The Resurrection of Jesus (Resurrection Sunday 2024)

Happy Easter, it's great to worship with you all.

If you don't have a Bible, please raise your hand.

We'd love to give you a Bible that you can use

while you're here.

We are in Luke chapter 24.

Luke 24 · chapter mention

So last Sunday, Good Friday, and today

we're out of our Revelation series,

which is what we've been doing,

so that we can remember more in greater detail

the death and resurrection of Jesus.

So we're in Luke chapter 24, verses 1 to 12.

Luke 24:1–12

Let me pray.

For the reading and preaching of God's word.

Heavenly Father, these are your people.

This is your church.

And we humble ourselves now before your word.

Exalt the name of your son, Jesus.

And impart to us, as we trust in him,

the power of his resurrection.

So that our daily lives are filled

with the hope.

With the hope that your resurrection brings.

Lord, make the dead alive this morning

by the power of your word.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

If you are able, please stand for the reading of God's word

from Luke 24, verses 1 to 12.

Luke 24:1–12

But 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 men said to them,

Why do you seek the living among the dead?

He is not here,

but has 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.

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 woman with them

who told these things to the apostles.

But these words seemed 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.

This is God's holy and authoritative word.

You may be seated.

During World War II,

in July 1944,

U.S. forces raided the island of Guam

as part of their offensive

against the Japanese soldiers

and their forces in the Pacific.

And Japanese soldiers,

including Shoichi Yokoi,

were scattered,

and they hid deep inside

the jungle of the island

in order to avoid being captured

as prisoners of war.

Shoichi Yokoi outlasted

all of his compatriots

and held out hope

that one day the Japanese army

would return to get him.

But eventually,

he was discovered

by local hunters

and dragged out of the jungle.

And as he was being dragged

out of the jungle,

panic seized him,

and he was afraid

that he was going to be given up

to the U.S. army

as a prisoner of war,

and he didn't want that,

so he started begging them,

just kill me now.

But they refused to kill him

because they were actually

trying to help him.

There were no U.S. soldiers

looking for him

because World War II

had been over

for 27 years already.

This is a true story.

You heard that right.

Shoichi Yokoi lived in hiding

in the jungle for 28 years.

Living in his makeshift

underground shelter

and surviving on a diet

of venomous toads

and river eels and rats.

All because he never heard the news

that the war was over.

This man was literally

living under a rock.

The good news of Jesus' death,

his atoning sacrifice

for our sins,

and his victorious resurrection

is an even more consequential news

than the end of World War II.

Jesus' life, death, and resurrection

single-handedly altered

the trajectory of entire human history.

Perhaps it might be better to say

that entire human history

up to that point

was leading to Jesus

and that the rest of human history

flows out of Jesus' life,

death, and resurrection

because God is the sovereign author

of human history.

It changes not only our present life,

but our eternal life.

And yet, many people in the world

are living as business as usual

because they have not heard,

and if they have heard,

they have not believed

in the resurrection of Jesus.

And that's the main burden

of this passage.

And if you hear that message today

and you believe it,

your life will be changed forever.

And this is the main point

of this passage,

to remember,

to tell of,

and to believe

the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And we're going to talk about

those three things in turn,

to remember,

tell,

and believe.

It says in verse one,

Day is a reference

to the woman

who had come with Jesus

from Galilee

and was there

when he was dying

and saw where Jesus was buried

and then made a mental note

to go and prepare the spices

and come and anoint his body

because in those days

it was customary

to anoint deceased corpses,

basically human bodies,

so that it doesn't rot too quickly

to slow down the process

of decomposition.

And these faithful women

expected to find Jesus' body.

That's why they were

bringing the spices.

But there is a delightful surprise

waiting for them

in verses two and three.

It says,

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.

The repetition of the word find

highlights this contrast.

It forms a neat contrast

between verse two and verse three

and reveals the surprise

of the woman.

Their expectations

are upended in two ways.

