Repentance for Forgiveness

We are in Luke chapter 24, verses 33 to 53.

Luke 24:33–53

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Luke chapter 24, verses 33 to 53.

Luke 24:33–53

Thanks, Nick.

Let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's Word.

Heavenly Father, we pray in the name of Jesus who has risen,

who has ascended, and who is now seated at your right hand.

That you speak to us from your Word.

That you assure us of the good news of Jesus Christ and the salvation that he won for us.

That you remind us that we have been sealed with your Holy Spirit,

whom your Son sent after his ascension.

And that your Spirit assures us that we are your adopted children.

That your Spirit empowers us for life and service.

And that we are in desperate need of you and your help.

So please remind us of all these things this morning.

Impress them upon us deeply,

that we might be changed and live in accordance with these truths.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Luke 24, verses 33 to 53.

Luke 24:33–53

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 they saw a spirit.

And he said to them,

Why are you troubled?

And why do doubts arise in your hearts?

See my hands and my feet,

that it is I myself.

Touch me and see.

For a spirit does not have flesh and bones,

as you see that I have.

And when he had said this,

he showed them his hands and his feet.

And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling,

he said to them,

Have you anything here to eat?

They gave him a piece of broiled fish,

and he took it and ate before them.

Then he said to them,

These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you,

that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.

Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures,

and said to them,

Thus it is written that the Christ should suffer,

and on the third day rise from the dead,

and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins

should be proclaimed in his name to all nations,

beginning from Jerusalem.

You are witnesses of these things.

And behold,

I am sending the promise of my Father upon you,

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

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.

This is God's holy and authoritative word.

Whether it's the last words of a man on his deathbed,

or the parting words of a friend that is leaving to a faraway place,

parting words are weighty,

because they may be the last words you hear from that person in the flesh.

And those parting words often reveal what is most dear to that person that is leaving you with those words.

And so here, in Luke's conclusion of his gospel,

this is his parting word to us.

We see Jesus' parting words to his disciples.

And the main point of this passage is this,

that Jesus is the risen and ascended Lord,

who empowers us with the Spirit to proclaim repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

And we're going to examine that main point in three parts.

First, we'll look at the count of the resurrection,

verses 33 to 43.

And then the proclamation that he calls us to do in verses 44 to 49.

And finally, Jesus' benediction, his blessing to us.

So let's first look at the confirmation,

this final confirmation of Jesus' resurrection in verses 33 to 43.

In the preceding passage we talked about two weeks ago,

Jesus appeared to two disciples on their way to Emmaus,

presumably their home.

And though initially their eyes were kept from recognizing Jesus,

after Jesus opened to them the scriptures and broke bread and gave it to them,

their eyes were opened and they recognized him.

That's what we saw in the preceding passage.

But then immediately after that revelation,

Jesus vanished from their sight.

And it says here in verse 33 that they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem.

Remember that they just completed a seven-mile journey on foot from Jerusalem to Emmaus.

And they had just told Jesus in verse 29,

Stay with us, for it is toward evening,

and the day is now far spent.

So it's late into the day,

and they're weary from their journey,

but neither of those things can keep them from the excitement of having encountered

and recognized the risen Jesus.

And so they feel compelled to report that to the rest of the disciples,

and they start marching back to Emmaus that moment.

It says that same hour.

And when they arrive, it says in verses 33 to 35,

They found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying,

The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon.

To the surprise of these two disciples that were on the road to Emmaus,

the eleven apostles and the other disciples who are with them

are already discussing Jesus' resurrection when they arrive.

And they have found out that he had also appeared independently to Simon Peter.

And that appearance is not noted anywhere else in the Gospels.

It's mentioned only in 1 Corinthians 15.5.

And so this is kind of, it's here to show us that the news of Jesus' resurrection

is now starting to go viral.

Everybody's seeing it.

Everybody's hearing it.

One report interrupts another,

and the excitement is in the air.

It's palpable.

It's really happening.

The Lord has risen indeed.

And amazingly, it says in verses 36 to 37,

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 they saw a spirit.

Once again, we see that Jesus' resurrection body is a transformed body.

And so he is able to vanish suddenly and appear suddenly

in the midst of his disciples.

And this sudden appearance startles the disciples,

and they think that they're seeing a ghost.

But Jesus says to them, Peace to you.

Peace.

That's a common Jewish greeting.

Shalom.

