His Final Blessing — Luke 24

0:00 Good morning. Turn in your Bibles to Luke chapter 24. Let's pray. Dear heavenly father, we come before you this morning as we open your word. We ask that you would speak to our hearts.

0:29 May we be receptive to hear your words from your spirit. We ask that you would help us to apply these things to our hearts and to our minds. We commit this time to you in Jesus Christ's name. Amen. So, yes, on National Star Wars Day, we shall stop talking about Luke.

1:00 Thank you Denzel. Oh, I was listening. I know what day it is. Tomorrow's revenge of the fifth. Anyway, alright.

1:13 So, Luke chapter 24. We are finishing now our study of almost a year and a half. It's been a year and a half in the making and we've had a lot of great things brought out of this book and I don't know about you but I've been thoroughly blessed by this study and the time that we've spent, the time that we've taken to get through Luke's gospel. Now, we're picking up in verse 36 where John Benson left off with us last week. This section from verse 36 through the end of the chapter, it's divided into three main sections where the Lord Jesus appears to the disciples, he then teaches the disciples, and then his ascension into heaven.

2:06 So let's start reading in verse 36 and we'll we'll start in this first section here from 36 through 43. And while they were telling these things, he himself stood in their midst. But they were startled and frightened and thought they were seeing 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.

2:32 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 could not believe it for joy and were marveling, he said to them, have you anything here to eat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish and he took it and ate it before them. Okay, let's take this back to verse 36.

3:04 And while they were telling these things, he himself stood in their midst. So this seems to be the same Sunday evening, the same late Sunday evening meeting that Jesus had with the 11 that is described in John's Gospel chapter 20 from verses 19 to 25. And in his Gospel, John indicates more specifically that Jesus appeared to them miraculously while the doors were shut in the midst of a closed room without making any obvious entrance. And he says, peace to you. These words have a new meaning now.

3:52 As we're thinking about where we've come from and we're thinking about the crucifixion and the resurrection and we're thinking about the times he's appeared and spoken with the disciples before this. He's coming to them now after his resurrection. Now that he has risen from the dead, peace has an entirely new meaning. Now, true peace can come between God and men. Between all of mankind.

4:23 Like there is now a true peace. Charles Spurgeon said, quote, About the Lord, there were an air and style of one who had peace himself and loved to communicate it to others. The tone in which he spake peace tended to create it. He was a peacemaker and a peace giver, and by this sign they were driven to discern their leader. End quote.

5:39 And really, we think about it, it's kind of remarkable to consider that the Lord designed it this way, that he's retaining the wounds that he had. The wounds that he received from his suffering and the crucifixion. And there could be a number of reasons for this and I came up with six. But one, probably at its most basic level, is the reason that his body retains the wounds is to exhibit these wounds to the disciples. I mean, just probably number one and probably the biggest thing.

6:15 To help them to know that this was the same Jesus. But maybe there's some other reasons. Maybe to be an object of eternal amazement to angels. Maybe to be ornaments or his trophies of his work, his great work for us. Maybe it was to memorialize the weapons with which he defeated death.

6:45 Maybe to serve as advocates in his perpetual intercession for us. And maybe also to preserve the evidence of humanity's crime against him. Now, maybe some of these are true, maybe none of them are true but I think as he's showing himself to the disciples here, definitely one thing is true. He he retained these wounds so that he could show them, to help them understand that it was him and it was the same body. The resurrection body of the Lord was a literal tangible body of flesh and bones.

7:28 It was the same body that had been buried, but it was changed in that it's no longer subject to death. Spurgeon said, In the apostles' case, the facts were tested to the utmost, and the truth was not admitted till it was forced upon them. I am not excusing the unbelief of the disciples, but I claim that their witness has all the more weight in it because it was the result of such cool investigation. End quote. Handle me and see.

8:04 Touch me and see. He's trying to reassure them. He's trying to reassure them. He's a real physical body. He's not a spirit.