They expected to find the stone

blocking the entrance,

but they find that the stone

is rolled away.

They expected to find

the body of Jesus,

but instead,

they do not find the body.

What could this possibly mean?

Luke is building

his suspense here in the narrative.

Verse four continues,

While they were perplexed

about this,

behold,

two men stood by them

in dazzling apparel.

We learn later in this chapter

in verse 23

that these two men

were actually two angels.

It is not uncommon in scripture

for angelic beings

to appear in the form of man,

in human likeness.

The word dazzling

gives it away,

the dazzling apparel.

That's the word

that was used to describe Jesus

when he was transfigured

on the mountain

into his heavenly glory.

He became dazzling white.

And so the presence here

of the two angels,

just as Jesus sent out

his disciples two by two

in Luke chapter 10

Luke 10 · chapter mention

to bear witness to him

in all the towns

that they went through,

is an example

of the scriptural precedent

of having at least

two or three witnesses

to bear a credible testimony

that can be verified.

And so here,

the two angels

are giving that testimony

so that that message

can be transmitted

to God's people.

And as they were frightened

and bowed their face

to the ground,

the men said to them,

why do you seek

the living among the dead?

He's not here,

but has risen.

Why do you seek

the living among the dead?

He has risen.

That's actually in the passive,

and that means,

it could be translated,

he has been raised.

It's the divine passive

referring to the fact

that God the Father

is the one who raised

Jesus from the dead.

This is the way Luke

typically refers

to the resurrection.

So because God

has raised his son,

Jesus, from the dead,

the women should not

be searching for him

among the dead,

in the tombs,

but rather they should

be seeking him

among the living.

Jesus was raised

2,000 years ago now already,

but even today,

so many of us still

seek the living

among the dead.

Jesus is not

a mere historical figure.

He is a current figure,

a living person.

Do we listen to Jesus?

Do we talk with Jesus?

Do we spend time with Jesus?

Jesus' resurrection

has extensive implications

for our lives,

and Jesus' resurrection power

is available to us

as God's people,

but are we living

in light of those realities,

or are we still seeking

the living among the dead?

The angels remind the woman

in verses 5 to 9

of the necessity

and the significance

of the resurrection.

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

on the third day rise.

Jesus had specifically

in the Gospels

predicted his death

and resurrection

to his disciples,

and so the woman

and the apostles

should have known

that this would happen,

but it was so far beyond

their culture

and their expectation

that they didn't see it coming.

They had forgotten

what Jesus had told them.

The angel's exhortation

to remember jogs

the woman's memory,

and this produces

a pattern of the angel's word

and then the woman's response,

and that forms this structure

called chiasm,

which is literally a device

where the first half

mirrors the second half,

highlighting what's in the middle,

which stands alone.

So verses 5 to 6

are matched by verses 8 to 9.

In verses 5 to 6,

the woman,

the angels ask the woman,

why do you seek

the living among the dead?

And then tells them

to remember.

And then in verses 8 to 9,

the woman remember

the words of Jesus,

and then they return

from the tomb now

to the land of the living.

Sandwiched between

those two matching sections

is verse 7,

which is the focal point

of the entire passage.

That the Son of Man

must be delivered

into the hands of sinful men

and be crucified

and on the third day rise.

That is the very heart

of Christianity.

Note that it doesn't merely say

the Son of Man

will be delivered.

It's not just a prediction.

It says the Son of Man

must be delivered.

What happened to Jesus,

his betrayal,

his sentence,

his execution,

and his resurrection,

they were all necessary.

And this is the way Luke

describes what God

has sovereignly foreordained.

It was God's sovereign plan

that these things happened.

Why?

Because Jesus needed to die.

As Romans 6.23 teaches us,

the wages of sin is death.

And therefore,

as Hebrews 9.22 says,

without the shedding of blood,

there is no forgiveness of sins.

Shedding of blood represents

the pouring out of Jesus' life.

It symbolizes death.