But in the Gospel of Luke,

it receives a special meaning, a significance,

because the word peace is repeatedly used throughout the Gospel

and is connected to the idea of the salvation that the Messiah brings,

that Christ brings.

So, for example, in Luke chapter 1, verses 76 to 79,

Luke 1:76–79

when Zechariah prophesies about the birth of his son, John the Baptist,

and what he would do to prepare the way for Jesus,

he says this,

And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High,

for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,

to give knowledge of salvation to his people

in the forgiveness of their sins,

because of the tender mercy of our God,

whereby 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.

And that's why, often after Jesus heals the sick,

he declares to them in the Gospel of Luke,

Your faith has saved you.

Go in peace.

Through the death and resurrection of Jesus,

he brings, he secures our redemption from slavery

to sin and death,

and he gives us peace with God.

And that peace means so much more than just the ceasefire

or the absence of conflict.

It's restoration to proper, right relationship with God,

to our proper place in the created order.

It means spiritual wholeness,

no more existential angst.

Knowing exactly who you are

and what we were created for,

knowing that we are in peace with God.

Do you have this peace?

Only Christ can offer this peace.

Because only Christ has triumphed over sin and death.

But at this point,

the disciples don't recognize him yet.

They're startled and frightened,

so Jesus says to them in verse 38,

Why are you troubled?

And why do doubts arise in your hearts?

At the beginning of the gospel,

Zechariah and Mary were both described as troubled

when the angel of the Lord appeared to them

to announce to them

the arrival of Jesus.

And now at the end of the gospel,

the disciples are also troubled.

And this is helpful to note

because maybe some of you

who are not yet followers of Christ feel this way.

You're troubled by what you're encountering.

Maybe you have doubts arising in your heart.

And that's normal.

Divine revelation,

when God appears,

it always interrupts the status quo.

When God shows up

and is present in our lives,

it disrupts our lives

and we are troubled

because we recognize

that if God is real

and He's present in our lives,

that we cannot live

as we have always lived.

Something must change.

You're being confronted

with the reality of God

in a way you haven't been before,

then it's normal to be troubled.

But if doubts arising in your heart,

I want to assure you

and I want to exhort you,

don't stop at being troubled.

Move on to faith.

Venture out to believe in Jesus,

to give your life to Him,

because then your faith

and your troubledness,

that will turn into joy

as we see with the disciples here

and as we saw earlier

in the beginning of the Gospel of Luke

with Mary and Zechariah.

Jesus says in verses 39 to 40,

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 has said this,

He showed them His hands and His feet.

Jesus is telling them,

I'm a bodily being like you.

I partake in the same flesh and bones

that you have.

These verses demonstrate beyond doubt

that Jesus,

His resurrection was a physical resurrection.

It's essential to believe

in a bodily resurrection of Christ,

because if Jesus was not raised bodily,

then death will not have been defeated.

And the effect of sin

would not have been reversed.

In the genealogies that we just finished,

going through the book of Genesis

in our family worship,

and there's a refrain,

a haunting refrain

throughout the entire book.

It says,

So and so lived for this many years,

and he died.

And he died.

And he died.

Why?

Because in Genesis chapter 2,

Genesis 2:16–17

verses 16 to 17,

God had commanded the man

not to eat of the tree

of the knowledge of good and evil,

warning him that if he does,

he shall surely die.

So you see the implications of that,

the outworking of that sin,

and that has had its effect

in all of humanity.

Almost two human beings

die every second.

150,000 people die

every single day.

And the surviving ones,

the loved ones,

have to live with the pain

of separation.

The grief.

That's the result of original sin.

So unless

Christ is raised from the dead

bodily,

death is not undone.

And sin,

which is the sting of death,

is not removed.

It's because Christ was raised

bodily that we have

forgiveness of sins

and assurance

of our future bodily resurrection

and salvation

in Christ

when he returns.

So after verifying

the resurrection of Jesus

with their own eyes

and hands,

it says in verse 41

that the disciples

still disbelieved for joy

and were marveling.

Their doubt now turns

into disbelief.

And this disbelief

is not unbelief.

It refers to amazement.

That's why it says

that they disbelief

for joy

and were marveling.

They were so overwhelmed

by the realization

that Jesus really is alive

that they're speechless.

And to banish

any remaining doubts

that might be there,

Jesus asks them,

have you anything here

to eat?

And it says in verses

42 to 43,

they gave him a piece

of boiled fish

and he took it

and ate before them.

