Jesus Resurrected

Father, it's my great privilege and honor, and I'm not worthy of it, Father, that I would

get to stand at the front here and try to open your word.

And I confess before you, Father, that I am not worthy of this, and yet your Son has called

me to this.

But Father, we want to hear from Jesus this morning.

Father, we thank you so much that Jesus is present in our midst.

Father, we thank you that he is present.

May he open the Bible to us, and may he so open the Bible to us, and may you so pour out

your Holy Spirit upon us that our hearts will burn with a holy fire as Jesus opens the Scriptures

to us all this morning.

And this we ask in Jesus' name, your Son and our Savior.

Amen.

Please be seated.

So, earlier this week, I was in one of my regular Starbucks working on my sermon, and

there's this really, really fine older man that I've been having conversations with for

about three years.

He started talking to me because he saw the open Bible in the Starbucks.

He knows I'm a minister of this church.

He has a very different view of me.

He goes to a mainline church.

So, on certain moral issues and a range of other things, he has very different views than

I do.

But we've had very, very, very friendly civil conversations over the last three years.

So, I'm sitting there in the Starbucks, and one of the things you can pray for me is that

when the Holy Spirit sort of nudges me that I'm going to be far more attentive to it.

And anyway, so I'm sitting there in the Starbucks.

I know that I'm going to be talking about the resurrection.

And I see, I'm going to call him Bob.

And I see Bob there.

And I know that Bob is a retired scientist, that he was in the hard sciences.

And as he's getting up to leave, it's as if the Holy Spirit nudges me.

And he's going to walk right by me to chat.

And so, I know I have to ask him a question.

So, I ask him a question.

I say, Bob, I'm not asking you this because I don't want to start an argument.

I'm not just, Bob, I'm actually just really, really curious.

I'm preaching on the resurrection on Sunday.

And I would just love to know, do you believe in the resurrection?

And, you know, I'm not trying to cause, I'm just really curious.

So, Bob, you know, looked at me, had this nice smile on his face.

And he sort of looked up at the top of the ceiling for a moment.

And then he said, no.

And then what really surprised me is we talked for half an hour.

And he did 25 minutes of the talking.

And it was as if I just was able to be there with occasional interjections.

As he revealed that he was, in fact, very, very, very thoughtful about the issue.

And that he noticed that there's, he just knew that there's all sorts of problems, like riddles, that he couldn't solve.

In fact, just, you know, a bit of a thing.

One of the things that really struck me afterwards is that, you know, if we want to bear witness to Jesus in a post-Christendom culture like we live in now,

that maybe one of the things that we have to do is just ask non-threatening questions because we're just really curious to hear what the other person would say.

Because I actually, I was just very curious.

Because I know he went to a, I know he went to a mainline church.

And I know that, I know he went to a mainline church where there probably wouldn't be very clear Bible teaching.

And I knew he was a scientist.

I was just very curious.

So for 25 of the 30 minutes, he just shared with me a whole range of riddles.

At the bottom line for him, early on in the conversation, was if he did not believe that there could be any miracles if science was true.

I didn't say that very well.

He believed that if he started believing in miracles, it would mean that science didn't work.

And it would throw into, and he knows that science, you know, isn't perfect.

He knows better than you or I would.

I mean, I shouldn't say that because some of you are scientists as well.

But he knew that there's lots of things that, you know, sort of go wrong with science and are problematic with science.

But he just did not, he did not believe that you could have the miracles and science.

They didn't go together.

And, in fact, one of the things he, and he said that's why he didn't believe in the virgin birth as well.

And it's also why he said that he doesn't believe in any, so I said you don't believe in any of the miracles in the Bible.

He said, no, I don't believe in any of the miracles.

But he said the other miracles aren't as problematic as the resurrection.

And I'm going to tell you a little bit more as we go on about it.

I'll just say one other thing that I said about his, I said to him, you know, one of the riddles you must, I don't know if you ever thought about it, Bob.

But it's sort of funny, isn't it, Bob, that the very, very book that tells us that miracles actually happen is the same book, the same faith, that provided the social context for science to develop.

I said to him that, you know, human ingenuity is common amongst all people.

There's no group of people that are more ingenious or clever than another.

They're probably equally distributed amongst human beings.