In order to deliver sinners from death,

Jesus had to be delivered

into the hands of sinful men

and die.

In order to secure

our forgiveness of sins,

Jesus had to pay the penalty for sins,

which is death.

Jesus also needed to be crucified.

Or as different parts of the Bible describe it,

hanged on a tree.

As I mentioned on Good Friday,

Deuteronomy 21.23 taught

that those who are hanged on a tree

are cursed by God.

And that's precisely the language

that Luke uses in Luke 23.39,

in Acts 5.30,

in Acts 10.39,

to describe Jesus' crucifixion.

He was killed

by being hanged

on a tree.

Jesus had to die that way

because he had to

bear the curse of sin

as our substitute.

As Galatians 3.13 says,

Christ redeemed us

from the curse of the law

by becoming a curse for us.

That's the injustice of the cross.

The blessed one,

the holy one,

becomes the accursed one

for our sake.

2 Corinthians 5.21,

for our sake,

God made him to be sin

who knew no sin

so that in him

we might become

the righteousness of God.

Again,

the injustice of the cross.

That he who knew no sin

carries all of our sins

and pays the penalty

for all the sins

of his people.

But Jesus' death alone

isn't sufficient

for our atonement.

Paul corrects that

misbelief

in 1 Corinthians 15.17

where he writes,

and if Christ

has not been raised,

your faith

is futile

and you are still

in your sins.

The death

of Christ

and the resurrection

of Christ

are inseparable.

Christ was delivered

up for our trespasses

and raised

for our justification.

It says in Romans 4.25,

if we were,

while we were enemies,

reconciled to God

by the death

of his son,

then how much more

now that we are

reconciled to him

shall we be saved

by his life?

There is no justification

of sinners

without the resurrection

of Jesus Christ.

there is no salvation

in eternal life

apart from the resurrection

of Jesus Christ.

If Christ had not

been raised,

it would mean

that he was swallowed

up by death.

If Jesus had not

been raised,

it would mean

that he was overcome

by the curse of sin.

If Christ has not

been raised,

then it would mean

that he was defeated

by Satan

and that we would

still be in our sins.

but Christ

was raised.

And his resurrection

is proof

that his death

on our behalf

was accepted

by the Father.

You can think of it

this way.

Our sins were like

an insurmountable debt.

We could never hope

to repay.

But our master,

our Lord,

God,

because he is gracious

and because he loves us,

writes a check

to repay all of our debt.

And it seems too good

to be true.

We go to the bank.

We hand over the check.

And it does not bounce.

It clears.

That's like the resurrection.

Jesus dying,

his blood,

his payment

is like the check

being written

and then his,

and the check

actually clearing.

That's like the resurrection.

It's the proof,

the receipt

that the payment

for our sins

has been received.

Brothers and sisters

in Christ,

do you live

as if your debt

really has been paid

in full?

Or do you still live

in fear

as if the loan sharks

will come by any day now

just knocking on your door?

To drag you to jail.

We cannot repay God

and we don't need to

because it's the gift

that God has given to us

in Jesus Christ.

It's also necessary

that this resurrection

happens on the third day.

I can't get,

don't have the time

to get into all of that,

but there are many,

over 30,

references in scripture

where God delivers his people

on the third day.

It's following that pattern.

There's an expectation

that God would deliver

on the third day.

And this third day

after Jesus' death

also happens to be

the first day of the week,

Sunday,

like today,

as it says in verse 1.

And this is no coincidence either.

Every one of the four gospels,

as Luke does here,

notes that Jesus

was raised from the dead

on the first day

of the week.

The first day

conveys a note of hope

and renewal,

just like people

have all these hopes

and resolutions

for the new year.

And this is why

the early Christians,

though they were mostly Jews

who faithfully worshipped

and observed the Sabbath,

which is on Saturday,

after Jesus' resurrection,

they began to worship

on what they call

the Lord's Day,

which is Sunday.