This is not because

he's hungry.

The Jews believed

that ghosts did not eat.

So this is kind of

the final decisive demonstration

that he is not a phantom.

He is a resurrected being.

And having borne witness

to Jesus' resurrection,

Luke turns to the importance

of the proclamation

of this message

in verses 44 to 49.

He says in 44,

These are my words

that I spoke to you

while I was still with you,

that everything written

about me and the law of Moses

and the prophets

and the Psalms

must be fulfilled.

Jesus is referring

to the fact that

on several occasions

throughout the gospel,

he had already

explicitly predicted

his suffering,

death, and resurrection.

And he believes

that all of that happened

in fulfillment

of the scriptures.

The law of Moses

and the prophets

and the Psalms.

That's a reference

to the entire Old Testament.

The entire Jewish scriptures.

That threefold division

of the law,

the prophets,

and the writing

or the Psalms

that it's still used

by Jews to this day.

And this is very similar

to what Jesus said

earlier in verse 27.

And beginning with Moses

and all the prophets,

Jesus interpreted to them

in all the scriptures

the things concerning himself.

Jesus believed

that all the scriptures,

not just the prophecies,

but also the laws,

also the Psalms,

they testified about him.

Similarly,

when the Jews

were seeking to kill Jesus

because he was

calling God his Father

and making himself

equal to God,

in John 5,

Jesus said to them,

you search the scriptures

because you think

that in them

you have eternal life

and it is they

that bear witness

about me.

Do not think

that I will accuse you

to the Father.

There is one

who accuses you,

Moses,

on whom you have

set your hope.

For if you believed

Moses,

you would believe me.

For he wrote of me.

But if you do not

believe his writings,

how will you believe

my words?

Just as the Old Testament

all point forward

to the personal work

of Jesus Christ,

all of the New Testament

point backward

to the personal work

of Jesus Christ.

And that means

whenever you read

the scriptures,

wherever you might be,

whatever point you might be

in the whole book,

you need to understand,

you know,

to understand it rightly,

you need to see

how Christ fulfills it

and how it points

to Christ.

You have to understand

that all of the institutions

of scripture,

the tabernacle,

the temple,

the nation of Israel,

the covenants,

all the offices

of scripture,

priesthood,

the kings,

and the prophets,

all the main characters

of scripture,

Abraham, Isaac,

Jacob, Joseph,

Moses, David,

Jeremiah,

all the rituals

of scripture,

the sacrifices,

the day of atonement,

the Passover,

and all the commandments

of scripture,

all of these things

foreshadow and point

to Jesus.

Jesus is what scripture

is all about.

There's a story

that I'd like to tell.

There's a 19th century

British pastor,

Charles Spurgeon,

once told this story.

He told the story

about another minister,

a Welsh minister,

who offered

constructive criticism

to a younger preacher.

He said,

very honestly,

it was a very poor sermon.

He told the young man,

well,

will you tell me

why you think

it is a poor sermon?

Came the response.

Because,

said the Welsh minister,

there was no Christ in it.

Well,

said the young man,

Christ was not in the text.

We are not to be

preaching Christ always.

We must preach

what is in the text.

The exchange continued,

don't you know,

young man,

that from every town

and every village

and every little hamlet

in England,

wherever it may be,

there is a road

to London?

Yes,

said the young man.

Ah,

said the old divine.

And so,

from every text

in scripture,

there is a road

to the metropolis

of the scriptures

that is Christ.

And my dear brother,

your business

is when you get

to a text

to say,

now,

what is the road

to Christ?

And then preach a sermon

running along the road

towards the great metropolis,

Christ.

And,

said he,

I have never yet found

a text

that had not got

a road to Christ

in it.

And if I ever

define one

that is not a road

to Christ in it,

I will make one.

I will go over a hedge

and ditch,

but I would get

at my master.

For the sermon

cannot do any good

unless there is

a saver

of Christ in it.

that's why Paul says

in 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 2:2

chapter 2,

verse 2,

I decided to know

nothing among you

except Jesus Christ

and Him crucified.

Jesus is the subject

of the scriptures.

He is the fulfillment

of the scriptures.

So when you read

the scriptures,

don't read it like

you're just reading

another book.

You're encountering

the person of Jesus.

You're hearing

the very words

of Jesus.

That's why

scripture reading

is not a chore,

but a delight.

