they're brooding,

they're moving in.

There's evil

that's brooding

around the scene here,

right?

But there's something else

Luke also says

in his Passion account.

Luke makes the point

of the innocence of Jesus.

The innocence of Jesus.

Three times during

the trial of Jesus,

Pontius Pilate says,

I find no guilt

in this man.

There's nothing in here

that makes him

worthy of dying.

And Pilate sends

him away to Herod

and Herod sends him back

saying,

I can find no guilt

in him worthy of death.

Even, I mean,

remember,

Herod didn't really

love Jesus, right?

Herod wasn't a good man.

But Herod says,

there's nothing in him

deserving of death.

And then even while

Jesus is dying

on the cross,

the centurions,

the Roman soldiers

whose job it is

to make sure

that he's dead

and justice is served,

the centurion says,

surely this man

was innocent.

And Luke is building

the case here

that everybody

who had eyes to see

could see that

this was a

travesty of justice.

Jesus was an

innocent man

that did not

deserve to die.

The authorities

can tell,

the centurions

can tell,

everybody knows

Jesus was an

innocent man.

And you get the sense

that for the disciples,

part of their confusion,

part of their despair,

part of their hopelessness,

is these two things

coming together.

The sense of

this evil forces

that are brooding

and the injustice

that's going on,

it feels like,

well, where is hope?

Is there any hope

in the world?

When you've got

these two things

going on,

the sense is that

maybe Jesus

was a victim

of a terrible plot.

That the forces

of evil

and the forces

of hell

and the injustice

of man,

these things

destroyed Jesus.

And Jesus

was a victim

of a travesty

of justice.

I wonder if that's

what Luke's

first readers

were feeling.

As they read

at the end

of chapter 23,

they just think,

what hope is there

in the world?

When you've got

such evil in the world

and such evil men

doing these things,

what hope is there

for any of us?

But friends,

don't you see?

Luke wants to tell us

that is exactly

not what is happening.

Jesus' death

on the cross

was not the result

of evil forces

and not the result

primarily of the

injustice of man.

This was the purpose

and the plan

of God.

This was God's doing.

This is what God

had always planned

would happen.

The excruciating death

of the Lord Jesus

was not because

of evil forces

in the world,

not the cowardness

of Pontius Pilate,

not the jealousy

of the Jewish people,

not the treachery

of Judas Iscariot.

In spite of all them,

this was the

predetermined plan

and the purpose

of the triune God,

the sovereign God

of Father,

Son,

and Spirit

that He would send

His Son into the world

to die on the cross

for the sins

of all those

who would believe in Him.

to take upon Himself

the sin of humanity

and rise again

on the third day

as confirmation

that His atonement

offering was accepted.

And that's why

all three of these stories,

all three panels,

make the case

that this is what

was written about

and spoken about

hundreds of years before.

If you've got your Bible,

look at the first panel.

Look at verse 5.

The angels said to the woman,

Why do you seek

the living amongst the dead?

He is not here.

He has risen.

Remember how He told you

while He was still

with you in Galilee,

the Son of Man

must be delivered

into the hands

of sinful men

and be crucified

on the third day.

The angels tell the woman,

Why are you surprised?

Jesus said this

was going to happen.

Look at the second panel.

Look at verse 25.

Jesus said to them,

Oh foolish ones,

how slow of heart

you are to believe

all that the prophets

have spoken.

Was it not necessary

that Christ should suffer

and then enter into His glory?

And beginning with Moses

and the prophets,

He interpreted to them

all the scriptures

the things concerning Himself.

Look at the third panel,

verse 44.

Jesus said to the disciples,

These are my words

that I spoke to you

while I was still with you,

that everything written

about me

and the law

and the prophets

and the Psalms

must be fulfilled.

Then He opened their eyes

to understand.

And He said to them,

It is written,

the Christ will suffer

and on the third day

rise from the dead

that the repentance

for the forgiveness of sins

should be proclaimed

to all nations.

Friends,

this is what God's word

said would always happen.

This is what the entire

Old Testament is about.

This is what Isaiah said

700 years before

that the suffering servant

would give his life

as an offering for sin,

a guilt offering,

and rise again

and be vindicated

and live forever.

This is what Hosea the prophet

said 800 years before.

He said that God

would ransom His servant

from the power of the grave,

redeem him from death.

This is what King David

spoke about,

Israel's greatest king,

that he,

the sinless one,

would defeat death

and the grave

and live at God's right hand

and experience the pleasure

of God forever and ever.