Jesus is not only

raised from the dead

on the first day

of the week,

but also at early dawn,

it says in verse 1.

The time reference

early dawn

is also not extraneous.

It's not irrelevant

because dawn

is also frequently

associated in Scripture

with God's help

and deliverance.

When the Israelites

are crossing

the Red Sea,

it says in Exodus 14, 27,

that the Lord got

through the Egyptian

forces into a panic

and then a pillar of fire

and cloud descended

upon them

and caused the Red Sea

to return to its normal course

to engulf the Egyptians.

And it says that

that happened

when the morning appeared

or when the morning dawned.

That phrase is taken up

then in Psalm 46,

where it says that

God is our refuge

and strength,

a very present help

in trouble.

God will help her,

talking about the people of God,

when morning dawns.

Throughout the Gospel of Luke,

Luke makes this repeated use

of this light,

darkness motif.

When Jesus is born,

Zachariah, his uncle,

or just before he's born,

Zachariah prophesies

in Luke 1, 78 to 79,

that because of the tender

mercy of our God,

the sunrise shall visit us

from on high

to give light to those

who sit in darkness

and in the shadow of death

to guide our feet

into the way of peace.

In contrast,

just when Jesus is being delivered

into the hands of sinful men,

Jesus says in Luke 22, 53,

when I was with you

day after day in the temple,

you did not lay hands on me,

but this is your hour

and the power of darkness.

And as we saw on Good Friday

after Jesus dies on the cross,

it says in Luke 23, 44 to 45,

that there was darkness

over the whole land

and that the sun's light failed.

This is not a solar eclipse.

Some of you guys

are probably planning

on going to visit

to see the totality,

the solar eclipse coming up,

I think it's next week.

And if you've been planning it,

then you know

solar eclipses last

like three minutes.

Doesn't last three hours

like it does

in the gospel accounts.

And it also happens

during new moon.

Doesn't happen during full moon,

which would be

what this would have been

when Jews celebrated

the Passover

and following that.

It's as if the sun itself

recognizes the death

of the one by whom

it was created

and cloaks itself

in darkness.

And so Jesus' birth

is associated

with the sunrise

and his death

is associated

with darkness

and his resurrection

is once again

associated with

the sunrise at dawn.

Linguists debate

the origin of the name

Easter,

but the most plausible theory

is that it comes

from an old

high German word,

Easterum,

which comes then

from a Latin word

that means dawn.

In many ancient languages

like Hebrew,

Aramaic,

Syriac,

and Arabic,

the word east

either means

or is related to the word

that means sunrise

because the sun rises

from the east.

And that's an apt representation

of the resurrection

because at the end

of each day,

at night,

when the sun sets,

it seems like

a sword of death

but in the morning

it rises again.

And that's why

Easter is a fitting

alternate name

for resurrection Sunday.

And there's hope

for us in this

that no matter

how long and hard

your week might be,

the first day

of the week

always comes around.

No matter how dark

your night might be,

sun always rises

at dawn.

That's the hope

that the resurrection

of Jesus offers

his people

because his resurrection

guarantees

our future deliverance

and bodily resurrection.

Our God

raises the dead

and that means

there is no situation

in life

that is so bleak

as to be without hope.

when your chronic illness

is crippling,

when the pain

and hardship

of your work

is overwhelming,

when you feel crushed

by grief,

sorrow,

and loneliness,

when your dream

seems dead

and buried.

Remember the hope

of the resurrection.

even though

in this life

we are grieved

by various trials,

we have a hope

that no trial

in life

can extinguish

because,

as it says,

as we read

in the assurance

of pardon

this morning

from 1 Peter 1,

we have been born again

to a living hope

through the resurrection

of Jesus Christ

from the dead

to an inheritance

that is imperishable,

undefiled,

and unfading,

kept in heaven

for us

who,

by God's power,

are being guarded

through faith

for salvation

to be revealed

in the last time.