And, you know, obviously in Islam and Hinduism and Buddhist cultures and Confucius cultures, there was a lot of ingenuity and a lot of things that were developed.

But it was only in the Christian world that the Bible provided both a teaching of miracles but an intellectual framework and basis for science to develop.

And he looked at me and he smiled and he said, yes, that's one of many riddles that I can't get my mind around.

Like, I just can't get my mind around how that actually could be.

But he acknowledged that that was, in fact, the case.

So I'm going to mention some other things that Bob said as we look at the text.

And so if you get your Bibles, it would be a great help to me if you would turn in your Bibles to the book of Luke, chapter 24.

Luke 24 · chapter mention

We'll look at these 32 verses and I'll also share you a few other things that Bob had problems with and shared with me his problems while I just listened.

And so it begins, actually, we're going to begin not at chapter 24, but we're going to begin at chapter 23, verse 50.

Last week we looked at this and a bit more and I actually didn't read it, but I just said that one of the things, and the death of Jesus is a few verses earlier,

but there's time and time and time again in the text that they want to communicate, Luke wants to communicate to us that Jesus is dead, dead, dead, dead, dead.

And it's just sort of important that we sort of just get a bit of the flow here.

So if you begin at verse 50 of chapter 23.

So Jesus has died, and now in verse 50.

Now there was a man named Joseph from the Jewish town of Arimathea.

He was a member of the council, that's what we call the Sanhedrin, a good and righteous man who had not consented to their decision and action,

and he was looking for the kingdom of God.

This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.

Then Joseph took it down, the body of Jesus, and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid Jesus' body in a tomb cut in stone where no one had ever been laid.

It was the day of preparation and the Sabbath was beginning.

Now you might just remember, just pause here for a second, that the reading I did, I kept saying they, they, they, they, they,

and yet you might not have known who the they was.

Now we discover who the they is, are.

I don't know the grammar there.

Who the they is that is going to happen in verse 24.

It happens here in verse 55.

The woman who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph, in a sense, and saw the tomb and how his body was laid.

Then they returned and prepared spices and ointments.

I just want to pause here for a second.

This is one of these really, really, really neat little historical comments in the gospel.

Because, you know, what it's sort of implying is, okay, so there's all these women, four or five or six women, and they're watching Joseph.

And we know from another account that Nicodemus was also with it.

So we see these two guys putting Jesus' body in the tomb and sort of trying to prepare it.

And their response of seeing them do it was in verse 56.

Then they returned and prepared some spices and ointments.

And it was really as if they said, oh, good grief.

Leave it to men to mess it up.

Look how messy it is.

They use the wrong spices.

It's all messy.

There's no flowers.

We're going to have to do this ourselves.

Like, it's just as if, if you were to come to my house sometime and my wife wasn't present, or my daughters, and I set the table, you would say, George needs help in setting tables.

You would know whether Louise set the table or George set the table.

You would instantly know the difference.

So it's just a little historical moment.

The women see the men do it, and they say, I guess we're going to have to go get some spices and do the job right.

And so it continues on, the second part of verse 56.

On the Sabbath day, they rested according to the commandment.

Verse 1, chapter 24.

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared.

And just sort of pause here for a second.

Here's the first point, if you could put it up.

Say it again.

What the scriptures show here, what the historical evidence shows, and in fact, all four pieces of historical evidence all show the exact same thing.

That everyone, even his closest disciples, thought that Jesus was discredited and dead, and that he would stay discredited and dead.

Now, you can't see the discredited part here.

You're going to see it when we talk about the Emmaus text.

And so I'll just sort of, we heard it a few moments ago, but what you're going to see in a couple of minutes in the next story is that these two disciples, they're leaving.

They're out of there.

They're out of there because they thought Jesus was a prophet, but obviously he's not a prophet.

They thought he was the one who was going to redeem Israel, but obviously he's not the one who's going to redeem Israel.

He's discredited by his death.

And they were leaving.

In Emmaus, they didn't think he was going to come back to life.

They didn't think the resurrection was going to happen.

They didn't think there'd be a change of opinion about him.

And as we go through here, all the way through here, the women, the men, his disciples, everybody, everybody thinks that Jesus is dead.

Pilate thinks he's dead.

Roman soldiers, the priests, everybody believes him dead.

Everybody believes him discredited.