Friends,

this is what the whole Bible

is about

because this is what

Christianity is about.

It is written

that the Christ

will suffer

and rise again.

Why?

Verse 47,

so that the repentance

for the forgiveness

of sins

may be proclaimed

in His name

to all people.

Friends,

this is what Easter is about.

Jesus went to the cross,

suffered,

mocked,

beaten,

crucified,

killed,

rose again.

That repentance of sins,

that hope in this life

and in the world to come

can be proclaimed

for everyone.

Later in 1 Corinthians 15,

if Christ has not been raised,

then our message,

the gospel,

the message of Christianity

is in vain.

Then all of our faith

is in vain

and we are still dead

in our sins.

If in Christ

we have hope

in this life only,

we are of all people

most to be pitied.

But in fact,

Christ has been raised

from the dead

and therein lies our hope.

Friends,

in verse 1 of Luke 24,

Luke writes this.

He says,

Now it was the first day

of the week.

Friends,

but don't you see,

it wasn't just the first day

of the week.

It was the first day

of a whole new world,

a world in which hope

was being restored,

in which death

and despair

and hopelessness

and fear

was passing away.

Now,

what does this mean

for us today?

How does this help us today?

Well,

look at these three stories

once again

and what do you notice

about the people in them?

What happens

to the people?

In all three of them,

they undergo a profound change,

don't they?

And look at how Luke

describes them

before they encounter

the risen Jesus.

In verse 4,

they are perplexed

and confused.

In verse 5,

they are frightened

and alarmed.

In verse 11,

they are cynical

and disbelieving.

In verse 17,

they are downcast

and sad.

In verse 21,

they are despondent

and confused.

In verse 38,

they are troubled,

doubtful,

and fearful.

Here are a group

of people you could say

they are not flourishing.

They are experiencing

deep mental ill health,

emotional ill health.

And yet,

each one of them

go through

a profound transformation.

Look at how it ends.

Look at verse 52.

And they worshipped him

and returned to Jerusalem

with great joy

and were continually

in the temple

praising God.

Here are confused,

despondent,

troubled men and women

who are so deeply

and powerfully transformed.

They are barely recognizable.

And this wasn't just

a momentary transformation.

As you read the book of Acts,

Luke's sequel to his gospel,

you discover

this is a deep transformation

that goes on.

Many of them

will go to their graves

like this.

Do you remember

what the religious leaders

say about these disciples

in Acts chapter 4?

Acts 4 · chapter mention

They are joyful.

They are threatened.

They'll say,

if you don't shut up,

we're going to kill you.

And they say,

okay, fine.

We'll just keep on preaching.

And they say,

they recognized

these as uneducated men

that had been with Jesus.

Friends,

they encountered

the risen Lord

and that changed them.

What accounts for this change

that takes place in them?

They had encountered

the risen Christ

and suddenly it all makes sense.

Jesus' death

wasn't an accident.

this was God's plan

to rescue humanity

from the dire

and hopeless situation

from which we could not

save ourselves.

Only a risen Christ

who conquered the grave

can defeat the tyranny

of death,

Satan,

and hell.

Only a risen Christ

could bring about

the promised new hope,

the new world,

the new creation

the prophets

had spoken about

and longed for.

Friends,

in seeing the risen Christ,

they understand

that Jesus is God

who is sovereign

and majestic

and worthy of worship

and the one who gives hope

to the hopeless.

Now, friends,

what does this mean

for you and I?

Well,

I hope you can see

Luke is not just

telling us something.

Luke is asking us

a question.

In fact,

he's asking us

two questions.

Luke is asking us

two very important questions

and I want you to think

about these questions.

The first one is this.

Luke is asking,

based on the evidence

of your life,

looking at your hope,

your joy,

your certainty,

your conviction,

your worship,

what does that tell you

about your belief

in the risen Christ?

Friends,

have you encountered

the living Lord Jesus?

Do you really believe

in the risen Lord Jesus?

Now,

you may say,

yes,

of course I believe.

I've always believed.

I was baptized as an infant.

I've believed all my life.

But do you really?

How would you know

if your belief is genuine

or just wishful thinking?

How would you know

if your faith is genuine

saving faith

or just religious superstition?

Cultural Christianity?

Just religious wishful thinking?

Friends,

can you see what Luke

is saying here?

Those who encounter

the risen Lord Jesus Christ,

their lives are different.

Their hope is different.