8:15 It's a real physical body, but an entirely different order now. Entirely different order than our bodies. The resurrected Christ was not a ghost or a phantom as they thought he was. G. Campbell Morgan said, quote, He distinctly denied that his resurrection was of his spirit only for he invited them to touch his hands and his feet.

8:38 The evidences of a material body are abundant, End quote. So this account is precisely concerned to refute the notion that Jesus arose only in spirit or as a ghost. He arose in spirit and in body. So a spiritual body. He begs them, a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.

9:31 But he implores them, he pleads with them, a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have. Now, some might get a little too sidetracked by the fact that he said flesh and bones. The common phrase is flesh and blood, right? But he said flesh and bones. And maybe we could entertain that the resurrection body doesn't have any blood and ours won't either.

9:57 But whether that's true or not, it's likely he said flesh and bones because blood couldn't be discerned, but bones could be felt. Bones could be touched. So he can, so see my flesh, see my bones, feel it, touch it, and see. And they still could not believe it for joy and were marveling. They could not believe it for joy.

10:29 So astonishingly, in this moment their joy kept them from faith. So this may have been true in the sense like if we think about how this happens, it's the idea that something is too good to be true. But it's also true that God wants a a reasoned, well thought out faith from us, right? Not not not a giddy sort of easy believeism, if we can make up some words. Jesus wanted them to think.

11:05 He wanted them to think and believe. Think, process, believe. Here I am, touch me and see. Think about it, you know, but this is this is real. Morrison said, quote, then a great joy like a tide swept over them and they could not believe they were so glad.

11:33 Not long ago, Christ found them sleeping for sorrow, in Luke twenty two forty five, and now he found them disbelieving for joy. Do not forget then that joy can hinder faith. It may be as great a foe to faith as sorrow sometimes is. End quote. There's several times and many examples of joy being a hindrance to faith, and having things be too good to be true.

12:05 In Genesis, we can go all the way back to Genesis. In chapter 45, I'm starting this new thing where I bookmark my references. We're trying this out today. It's this radical system. Okay, Genesis 4five 25, so I could save a little bit of time.

12:25 And this is the account of Joseph and Jacob. And in Genesis 4five 25, they went up from Egypt and came to the land of Canaan to their father Jacob and they told him saying, Joseph is still alive and indeed he is ruler over all the land of Egypt but he was stunned for he did not believe them. Right? In Job chapter nine verse 16, among the discourse and Job is saying that there's no arbitrator between God and men but Job says, if I called and he answered me, I could not believe that he was listening to my voice. And in Psalm 126, it seemed too good to be true that God again had turned Israel's captivity.

13:21 So we've got a number of examples here and even in the New Testament in the book of Acts chapter 12 with Peter's arrest and his deliverance. Acts 12 verses thirteen and fourteen, And when he knocked at the door of the gate, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer and when she recognized Peter's voice because of her joy, she did not open the gate but ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate. And they said to her, you are out of your mind. But she kept insisting that it was so and they kept saying it is his angel. The church wouldn't even believe that that Peter was out of prison.

13:59 So, this is a real thing that happens and our joy can hinder us from faith at times. And the disciples were experiencing this. Their joy was in that moment, it was so great that it was being an impediment to accepting the reality that Jesus was there. So then, the Lord says to them, with an exasperated sigh, no, He didn't. We know he didn't.

14:33 That's how we would have said it. Have you any food? He like, he gives up. He gives up. They won't believe it.

14:39 Okay fine. Do you have any food? But we know he didn't say it like that. John was talking about this last week, you know. The Lord saying it as only the Lord could have in the most gentle and tender way.

14:56 Do you have any food? Do you have anything here to eat? So to help establish his identity and the reality of his spiritual body, he eats in their presence. And in fact, in most of his appearances with the disciples after his resurrection, he eats with them. This is something that they did a lot.

15:16 I mean they spent three years together, they ate a lot together. Probably aware of the eating habits, right? When you eat with people a lot, Anyway, no further comment. But they would recognize him. You'd recognize me if you wait with me if if you do anything about me.

16:08 Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. And he said to them, thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. These are the words I spoke to you while I was still with you. So now, he's coming this close to saying, I told you so.