Everyone believes that he'll stay dead.

Everyone believes he'll stay discredited.

That's like a rock solid thing of all the historical evidence, dead and discredited.

And so, and you see, that's in a sense what my friend Bob would say.

Dead people stay dead.

They don't come back to life again.

Dead people stay dead.

They don't come back to life again.

And he said, you know, how would it, it would change the entire universe and all of our understanding to think that a dead man could come back to life again.

And, you know, if the resurrection actually happened, then in principle, I have no problem with any miracle.

But he shared with me, and I said to him, by the way, I didn't actually, other than pointing out this little thing about how it was within the Christian culture that science developed.

That's a bit of a riddle for him, which he knew of.

Often people aren't educated to understand that.

But he knew that.

And I said, some other time I'll buy you a coffee.

We should talk a little bit about how science and miracles can fit together.

But Bob understood that everything, intellectual, all, the whole universe, the whole mental world and his map would have to change if the resurrection actually happened.

So let's just continue, you know, going on.

Verse 2.

So these are the women.

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 we discover later on that they're angels.

And as they were frightened, that's the women, not the angels.

As the women were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them,

Why do you seek the living among the dead?

So put up the second point if you could.

Luke is saying that what happened to Jesus is as real as your bank records, the NBA finals statistics, or the list of Canada's prime ministers.

Luke is saying that what happened to Jesus is as real as your bank records, the NBA finals statistics, or the list of Canada's prime ministers.

This is one of the things which was very interesting in my conversation with Bob.

Very different than some of the other conversations I have in Starbucks.

Apart from being a scientist, he's an older man.

And he'd also done some other reading just in literature and in mythology and myths.

And he accepted that basically Luke was making an historical claim here.

He accepted that that was basically the type of thing.

And in fact, actually, one of the things which really puzzled him about it is he really puzzled over with me how it's...

He said, you can't...

You have to believe in the historical evidence that the...

I mean, it's just clear that Christianity exploded quite quickly.

And that the belief that Jesus' body was gone and that he was resurrected, that that was the historical belief they had.

And he said, you know, I puzzle over the fact that it couldn't have been the Roman soldiers.

They would just have blown that belief out of the water in an instant by producing the body.

And so would the chief priests and so would...

And he said, the other thing he said that just really puzzles me is I believe and I know and I accept that the 11 disciples,

that all but one of them died martyr's death.

And I just have a hard time believing that all 11 of them would have been in on a hoax.

And a hoax that went to their death.

A hoax...

He said, I understand hoaxes if it makes you lots of money and fools the gullible and makes you powerful.

But it didn't make any of them lots of money.

It didn't make any of them powerful.

And it just led to their death.

And I understand that there's some historical reality there.

And I understand that Luke is making some historical claim.

But as a scientist, I just can't believe that a dead man would come to life again.

And he knew that it wasn't resuscitation, that it was resurrection.

It wasn't Jesus just becoming alive, but that he becomes...

And still to die later, but that the claim is that the grave is empty.

He understands.

It was a very...

You know, one of the surprising things about asking questions of people is that it's easy to think

that they're going to maybe have all these other beliefs.

And so sometimes the reason it's just so important to ask in sharing about Jesus just honest questions

is it's really helpful just to find out what they actually think and believe.

Like in the case with Bob, I would not...

I don't have to have a conversation with him.

I mean, I might have to have a conversation with him about when the book was written and all that type of stuff.

But the fact that this was making a historical, real claim in all of the details, Bob accepted that.

He thought it couldn't be true.

But he puzzled over how it could...

How the Christianity developed and how this could not be true.

And he said, I have no answer to how these things go together.

Just as a bit of an aside, you should pray for Bob.

You should pray for Bob.

And because he was surprisingly and is surprisingly thoughtful about all of this stuff.

Now, but some of you might say,

George, I have a bit of a separate problem.

I'm familiar with some of the other four historical evidences about the gospel.

Four other historical evidences of what happened on Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

And George, don't some of the people see one angel and some see two?

And there's some other...

George, like, how does that fit in?

Like, surely just the presence of an angel means that it's not historical.

But even if I accept that angels are possible, how...

Like, aren't there just real problems here?

Like, some see one and some see two?

And that's a really, really good question.