And then it continues

in verse 45,

He opened

their minds

to understand

the scriptures.

This follows

the pattern

that we saw earlier

in this chapter

on the road

to Emmaus.

There the two disciples

didn't recognize

Jesus at first,

so He opened

the scriptures

to them

to explain the things

about Himself.

And then later

He said that their eyes

were opened.

So here the two

disciples don't recognize

Jesus at first,

but then Jesus

opens their minds

to understand

the scriptures.

In verse 31,

it was God

who opened their eyes

to recognize Jesus.

Here it's the Son of God

who opens their minds

to understand

the scriptures.

And the verb

to open

occurs six times

in Luke's writings,

in the Gospel of Luke,

in the book of Acts,

and in all of those places

it refers to

when God

reveals Himself

to His people.

It teaches us

that only God

can reveal Himself

through the scriptures

and that apart

from His self-revelation,

we can't rightly

grasp Him,

understand His truth.

And here is

the most important thing

to understand

from all of scriptures,

the heart of it all,

verses 46 to 47,

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.

The main outline

of God's salvation plan

can be seen

in the three main verbs

used in these verses.

First,

that the Christ

should suffer

and on the third day

rise

and that in response

to all this

we are to proclaim

this good news.

First,

it was necessary

for Jesus

to suffer.

Hebrews chapter 2

Hebrews 2:9

verse 9

says that Jesus

had to endure

the suffering

of death

so that by the grace

of God

He might taste death

for everyone.

In dying on the cross,

Jesus bore the penalty

of sin

on behalf

of all those

who put their trust

in Him.

There is no

alternative form

of atonement.

There is no other way

of salvation.

No amount of

self-flagellation

or penance

can atone

for our sins.

No amount

of good works,

community service,

or charitable giving

can atone

for our sins

because as Romans 6

23 says,

the wages of sin

is death

that is the only

penalty

that meets

the crime,

the sin

against an eternal

infinitely worthy

being.

And as sinners

on death row,

our only hope

for salvation

is the substitutionary

death of Jesus

on the cross.

That was the first thing.

Second,

it was necessary

for Jesus to rise.

As I mentioned earlier,

unless Jesus

is raised

from the dead,

death is not undone

and sin

is not dealt with.

And so it's

Jesus' death

and resurrection

together

that make possible

our repentance

for the forgiveness

of sins.

The Greek word

that's translated

as repentance

literally means

change of mind.

But it also

implies

the change

of life

that every

true change

of mind

brings about.

That's why

in Luke chapter 3

Luke 3:8

verse 8,

John the Baptist

exhorts the Jews

this way,

saying,

bear fruits

in keeping

with repentance.

And that's why

in Hebrews 6

Hebrews 6:1

verse 1

says,

repentance

from dead works

and faith

toward God.

To repent

is to turn away

from your own ways,

your own autonomy,

your own sovereignty,

your own rebellion

against God,

your own sins,

and to turn

toward God

in faith

and say,

now He is my King

and I will live

for Him.

That's repentance

and faith.

You can think

about it this way,

imagine that someone

on the road

asks you for directions

and you tell them,

well actually

you got to go

this way.

And then they go,

oh thank you so much,

I was actually

headed the wrong way,

if it weren't for you

I would have never

gotten to my destination,

thank you so much.

And then,

right after you start

leaving,

they turn around

and keep going

the wrong way.

I mean,

at that point

it would be fair

to ask yourself,

was this person

just being nice to me

and didn't believe me

at all?

Or did he not

understand

when I was pointing

and saying

you have to go that way?

Right?

Because if that person

really had a change

in mind,

he would have had

a change in direction

in the way he was going.

So repentance

is a change of mind

but it's a change of mind

that is genuine

that leads to a change,

a reorientation

of your life.

And if your life

has not been reoriented

around Christ

and his purposes

and priorities

for your life,

then you have not

truly repented

and believed.

There are many

so-called Christians

who say

they are Christians

but who have not

truly repented

that bring

disrepute

to the name

of Christ.

And the third thing

that's mentioned here

is that this good news

of Jesus' death

and resurrection,

the repentance

for the forgiveness

of sins

should be

proclaimed.

The gospel

is good news.

It is not

a good feeling

to be experienced

or a good work

that we have to do.

It's a good news

that needs

to be proclaimed.

Yes,

the people of this world

need clean water,

they need healing,

they need medicine,

vaccines,

they need education

and jobs.