16:44 It's this close. We would have just said, I told you so. What's wrong with you? Don't you remember? But he starts reminding them about all of these things, and that everything transpired just as he said it would.

17:01 And so to help them take it all in, he opens their understanding like he did on the road to Emmaus. They have to understand the scriptures. And he refers to the law of Moses and the prophets in the Psalms. Because these were the three main divisions of the Old Testament. And so taken together they encompass the entire Old Testament.

17:25 And what was the burden? What could we say is the burden of the prophecies concerning Christ? They were, one, that he must suffer. You think about Psalms 22, that whole chapter. And Isaiah 53, right?

17:39 We have these long sections of scripture that talk about the suffering of Christ. That he must rise again from the dead on the third day. How many scriptures do we have about this? Psalm 16, think about references in Jonah and Hosea six:two. I bookmarked this one.

18:01 Hosea six:two. He will raise us up on the third day that we may live before him. And there's many others, but he must suffer, he must rise again the third day. And then he says that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. So he opens their understanding that they can comprehend all of these things because they're having trouble.

18:38 And in fact, this whole chapter is full of opened things. Think back or turn back. In verse 12, there was an opened tomb. In verse 29, there was an opened home. In verse 31, there's opened eyes.

19:04 In verse 32, he opened the scriptures. In verse 35, there were opened lips. In verse 45, here there was opened understanding. And in a little bit, we're going to talk about verse 51, when there were opened heavens. So whole lot of things being opened here.

19:27 There's revelation happening. And in that hour, like in this upper room with Christ, scripture became a whole new book to the disciples. And we should never forget how earnestly and constantly that the Lord Jesus appealed to the testimony of the word. He says it was necessary that the Christ should suffer and rise again from the third day. He wanted them to understand that the cross was not some unfortunate obstacle.

20:10 It was not a hurdle that had to be overcome, something to get across. It was not a problem to be solved. It was necessary part. It was a necessary absolute part of God's redemptive plan for man. And that it would be in the name, only in the name of a crucified and risen Christ that the risen, that the repentance and remission of sins that he is talking about would be brought to the world.

20:43 Only the crucified and resurrected Christ, only through that would the remission of sins be brought. He must suffer and rise again. This was the plan. So they're told, he tells them here what to preach and where to preach it and how to preach it and where they're supposed to start preaching it. It should be preached in his name.

21:48 And he implores them again, you are witnesses of these things, verse 48. You've witnessed these things. He tells them solemnly, not only witnesses of the events surrounding the work of Jesus in his ministry, but also of the commission itself to spread the gospel. They are witnesses. And this was a work that they were all mutually responsible for, that we are responsible for.

22:24 He asked them begin at Jerusalem. There's many reasons why he wanted them to begin at Jerusalem and why it was fitting for that to be the case. Number one, because the scriptures say it should be so, naturally, right? Isaiah two verse three, and many peoples will come and say, come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us concerning his ways that we may walk in his paths and the law will go forth from Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Because Jerusalem is the place where all the facts of the gospel took place.

23:17 So this is a natural place to start. The truth of those facts should be and could be tested immediately. It makes a whole lot of sense logically to start there. But you know why else? To honor God's chosen people.

23:37 The Jewish nation was God's chosen people and so it is fitting that they should have the first that the preaching of of the of the gospel should go out to them first. First to the Jews, then to the Gentiles. How often is that repeated through the New Testament? To honor God's chosen people. A few other reasons why he might have had them start there for their own benefit is because it is good to begin where we are tempted not to begin.

24:18 Because it's good to begin where we expect opposition. And these are true for us now today. This is just as true for us now. Probably also because the time is short and it's good to begin right near where you are. Why not start there?

24:40 This is where the disciples were. Let's just let's start here. And you know, maybe there's temptation to not start here. Maybe there's we're worried about opposition, but you know what, this is where we are. Let's start here.

25:45 And some translations have, Amen. Now, verse 49, I send the promise. I am sending forth the promise. I send the promise of the father to you. They could not actually do the work that he called them to do unless they were endued with the power from on high.