One of the problems that we have, and it's a big problem with commentaries,

it's a big problem in the Christian community,

is that we don't take the record as data to understand and put together.

But we have our theories and our beliefs about how reality works

and therefore will dismiss data sometimes.

But if we actually just for a second humble ourselves

and say that we're going to take these historical records,

at first at least, to consider them as data,

then what it tells us is that seeing an angel or angels

isn't like seeing another person.

In fact, if you take it as data,

there's all sorts of very interesting things in here.

The data on angels is that usually when you meet one,

unveiled, so to speak, or one is revealed to you,

it creates within you a sense of awe

and a sense of humility

and a desire to bow your head.

And in the Old Testament and other places,

sometimes even a desire to worship them.

And that there's this odd human experience of both fear

and a type of dread

and a desire to worship at the same time.

And the other thing is that since angels are inherently invisible,

it means it's up to them to reveal to us

or allow us or do something in our head

so that we can perceive them.

So in a sense, what this data is telling us

is I actually think that both accounts are right.

In fact, what I would say is that afterwards

when the women were walking home,

I said, I can't believe I saw two angels.

And another one of them said, I only saw one angel.

And it wasn't that one of them was in a corner

and they had a better angle on it.

It would just maybe very, very well

is that the way that the world actually works,

because you see, at the end of the day,

I think that the Bible is true.

I think there really is a God that does exist.

I believe this because I believe Jesus really did rise from the dead,

triumphing and triumphed over sin and death

and all hostile spiritual powers in his resurrection.

And that means there is a God that does exist.

It means that he did create all things.

He sustains all things.

He will bring all things to their completion.

That there is a no ability to reality,

but because God is sovereign,

he can continue to act in reality.

And the order that he created,

then he sustains and he can act in it sovereignly.

And sometimes his sovereign actions

are what we understand as miracles.

And I believe and I accept all of that.

And it means that if God was to all of a sudden

have an angel which is present in our service right now

or angels that are present in our service right now,

and if God was to decide that it was for our great good

that we could see that afterwards,

after we'd gotten off our faces

and we're having coffee talking about it,

some of you would say,

I saw two angels.

I only saw one.

I saw three.

I saw five.

I don't know.

Because, you see,

when we see another human being,

we're seeing something in the sense

of the same type of created order as us.

And if one of you sees two

and another one sees one,

maybe it's because one of your eyesight

doesn't work very well

or maybe one of the two people's behind something

and another person needed an angle.

But just the very, very nature,

if we take this as data,

it just means the very, very data

is that angels have to, in a sense,

reveal themselves to us.

And some of the women saw two

and some of the women saw one.

And by the way,

if you understand this type of basic distinction,

it means that a whole pile of the apparent contradictions

or inconsistencies or problems

in how the four texts go together are removed.

You don't have to have multiple trips

going back and forth for some to see one

and some to see two.

I would just take it as data.

I actually believe that I might have seen an angel once.

You know, I don't talk about it,

but I think I had an experience once

where I saw an angel.

But I couldn't...

I saw something that physically wasn't there.

I had an experience with something

that was physically not there.

And that happened to me once.

It might never happen to me again.

And many very godly Christians,

it never happens to them.

But I believe we walk in a world

where there are angels and demons

present around us all of the time.

And most of the time we do not see them

because they need to reveal themselves to us.

And God, in his sovereign wisdom,

usually does not allow that to happen.

One of the things I think that we'll see from this text

is that all of these texts give us a bit of a way

to understand what the new heaven

and the new earth will be.

And in the new heaven and the new earth,

we will see angels

as our elder brothers and sisters

and our elder friends.

And part of the real world

of the new heaven and the new earth

will be conversations with them.

But I get ahead of myself.

I get ahead of myself.

One of the things which Bob talked about

was just that he accepted

that the historical records

must have shown that the tomb was empty.

He accepts that.

And he just can't,

he said, I can't explain it.

I can understand that if the tomb wasn't empty,

that Christianity would not have developed.

But I just can't explain the empty tomb.

And the next part of Luke's historical record

of what happened

is Luke beginning to explain the empty tomb.

So if you could go back to verse 5a,

hopefully Luke chapter 24,

Luke 24 · chapter mention

sort of 5b,

the second part of verse 5,

the angels say to the women,

Why do you seek the living among the dead?