Similarly,

in 2 Corinthians 1,

8-9,

Paul and Timothy

write about

how much they were

suffering

and how they were

afflicted

and how they were

so utterly burdened

beyond their strength

that they despaired

of life itself.

They felt that

they had received

the sentence of death,

they say.

That's about as low

you can get in life

to despair of life itself,

to feel like

you've received

the death sentence

which seems so final

and irreversible.

But,

they continue,

that was to make them

rely not on themselves

but on God

who raises the dead.

Even when you're

despairing of life itself,

if you're counting

on the God

who raises the dead,

then you are not

without hope.

Many of you

have already put your faith

in Jesus Christ

for salvation.

And if that's you,

it is your responsibility

to remember

this truth.

The word remember

is repeated twice

in this passage

and the command

to remember

is an important word

throughout the scriptures.

The verb remember

by itself

occurs 222 times

throughout the Old Testament

and that's not counting

different forms

of that word.

Remembrance,

memorial,

these other words.

In the Bible,

remembering

the redemptive acts

of God

in order to freshly

apply those truths

to our lives

is a central act

of Christian worship.

We cannot rightly

worship God

if we don't rightly

remember

what he has done

for us.

That's why

in Luke 22,

19,

when Jesus instituted

the Lord's Supper,

he says,

this is my body

which is given

for you.

Do this

in remembrance

of me?

Easter

and really

every Sunday

when we gather

to worship

every first day

of the week

is a day

of remembering

because we are

a forgetful people.

Do you remember

the resurrection

of Jesus

as you wrestle

with your own sins,

your setbacks

in life,

your sorrows

and the sufferings

of your life?

weeping may tarry

for the night

but joy comes

with the morning.

This is Psalm 35,

30 verse 5.

When you see

the sunrise each morning,

remember the resurrection

of Jesus

and those who remember

the resurrection

of Jesus

must tell

of the resurrection

of Jesus also.

There's a transmission

of the testimony

from first the angels

to the woman

and then from the woman

to the apostles

in verse 9.

It says in verse 9

that they told

all these things

to the eleven

and to all the rest.

And then later

we see that transmission

happening again

in verse 14

when the two of the disciples

start talking

amongst themselves

about all these things

that they had heard.

Christians

are by definition

witnesses

of Jesus Christ.

we bear witness

to his death

and resurrection

and transmission

therefore is essential

because unless

we tell

of the resurrection

of Jesus Christ

no one will hear

and believe

the news.

Notice how

Luke emphasizes this

in this text.

It's not when the women

see the empty tomb

that they believe.

It's when they are told

by the angel

to remember

what Jesus told you.

That's when they believe.

this is consistent

with Luke 11 29 to 32

where Jesus says

that no sign

will be given

to this generation

except for the sign

of Jonah.

There are multiple ways

that the gospel writers

apply that sign of Jonah.

Matthew used the sign

of Jonah

to refer to the fact

that Jonah was

in the belly

of the great fish

for three days

which is like a death

and then he came out

and they said

that that foreshadows

that story foreshadows

or parallels

Jesus being buried

in his tomb

for three days

and then being raised

from the dead.

But that's not the way

Luke mentions

the sign of Jonah.

The sign of Jonah

that Luke mentions

in Luke 11

is not the fish part

but the fact

that Jonah came out

and then preached

to the people

of Nineveh.

It's Jonah's preaching

that's the sign

that people of Nineveh

saw or heard

and came to faith in.

And likewise

then the parallel here

is that the sign

that Jesus says

this is the only sign

I will give

to this generation

because no one's

going to see

Jesus' empty tomb.

No one's going to see

the risen Jesus

in the flesh anymore.

The sign that is given

to this generation

is not to see

but to hear

from the people of God

that Jesus

is raised

from the dead.

As Romans 10

14, 17

says

how then

will they call on him

whom they not believed?

How can they believe

in someone

whom they have not heard?

And how can they hear

unless someone

preaches to them?