These are all good,

commendable,

good work

that Jesus himself

did much of.

but Jesus

never

did good works

at the expense

of proclaiming

the good news

of Jesus,

good news of salvation.

Jesus never

in scriptures

does good works

without doing

the work

of proclaiming

the good news.

Never.

so what

if they have

PhDs

and health

and wealth

and long life

if they perish

forever

because their sins

are not forgiven.

It's in the

proclamation

of the gospel

that the world's

greatest need

and our unique

ability

as God's people

meet.

Theologian

Michael Whitmer

puts it this way

in one of his books.

Imagine a doctor

who enters

a hospital room

with the cure

for his dying patient.

But rather than

inject the medicine

into the patient's

intravenous line,

he tucks the vial

into his cold pocket

and attempts

to minister

holistically.

The doctor

asks the man

about the stressors

that may have

contributed to his disease,

what his home life

is like,

how things are going

at work

and whether he knows

how to love himself.

Before long,

a shaky hand

reaches up

and clutches

the doctor's collar.

Listen, doc.

Save the chit-chat

for some other time.

Did you bring

the cure?

Brothers and sisters,

we have

the cure.

all of our

psychological ills,

all of our

social ills,

all of our

physical ills,

they are all

strange fruits

that grow

on the tree

of sinful humanity.

And Jesus

is the only one

who can save us

from sin,

give us forgiveness

for sins.

Jesus is the only way,

the truth,

and the life.

no one comes

to the Father

except through him.

And people

who have not

heard the good news

never will repent

of their sins.

You have

family members,

neighbors,

friends,

co-workers

who need

to hear

the good news

of Jesus Christ.

our church,

we should be

consumed

by this seal.

That's why

we must go.

Jesus says

that this message

should be proclaimed

in his name

to all nations

beginning from

Jerusalem.

In the gospel

of Luke,

the geographic

trajectory of

the entire gospel

of Jesus

and his disciples

is toward

Jerusalem.

That's where

it ends.

But then

in the book

of Acts,

Luke's sequel,

the geographic

trajectory of

Jesus' apostles

is from

Jerusalem

to the ends

of the earth.

I've mentioned

to you before

the research

published by

the Center

for the Study

of Global

Christianity.

They chronicle

the shifts

in the gravitational

center of

Christianity

from 30 A.D.

to the present

day.

It began,

of course,

in Jerusalem

30 A.D.

to what is now

Istanbul

around 1000 A.D.

and then to

Budapest,

Hungary by 1500,

Madrid,

Spain by 1900,

and then now

to Niger,

Africa.

That's the

gravitational center

of Christianity

today.

Today,

seven of the

top ten

countries with

the largest

Christian populations

are in Africa,

Asia,

and South America.

Christianity

is not a

Jewish religion.

It is not a

Western religion.

It is not an

American religion

religion.

Because our

God is God

overall.

And he

commended that

this should be

proclaimed among

all the nations.

And when we

go, we don't

go in our

name for our

selfish gain.

We don't go in

the name of a

corporation.

We don't go in

the name of a

country.

We don't go to

export our

products and to

establish our

governing structures

and cultures.

It is written

in Scripture

that repentance

for the

forgiveness of

sins should be

proclaimed in

His name.

In the name of

Christ.

Proclaiming the

gospel in Jesus'

name is a major

theme in the

book of Acts.

And it points to

Christ's authority.

When you act in

someone's name,

you act as His

representative and

under His

authority.

This is why

missionaries are

not the same as

colonists.

A colonist serves

the interests of

an earthly king.

A missionary

serves the interests

of a heavenly

king.

Colonists go in

the name of the

British Empire or

the Spanish Empire,

the French Empire,

the American

Empire.

But missionaries

go in the name of

the kingdom of

God.

The Christians'

primary allegiance

is not to a

country or to a

company but to

Christ.

And so when their

interests contradict

the interests of

Christ, we must

obey God rather

than men.

Because we go in

Christ's name to

proclaim the good

news of repentance

for the forgiveness

of sins and you

are witnesses,

says in verse 48.

You are witnesses of

these things.

Witnesses are not

supposed to fabricate

anything, conjure up

something.

They're supposed to

report what they have

seen and heard and

that's the calling of

Christians.

To witness to the

person and work of

Jesus Christ whom we

know, whom we have

experienced, whom we

have heard in the

word of God.