He is not here, but is risen.

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.

Just sort of pause there.

In other words,

they remember Jesus' words.

Those of you who have been sojourning with us

as we've gone through the Gospel of Luke

know that there's been quite a few times

in the Gospel of Luke

where Luke shares with us

that Jesus said

that he's going to Jerusalem to die.

I'm going to Jerusalem to die.

I'm going to Jerusalem to die.

I'm going to die on the cross.

I'm going to rise from the dead.

The women,

as I said in my first point,

everyone,

even his closest disciples,

thought that Jesus was discredited and dead

and that he would stay discredited and dead.

But now,

if you could put up the third point, Adam,

Luke tells the good news

that Jesus died on a Friday

and that the grave was empty on a Sunday

because Jesus had been raised

and vindicated by God the Father.

If you think there's a bit of ambiguity

in that sentence,

it's true in both senses.

Luke tells this good news

because Jesus had been raised

and vindicated by God the Father.

And the good news is

that Jesus had been raised

and vindicated by God the Father.

Luke tells the good news

that Jesus died on a Friday

and that the grave was empty on the Sunday

because Jesus had been raised

and vindicated by God the Father.

That's the news.

That's the news of the angels.

That's how they interpret the empty tomb.

Yesterday, I was driving back from Starbucks

where I was putting the finishing touches

to my sermon.

And I had decided I would bike

to a Starbucks

a couple of kilometers away from where I live.

And as I was driving back,

I was just sort of filled with praise to God.

I love riding a bike.

I love it.

It was a beautiful morning.

It was around lunchtime.

It was beautiful out.

And, you know,

my bike is just gliding along

and it's working pretty good

and the streets are nice and quiet

where I was.

And it was just so beautiful.

I was so thankful

just to be able to be enjoying

a beautiful day in Ottawa

riding my bike along.

Like, I meant,

and as I was doing this,

I was thinking about

a counseling session

that I'd had quite a few years ago

when I was in my previous church.

Some of you,

I've heard,

I've told you before

how one of the things,

if you're ever trying to help

a friend who's in distress

and they're,

you know,

mental or emotional sadness

or, you know,

whatever,

they're in a big conflict

and you're trying to help them,

like one of the things

that you have to do

in your conversation

is to try to get them

to ask some questions

and not only find out

what happened,

but you also have to ask them

how they feel

about different things

that happened

and you also have to ask them

how they understand

what's happening to them.

And I was riding along

on my bike

and I thought back to it

because quite a few years ago

when I was in my other church,

there was one day

on a Sunday,

I think it was,

no,

it was a Saturday,

it was a Saturday,

it was a Saturday

and I'm driving to a place

and I have to go

to a day-long meeting.

It was a beautiful day

like it was yesterday.

Beautiful,

beautiful day in June

and I'm driving

down this country road

and I see a guy

that I know

and he's driving his bike

on the country road

and I think to myself,

dang,

here I am in a car,

I was dressed,

clothes,

collar,

going to a day-long meeting

and look at that guy.

I feel so jealous

for that guy.

I'm envious of that guy,

shorts,

t-shirt,

riding his bike

on a beautiful country road

on a beautiful June day

in the Ottawa Valley.

That's what I'm thinking.

So,

a week or two later,

this guy comes to me

because he's in great distress

and as fate would have it,

he talks about that day.

He's driving along

in his bike

and I ask him about it,

you know,

and I ask him the question

about what he meant

and he said,

oh, George,

that was one of the worst

days of my life.

I was driving along

this country road

on my ex-girlfriend's

son's bike

and I felt like

I was one inch tall.

I felt so embarrassed

and humiliated.

Every time a car

or a pickup truck

went by,

I tried to hide my face.

It was completely

and utterly demeaning

to me

to be on a bike,

not in my truck

or my car

because he lost it.

That's a whole other thing.

So,

see what I mean by

you have to ask people

how they understand it.

Here I am.

So,

if he had just told me

he's driving his bike to this,

I'm thinking,

oh boy,

he's in a really,

really good mood

because he gets to drive

his bike

on a beautiful country road

in June

in the Ottawa Valley.

But his understanding

of the event

was that he was embarrassed

and humiliated

and demeaned.

So,

you always have to understand

not just what happens,

you have to try to understand

what it means.