And how can they preach

unless they are sent?

So faith

comes from hearing

not from seeing

and hearing

through the word of Christ.

Saving faith

comes by hearing

the word of Christ

and that means

brothers and sisters

we must tell

of Jesus.

It's as simple as that.

If you feel

that you are not

qualified

to tell people

about Jesus

and his resurrection

then I want

to ask you

to consider

who Jesus'

first witnesses are.

It says in verse 10

Now it was Mary Magdalene

and Joanna

and Mary

the mother of James

and the other woman

with them

who told these things

to the apostles.

All of the gospels

record

that the first report

of the resurrection

was by these women.

And this is a remarkable fact

considering the status

of women

in the ancient world.

To illustrate

the first century

Jewish historian

Josephus

writes in his book

Against Apian

but let not

the testimony

of women

be admitted

on account

of the levity

and boldness

of their sex

since it is probable

that they may not

speak truth

either out of hope

of gain

or fear of punishment.

Similarly

the Talmud

which is the compilation

of Jewish rabbinical

oral traditions

and commentary

stipulates

that women

may not be

a valid witness

in legal

Jewish proceedings

Jewish legal proceedings.

In fact

this was exactly

what Christians

of the early age

were mocked about

in the second century

Greek philosopher

Kelsus

mocks Christians

on precisely this point

arguing that

our doctrine

of the resurrection

of Jesus

is based on the testimony

of quote

half frantic

self deceived woman

but the Bible

betrays

no such prejudice

despite the fact

that it would have

been a point

of embarrassment

in their culture

in their cultural context

that the first witnesses

of Christ's resurrection

were women

none of the gospel writers

try to hide this fact

or minimize

this reality

and I think

this is

a corroborating evidence

of the authenticity

of these resurrection accounts

and of the integrity

of the authors

who wrote them

it also shows

that both men

and women

can be witnesses

of Jesus Christ

I mean think about it

it's not like

the 11 apostles

remaining

are all that better

they're just

a bunch of fishermen

God is no respecter

of persons

and he is not

looking for

expert witnesses

he's looking for

true

and faithful witnesses

you don't have

to be a pastor

with formal theological

training

to share the good news

of Jesus Christ

with your neighbors

you just need

to believe

in Jesus Christ

and that brings me

to my final point

we must believe

the resurrection

some of you here

are not yet

followers of Christ

and you must first

believe

in the resurrection

before you can remember

and tell of the resurrection

of Christ

in verses 11 to 12

we see that the words

of the woman

seem to be

seem to the apostles

an idle tale

and they did not

believe them

but Peter rose

and ran to the tomb

stooping in

looking in

he saw the linen cloths

by themselves

and he went home

marveling at what

had happened

here we see

two contrasting responses

to the witness

of Jesus' resurrection

most of the apostles

do not believe

at first

it was hard for people

to believe the resurrection

back then too

but Peter

marvels at what

had happened

the word

translated idle tale

is a Greek word

that's usually

to describe

the delirious talk

of people

who are sick

delirium

delusion

nonsense

people's skepticism

toward the resurrection

of Christ

is nothing new

to this day

many treat our faith

in the resurrected Christ

as a delusion

a delirium

but the resurrection

is no idle tale

you can see

in today's passage

that Jesus' disciples

both men and women

were not expecting

the resurrection

they are surprised

the resurrection

was not some conspiracy

that they were all in on

prior

to the fact

it was rather

an unexpected event

a surprising reality

that they had to

reckon with

and make sense of

what do you make

of the empty tomb

what do you make

of all those disciples

who lived

and died

proclaiming

that they saw

the risen Jesus

according to

third century

pastor and theologian

origin

and church historian

Eusebius

all

of the