Their joy is different.

Their purpose is different.

Their disposition is different.

Their entire ambition

and character is different.

Remember,

Luke is a physician.

He's a doctor here.

Like a good doctor,

he's examining us.

He's probing.

He's pressing.

He's examining the condition

of our faith

and he's asking the question,

you say you have faith

in the risen Lord,

where's the evidence?

Where's the changed life?

When risen Christ

comes into our lives,

he does not leave us the same.

Here's the second question

Luke wants to ask us.

If what the scriptures

said about the coming Messiah,

about his death

and his resurrection

proved true,

what are you doing

about the rest

of the scriptures?

You see,

the Bible

in its entirety

and its totality

is God's word.

Jesus said

the scriptures

cannot be broken.

It's not just that

one or two pages

proved true.

Every single page,

every promise

of scripture

from thousands

of years ago

right through today

is proved true.

And if what Jesus said,

if the scriptures said

about Jesus' death

and resurrection

on the third day

proved true

against everybody's

expectation,

friends,

what it means

is that everything else

from the scriptures

is true.

And so what are you

doing about it?

What are you doing

with the parts

that speak about

his atoning sacrifice,

the fact that he died

in your place

as a guilt offering

for your sin

that you might be

cleansed and justified

and made new?

Friends,

what are you doing

with the scriptures

that speaks about

your need for faith

and repentance?

What are you doing

with the scriptures

that say that Jesus

is Lord over all

and has authority

over every human being?

What are you doing

with the scriptures

that speak about

his imminent return

to judge the living

and the dead?

You see,

if Jesus proved

the scriptures

foretelling his death

and resurrection are true,

it means everything

is true.

Well, friends,

you may say,

well, okay,

that's good,

but how does that

help me with my job

this week?

How does that help

me find a job

or with my aging parents

or find a spouse

or the difficulties

in life?

Friends,

not everything in life

will be solved

in this world.

Jesus never promised us

that follow him

and everything

will go your way.

In fact,

Jesus said

that in this world

you will have trouble,

you will have difficulty,

you will have hardship

and tears and pain,

but take heart,

I have overcome the world.

And how do you know

that's true?

Because he overcame

the grave.

And so, friends,

when work is hard

and difficult

and you feel all alone,

take heart,

Jesus has overcome.

And, friends,

when your parents

are old and aging

and getting sick

and it's hard

to take care for them

and you feel exhausted

and worn down,

take heart,

Jesus has overcome.

And, friends,

when work is hard

and money is tight

and parenting is difficulty

and you've come

to the end of yourself,

take heart,

Jesus has overcome.

Friends,

the grave is empty,

the resurrection is true,

new hope abounds.

Friends,

what happens

if on your deathbed

one day

someone told you

that you had tens

of millions of dollars

that was just waiting

for you

and you never appropriated it,

never took hold of it,

never used it,

what a pity that would be.

But, friends,

what happens

if one day

the risen Lord Jesus Christ

looks you in the eye

and he says,

I died and I rose again

to give you new hope,

new life,

new joy

in this world

and forever

and you never took hold of it,

never appropriated it,

never made it your own,

that would be a disaster.

And so as we come to a close,

let me remind you

of the words

we sang a little earlier.

Though the sun

had ceased its shining,

though the war

appeared as lost,

Christ has triumphed

over evil,

it was finished

upon the cross.

Death was once

our great opponent,

fear once had a hold

of me

and of you.

But the sun

who died

to save us

rose that we

would be free indeed.

Yes,

he rose

that we

would be free indeed.

Let's pray together.

Lord Jesus,

we pray to you

because you are

not a philosophy,

you are not

an idea,

you are not

a concept,

you are alive.

And God,

seated in the throne

of heaven,

you hear our prayers.

You hear the smallest

prayers,

you hear the prayers

prayed with mixed

motives,

you hear even

the most insipid

and weakest

of prayers.

You come,

you respond

to our faith.

Jesus,

thank you for

conquering the grave.

Thank you for

rising again.

Thank you that

the first day

of the week

is also the first

day of a whole

new world,

a world in which

we get to

participate

simply through

faith and repentance.

Christ,

come and be alive

in our hearts,

we pray.

Come and make

yourself real to us.

Come and change

our lives.

God,

for those of us

that are weighed

down with despair

and despondency,

God,

come and open

the eyes of our

heart to see

the new hope

to which you've

given us.

In your great

and wonderful name

I pray.

Amen.

Amen.