And so,

what Luke provides here

in the historical record

and it's going to continue

throughout the rest

of Luke 24

is that Luke provides

the interpretation

of the death of Jesus

upon the cross,

his entry into death

and his resurrection

and the empty tomb

and Luke interprets it

for us.

He tells us

what it means.

He says

that it's good news.

Jesus has been raised

by God the Father

and he's been vindicated

by God the Father.

Why is it that I believe

the Bible?

I believe it in the Bible

ultimately

because Jesus trusted

and loved the Bible

and Jesus

was raised

from the dead.

Why do I follow Jesus?

Because he was raised

from the dead.

There's other reasons

as well.

But the resurrection

of Jesus

vindicates.

Remember the first point

is that every single one

of Jesus' friends

and disciples

and everybody thought

two things

that Jesus was discredited

and dead.

And with the empty tomb

and the resurrection

Jesus is alive

and vindicated.

His teaching

is vindicated.

His death on the cross

is vindicated.

He is vindicated.

His teaching now has

it makes

it's

you have to listen

to his teaching.

It has to turn

your world upside down

if you come to that belief.

Bob understood

that his world

would be turned

upside down.

His intellectual world

his emotional world

would be turned

upside down

if he came to believe

that Jesus

was raised

from the dead.

And Luke tells us

that Jesus

was raised

by the Father

and vindicated

by God the Father.

Now interestingly enough

I didn't say this

to Bob

but

I actually

know slightly

the minister

of the church

that he goes to.

And I was

thinking to myself

in fact I might do this

if I'm being really

mischievous and playful

I might say

to him

that he should ask

the senior minister

at his church

if she believes

in the resurrection

because

she doesn't.

But she believes

that the New Testament

is stories

to communicate hope.

That it's a type

of mythology

and Bob

would have

nothing to do

with it.

In an odd way

Bob believes

more

than his minister

including the fact

that he would

honestly say to me

that he doesn't

believe the resurrection

was possible.

I'm going to

say more

about this

I'm going to

tell you this now

one other thing

that Bob said to me

and I want to

say this now

before we go on

I know I need

to keep moving

on throughout

the thing.

Bob

towards the end

of the conversation

Bob said to me

George I guess

you don't think

I'm a Christian

because I don't

believe in the

resurrection.

And I said

to him

well Bob

we probably

have to have

a coffee

over that one

because it's

a little bit

more complicated

than you think.