all of the

twelve apostles

except for

apostle John

were killed

for bearing

witness to Jesus

Peter

bore witness

to Jesus

from Jerusalem

all the way

to modern day

Turkey

and then

he was crucified

by Emperor Nero

after bearing

witness

in Rome

James

bore witness

to Christ

throughout Judea

and was killed

by King

Herod Agrippa

the first

John

was the only

one that made

it to old age

but he died

in exile

in Patmos

it's possible

he did come back

from exile

but that's where

you spend

the waning years

of his life

Andrew

bore witness

to Jesus

as far as

modern day

Ukraine

southern Russia

and Kazakhstan

and then was

crucified

in Patras

Greece

Bartholomew

bore witness

to Jesus

as far as

modern day

India

and Armenia

where he was

then flayed

to death

for his faith

James

the son

of Alphaeus

bore witness

to Jesus

as far as

Egypt

where he was

crucified

for his

faith

Judas

the son

of James

also known

as Jude

or Thetius

bore witness

to Jesus

in Iran

in Syria

and Lebanon

where he was

beheaded

for his

faith

Matthew

bore witness

to Jesus

as far as

modern day

Sudan

and church

tradition

holds

that he too

was martyred

Philip

bore witness

to Jesus

as far as

modern day

Greece

Syria

and Turkey

where he was

beheaded

for his

faith

Simon

the zealot

bore witness

to Jesus

as far as

Mauritania

Libya

and Britain

where he was

crucified

Thomas

bore witness

to Jesus

as far as

India

where he too

was martyred

Matthias

the last

apostle

to be

added

to replace

Judas

the Iscariot

who betrayed

Jesus

bore witness

in modern day

Azerbaijan

and Armenia

and Georgia

and he was

stoned to death

and I dare say

that there are

many in this

room right now

who would gladly

give their lives

for Jesus

do you really

think that they

all died

to keep a lie

Christ

really did

conquer death

he was raised

from the dead

and that's why

Luke calls him

the Lord

Jesus

in verse

three

Jesus

has been

called

Lord

before

but

by itself

sometimes

it can

just mean

something

as simple

as sir

but when

you

combine

the title

Lord

with the

name

Jesus

and becomes

the Lord

Jesus

this is

the only

time

he's called

the Lord

Jesus

is after

the resurrection

here in

Luke

only happens

once in the

gospel of Luke

but in the

sequel in the

book of Acts

Jesus

is called

the Lord

Jesus

18 times

because it's

only after

the resurrection

that we see

Jesus as

the exalted

Lord

that we saw

only a glimpse

of during his

transfiguration

he is the

Lord Jesus

who demands

our submission

who deserves

our allegiance

who is

worthy

of our

worship

Jesus

is Lord

and Lord

over all

he reigns

over all

creation

his name

is exalted

above

every

other name

and Romans

10 9

promises

all of us

and I want

to implore

you if you

have not yet

put your

faith in

Jesus Christ

it says

if you

confess

with your

mouth

that Jesus

is Lord

and believe

in your

heart

that he

raised

Jesus

from the

dead

that God

raised

Jesus

from the

dead

that you

will be

saved

if that's

not amazing

to you

then you

do not

quite

understand

what I'm

saying

to you

do you

realize

what God

is offering

you

free

gift

of salvation

eternal

life

freedom

from the

bondage

of sin

and death

forgiveness

reconciliation

with God

we're offering

that to you

right now

and all

you need

to do

confess

outwardly

the name

of Jesus

and believe

inwardly

that God

raised him

from the

dead

let's

pray

father we

ask that

you would

please

anyone here

who does

not yet

know you

and does

not yet

belong to

you

but they

are yours

you have

chosen

them

won't you

now

father

call

them

by name

won't you

father

now speak

into their

heart

won't you

father

now give

them the

gift of

faith

that they

might be

born again

to a

living hope

of the

resurrection

and lord

please

comfort

my brothers

and sisters

in christ

who already

know you

their lives

are full

of

disappointments

discouragements

struggle

with sin

but lord

remind them

this morning

and comfort

them of

that hope

that we

have

in the

resurrection

in jesus name

we pray

amen