And as Jesus

commissions his

disciples, he gives

them this promise in

verse 49.

And behold, I am

sending the promise of

my Father upon you, but

stay in the city until

you are clothed with

power from on high.

This is a promise of

the Holy Spirit.

That's confirmed by

Acts 1.8.

Jesus says to his

disciples, you will

receive power when the

Holy Spirit has come

upon you and you

will be my witnesses

in Jerusalem and in

all Judea and Samaria

and to the end of the

earth.

This is the

fulfillment of the

Old Testament

scriptures.

One of the saddest

verses in all of

scripture is Ezekiel

Ezekiel 10:18

chapter 10, verse 18

and 19, where

prophet Ezekiel

describes the

departure of God's

glory from his

temple in Jerusalem.

It says, then the

glory of the Lord

went out from the

threshold of the

house and stood

over the cherubim

and the cherubim

lifted up their

wings and mounted

up from the earth

before my eyes as

they went out.

The glory of God,

the presence of God,

the Spirit of God

leaves Jerusalem

because of the sin

and rebellion of

God's people and

consequently Jerusalem

is overrun by the

Babylonian empire and

God's name is held

in contempt by the

Gentiles, by the

non-Jews.

But later in

Ezekiel chapter 36

Ezekiel 36:23–27

verses 23-27, God

promises of a day

when his presence,

his Spirit will

return to dwell

among God's people.

And I will vindicate

the holiness of my

great name which has

been profaned among

the nations and

which you have

profaned among them.

And the nations will

know that I am the

Lord, declares the

Lord God, when

through you I

vindicate my holiness

before their eyes.

I will take you from

the nations and gather

you from all the

countries and bring you

into your own land.

I will sprinkle clean

water on you and you

shall be clean from all

your uncleanness and from

all your idols I will

cleanse you and I will

give you a new heart and

a new spirit I will put

within you and I will

remove the heart of

stone from your flesh and

give you a heart of

flesh and I will put my

spirit within you and

cause you to walk in my

statutes and be careful

to obey my rules.

And then after the last

prophets there was the

400 years of silence.

Jesus is breaking that

silence saying that that

promise is not becoming

fulfilled in my death,

resurrection and

ascension and I will send

this spirit of God to you.

God's glory will again be

seen among his people.

His power will again be

demonstrated among his

people and in the old

covenant God's spirit came

upon only on select

individuals for select

divinely appointed tasks

like building of the

tabernacle or the temple

to the priests and to the

kings, the prophets.

But now in the new

covenant every single man

man and woman of God

filled with the spirit of

God.

Not just pastors,

priests.

And that's why Jesus

tells his disciples to

stay in the city until

they are clothed with

power from on high.

This is really remarkable

that Jesus after

commissioning them to go

and proclaim this

repentance for forgiveness

of sins doesn't tell

them to go immediately

instead he tells them to

wait.

Wait for divine

empowerment because

apart from it your

proclamation is

ineffective.

We see this connection

between spirit's power

and the proclamation of

the gospel over and over

again in Luke's sequel to

the book of Acts.

For example it says in

Acts 4.31

And when they had

prayed the place in

which they were gathered

together was shaken

and they were all filled

with the Holy Spirit

and continued to speak

the word of God with

boldness.

It's being clothed with

the power of the Holy

Spirit that leads to

bold proclamation of

the gospel.

Especially in the face

of persecution.

It's when the gospel is

proclaimed in the power

of the Holy Spirit that it

manifests saving power

in the lives of its

hearers.

We can't, though we

might try with all our

might, we can't conjure

up supernatural boldness

by holding powwows and

listening to pep talks.

We can't persuade

unbelievers to believe the

gospel merely by honing our

skills of argumentation

and eloquence.

The work of God can only

be carried out by the

power of God and so it

was necessary for the

disciples to wait in

Jerusalem for the promised

Holy Spirit.

And then after the promise

we witness the actual

ascension in verses 50 to 51.

It seems that some time

have, has elapsed between

resurrection Sunday and

ascension day because Luke

notes in Acts 1-3 that there

was a 40 day interval between

Jesus' resurrection and his

ascension.

So now, what's happening now is

some time after.

And it says in Luke 20, and

Jesus had predicted this of

course saying in Luke 22-69,

but from now on the Son of Man

shall be seated on the right

hand of the power of God.

And this ascension is a

fulfillment of that promise.