earlier on

another one

of the things

that Bob

had said

is that

one of the

things that

he puzzles

over

was after

I shared

with him

about the

Bible

and all

was the

basis of

science

and he

acknowledged

that

and he

said

and it's

more than

that

George

he said

I can't

get my

mind

around

the fact

that this

story

has

transformed

so many

people's

lives

he said

you listen

to Bach

you listen

to the

beauty

of that

music

you go

to Europe

and you

see these

unbelievable

cathedrals

and you

think of

some of

the literature

that was

produced

and if

this

isn't

true

how

could that

be a

basis

of so

much

creativity

and so

much

beauty

and so

much

courage

and heroism

and it's

a riddle

for him

that he

couldn't

put together

in his

head

and so

when he

asked me

about being

a Christian

I said

to him

it's a bit

more complicated

than you

think

I said

first of

all

Bob

if we

have to

pass

get 100%

on a

theology

test

to get

into

heaven

nobody's

going to

make it

to heaven

so it

doesn't matter

your

background

if you're

Roman Catholic

Thomas Aquinas

won't get

into heaven

if you're

more reformed

Calvin's

not going

to get

into

heaven

Billy Graham

he's not

going to

get into

heaven

nobody's

theology

is perfect

so

I said

everybody

is in

heaven

with

imperfect

and

incorrect

theology

and I

said

the second

thing

is

I

think

that

God's

a bit

shameless

in terms

of how

he

has

Jesus

relate

to

people

and I

think

that

in

heaven

there'll

be

a lot

of

people

who

have

a lot

of

questions

and maybe

don't

believe

some

things

that they

should

but

they

just

really

have

this

fundamental

trust

in

Jesus

and

attraction

to

Jesus

and they

can't

explain it

but it's a

deep-seated

thing

and it

affects how

they live

their lives

in some

ways

and I

think

there'll be

a lot

of people

like that

in heaven

I

I

said

I

don't

know

how

that

fits

in

with

you

but I

think

there'll

be a lot

of

people

like that

in heaven

I

said

the thing

about the

resurrection

is

to not

believe

certain

things

in your

trust in

Jesus

it robs

you of a

whole range

of things

about how

to live

your life

if you

believe in

the

resurrection

of

Jesus

it

starts

to

transform

or has

the potential

to transform

your

willingness

to risk

your

willingness

to die

for the

faith

it

inspires

you

and gives

you

confidence

probably

to create

that type

of beauty

and the

sacrifices

and the

courage

and the

intellectual

development

you miss

a lot

you miss

a lot

by not

coming to

accept

the full

doctrines

but

it's

ultimately

all about

trust in

him

that was

actually how

we finished

our conversation

with the

promise

that we

would

talk

again

in the

future

but

as I

said

if I

was

mischievous

I would

say that

he should

maybe

ask his

rector

about this

whether

she

believes

in the

resurrection

of Jesus

because

you see

the very

story

that we

get here

the historical

evidence

shows

if you

don't

really

believe

that it

happened

then it's

actually

not an

inspiring

story

at all

that it's

actually

something

which is

sort of

crazy

which Bob

gets

but a lot

of religious

and spiritual

people don't

get

if you just

continue reading

it Luke

brings this

out

actually we'll

go back to

verse 8 again

and we'll start

going really quick

by the way

in case you're

really wondering

about it

but and they

remembered his

words and

returning from the

tomb

that's Jesus's

words

remembering his

words

and they

sorry

verse 9

and returning

from the tomb

they told all

these things to

the eleven

and to all the

rest

now it was

Mary Magdalene

and Joanna

and Mary the

mother of James

and the other

women with them

who told these

things to the

apostles

but these

words seemed

to them

an idle

tale

and they

did not

believe them

the words

translated as

idle tale

Luke was a

doctor

the guy who

wrote the

gospel of

Luke is a

doctor

and he uses

a medical

term from

the time

and the

medical term

from the

time

which translated

here is

idle tale

it's a

medical condition

when you

babble

due to

a delirium

in other

words if you

have a type

of illness

which is

causing

delirium

and you

start to

babble

that's how

they interpreted

what the

women said

to them

they didn't

take it as

wow this is

a really

hopeful story

too bad

it's not

true

they said

this is

the babbling

these are

babblings of

delirious

people

that's how

they understood

it

verse 12

but Peter

rose and ran

to the tomb

stooping and

looking in

he saw the

linen cloths

lining

linen cloths

by themselves

and he

went home

marveling

at what

had happened

and

just sort

of

pause here

if you

could put

up the

fourth point

and we'll

use this

fourth point

to start

to get

into the

last part

of the

story

what we

see here

is that

Jesus is

not an

illustration

of what

happens to

everyone

because they

are human

he is

God's

promised

power

for salvation

to everyone

who believes

in him

Jesus is

not an

illustration

of what

happens to

everyone

because they

are human

he is

God's

promised

power

for salvation

to everyone

who believes

in him

in an earlier

conversation

with Bob

about a year

earlier

he had

shared with

me that

he

even though

he knows

that scientifically

you'd have to

say that the

dead stay

dead

he had a

basic sense

that that

couldn't be

true

that there

must be

something

after

and something

greater

but he

couldn't

articulate

it

but here

we see

that Jesus

is not

an illustration

of what

happens to

everyone

because they

are human

nowhere in

the text

does it

talk about

it as

being

something

like a

natural

process

it see

that he

is God's

promised

power

for salvation

to everyone

who believes

in him

now

we're going

to go

into the

sort of

very briefly

the trip

to Emmaus

and some

of you

are going

to wonder

you know

George

I can

maybe

understand

what you

have to

say

about

angels

and they

have to

be revealed

to us

but surely

you have

some problems

with the

whole story

of the road

to Emmaus

and why

it is that

two people

who knew

Jesus

couldn't

recognize

him

and surely

George

there's some

problems

with this

story

that makes

it wonder

whether it's

an historical

story

so we're

going to

close by

looking at

that

verse 13

that very

day

two of

them

were going

to a village

named Emmaus

just pause

for a second

in the original

language

it's very

very interesting

it doesn't

say two

men

it might

be two

men

but it

doesn't

say

specifically

that it's

two men

we know

that one

of the

two

is a

man

because

we know

his name

is

Cleopas

but it

says

two of

them

so it's

actually

quite

possible

that it

was a

man

a husband

and wife

or a

father

and daughter

that were

walking

to Emmaus

because the

text doesn't

specify men

but says

just two

that very

day two

of them

were going

to a village

named Emmaus

about 11

kilometers 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

were holding

with each

other

as you

walk

and they

stood

still

looking

sad

then one

of them

turned

named

Cleopas

answered

Jesus

are you

the only

visitor

to Jerusalem

who does

not know

these 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

that he

was the

one

to redeem

Israel

ah 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

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

Jesus

they did

not see

and Jesus

said to

them

oh foolish

ones

and just

so you

know

in Matthew

5

it talks

about how

you should

never call

someone a

fool

in Greek

it's a

different word

here

so Jesus

isn't

doing what

he said

not to

do in

Matthew

5

oh 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

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 gave

it to them

and their eyes

were opened

and they

recognized him

and he

vanished from

their sight

and 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

now I'm

going to

talk about

why they

didn't

recognize him

in a moment

but we

don't know

for sure

but it's

been long

held by

many Christians

that Jesus

was probably

wearing like

a long robe

a robe

with sleeves

that would

have come

down to

here so

he's walking

along

there talking

but many

wonder if

the moment

of the

recognition

of Jesus

is when

Jesus

has a

table

and he

takes the

bread to

bless it

and break

it

and at the

eight o'clock

service I was

wearing robes so

it would have

been an object

lesson I

showed and

the robes

fall down

and they would

have seen the

nail marks in

his hands

and so many

people throughout

church history

think that the

moment that God

allowed their

eyes to be

open to see

was at the

same moment

that they

would have

seen the

nail prints

in his

hands that

were covered

until that

moment

so here's the

thing let's

talk about this

story very

briefly if you

could put up

the next

point

the first

thing that Luke

is telling us

is that Jesus

is the same

person on

Easter Sunday

as he was

on Good

Friday but

now he is

resurrected with

a resurrected

body

Jesus is the

same person on

Easter Sunday

as he was on

Good Friday

but now he is

resurrected with

a resurrected

body

once again we

have to take

this as data

how many of us

have seen a

resurrected body

rather than

us sort of

thinking that

we that a

resurrected body

has to act the

exact same way

that our bodies

do we need to

have look at the

data and if you

look at the data

it does not seem

as if resurrected

bodies act the

way we do in

fact this is

partly how we

can understand

what our new

bodies what

will be like

when we put

our faith and

trust in Jesus

we share in his

resurrection what

heaven the new

heaven and the

new earth is

going to be like

we're still going

to have bodies

we're going to be

the same person

as we were before

dead but we will

be resurrected we

will have no more

sin

and our spirits

our souls will

have a completely

different relationship

with our body

and our body will

have a different

relationship with

the rest of matter

and here we see

that part of what

it is is that God

keeps them from

being able to

recognize it's a

miracle that God

does not Jesus but

that God does so

that Jesus is not

recognized and

some of you you

know sometimes when I

say certain things

about this and we

get we get really

really worried about

certain things we

have objections and

I might say you

know somebody I

say George that's

sort of scary to

me because the

idea that God

could just stop

me from recognizing

something and then

allow me to recognize

something George I

find that very very

scary what do you

say about that and

I would say yes

it is scary

God's bigger than you

are he's bigger than

I am he's sovereign

and the more you

think that you're

autonomous the more

that Jesus is going

to terrify you

because you come to

Jesus and you start

to learn to give up

your autonomy but

here's the thing he's

wildly good and he's

going to prepare he's

fitting you for an

eternity of union with

your creator and a

resurrected person in a

resurrected body in a

new heaven and a new

earth and that's where

he's going with you and

you're going to give up

your autonomy because

autonomy is a myth and

an idol that's not even

true anyway the

tiniest little virus and

you're dead the tiniest

bit of the increase in

air pressure and wind and

your whole world is

blown to part if you

live your life on the

basis of being

completely and utterly

autonomous you're living

your life based on a

lie but the option is in

giving up autonomy and

being a doormat the