It means that Jesus is seated

reigning at the right hand of

God the Father as the great

high priest who intercedes on

behalf of his people.

It's Jesus' ascension that gives

us the confidence to approach

the throne of God in prayer.

It's his ascension that assures

us that we will surely receive

God's grace and mercy because

Jesus is at the right hand of the

Father interceding for us,

reigning in that place.

That's what Hebrews 4, 14-16

talks about.

Jesus is the risen and ascended

Lord who empowers us with the

Spirit to proclaim repentance

for the forgiveness of sins.

But Jesus doesn't leave before he

blesses his disciples.

That's my third point.

Benediction says in verses 50-51,

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.

Look at this.

Even as he's being carried up

into heaven, Jesus is blessing

his disciples.

And the disciples respond by

blessing God in return.

Verses 52-53,

And they worshipped him and

returned to Jerusalem with great

joy and were continually in the

temple blessing God.

The word blessed is repeated

three times here.

The word blessed is so overused

nowadays.

I'm not sure.

It's so misused.

I think few Christians actually

know what it means.

To bless someone is to impart

good things from God.

In scripture, there are two main

types of blessings.

First type is the paternal

benediction, which is a blessing

that parents bestow on their

children.

The second type is the

ministerial benediction, which

God's authorized representatives

bless God's people on his behalf.

And when God or his authorized

representatives bless God's people,

it's a bestowal of blessing.

It's an impartation or a

communication of blessing.

When the people of God bless God,

it's an act of worship, an

acknowledgement that God is the

most blessed one.

So a benediction, when we receive it,

it's not a prayer.

It's a pronouncement.

When a pastor, for example, at the

end of a service pronounces his

benediction at the end, it's not

prayer asking God to do something.

Rather, it's a pronouncement imparting

what God has already done and

promised for his people.

So you receive it with expectation

and full fulfillment of that instead

of waiting on it, seeking and

praying for it.

The first thing that God did after

creating humanity was to bless them,

Genesis 1.28.

The very last words of scripture in

Revelation 22.21 is a benediction, a

blessing.

And most of the New Testament

letters include at least one

benediction.

And here at the end of the Gospel of

Luke, Jesus ascends to heaven while

blessing his disciples.

It really reveals his heart.

It's like getting carried away and

he's like blessing his disciples.

So it reminds me of like a lover

that's saying goodbye to like a

beloved that's going off on a train.

He's like running up to the train

saying, I love you or something, you

know, because they just haven't had

enough time.

And say, God, it's Jesus as he's

going.

It's a blessing.

That's the last thing.

The last picture that the disciples

have of Jesus, his arms raised,

blessing them.

That's God's heart for us.

To bless us, not harm us.

Romans 8.20 says that for those who

love God, all things work together

for good.

Not good as we humanly and

imperfectly define it, but good as

God divinely and perfectly defines it.

All that God demands of us in his

scriptures is for our good.

Yet too often, we second guess the

goodness of what God's word teaches.

We question the goodness of God in the

circumstances of our lives.

Let me encourage you, whenever you find

yourself questioning the goodness of

what God has said in his word to you,

or the goodness of God in the difficult

circumstances of your life,

picture Jesus with his hands raised

high, blessing you.

That's his heart for you.

He's not looking at you with contempt,

with wagging fingers or pointed fingers.

And the only appropriate response to the

risen and ascended Lord is joyful worship.

It says in verses 52 to 53 to 3 that the

disciples worshipped him and returned to

Jerusalem with great joy and were

continually in the temple blessing God.

In the gospel of Luke, though several

people have fallen before Jesus' feet,

prostrate themselves to pay homage to him,

no one has up to this point worshipped

Jesus.

It is as the risen and ascended Lord that

Jesus is finally fully recognized as the

Son of God who is worthy of the worship that

is due to God alone.

So they worship him.

This is significant.

And just as the birth of Jesus brought joy in

Luke chapter 2 verse 10,

Luke 2:10

the departure of Jesus brings great joy in

Luke 24 verse 52.

Luke 24:52

And just as the gospel began with Zechariah

and Simeon blessing God in the temple,

it ends with Jesus' disciples blessing God in

the temple.

The gospel has come around full circle because

Jesus has fulfilled all that he has set out,

he has set out to do.

And now he is the risen and ascended Lord who

empowers us with the Spirit to proclaim

repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

Take a moment to reflect on that and then

we're going to respond by praying together as a

church.

Amen.