26:14 Clothed with power from on high. That had to come first. And that would be the Holy Spirit being poured out upon them. So the promise of the Father, he's referring to the Holy Spirit coming at Pentecost that we see in Acts. And at that time, they would be endued with the power from on high as he says, to bear witness to the risen Christ.

26:46 The Holy Spirit was promised in several Old Testament passages such as Isaiah four:three, Ezekiel 3six 27, and Joel two twenty eight. I think I'm in Isaiah four three. Here we go. Isaiah four three, and it will come about that he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy. Everyone who is recorded for life in Jerusalem.

27:34 So they must wait until they are given the power of the Holy Spirit. So he has them wait. And he lifts up his hands and he blesses them. Now Jesus continued to appear to the disciples for forty days after his resurrection. We see that in Acts.

28:01 And eventually though would come the day when he must return to heaven. And when he did, Jesus left in probably the, well no, not probably the best way. Like it is the most best fitting way because that's how God designed it. He left the earth blessing his church. And he continues to bless his church as much as they or we will receive it.

28:32 As much as we'll receive he'll give. G Campbell Morgan said, quote, nothing but blessing had ever come from those hands. But now, Jesus stands as the high priest over his people to bless them. Thus he remains until he comes again, his hands uplifted and his lips pronouncing the blessedness of his own. End quote.

29:02 You know when the Lord blesses you, it's not a pious wish like, gee I hope things work out for you. Sending positive thoughts and good vibes your way. I hope you will be feeling better. When the Lord blesses you, it comes with power, it comes with promise. There is an inherent power in that blessing.

29:43 But do we receive it? He desires so much to bless so much. That's all. That's all he wants to do is to bless us and how much do we get in our own way? How much do we get in his way?

30:06 Because we don't need his blessing because we got this. Because we can do it on our own. If he's blessed you, you shall be blessed. It's as simple as that. There's no power on heaven or in earth or in hell that can reverse this blessing.

31:19 If he had stayed here, then there would have been way too much stock put into his physical location. So with him gone and relying on the power and the ministry and the confidence of the holy spirit now, that's where we can put our faith. That's where our confidence can be. Again, Acts chapter one tells us about that the ascension happened forty days after his resurrection and he spent those forty days proving to them but preparing them He's proving the truth of his resurrection and preparing them for now their new life, their new ministry, their new, you know, everything that they had to do now. As they were to go and fulfill the great commission, they were to go out and spread the gospel.

32:24 Spurgeon said, quote, he rises by his own power and majesty. He needs no help. He proved the innate power of his deity by which he could depart out of the world just when he willed, breaking the law of gravitation and suspending the laws usually governing matter. End quote. William Barclay said, quote, it was unthinkable that the appearances of Jesus should grow fewer and fewer until they finally petered out.

32:56 That would have effectively wrecked the faith of men, end quote. So the ascension differs quite radically from his other vanishing from sight that he did several times. He did it at Emmaus, but when he vanished from the crowds and the Pharisees and when they wanted to grab him and he just vanished, that was way earlier on in Luke and I actually talked about that. But he vanishes from their sight, but this was very different. He didn't vanish from their sight here.

33:38 Why? There's an air of finality about it. He's not disappearing and suddenly without warning and maybe he'll be back and maybe he won't. It's a decisive, it's such a decisive close to one chapter and the opening of another chapter. And they worshiped him.

34:39 They gave him the honor that he deserves. They returned to Jerusalem, which means they did exactly as Jesus told them to do. They were obedient. They were with great joy, which means they really believed that Jesus had risen. And they let the joy of that fact permeate their lives and radiate out.

35:09 And they were continually in the temple praising God. Which means that they lived as public followers of Christ and could not hide their love and their worship towards him. A little while earlier, they could not believe because of their joy. And now, they were joyful just because they believed. So they've come full circle.

35:44 As we wrap up this gospel, it's hard to summarize this. But Luke's gospel started with devout believers at the temple. They were praying for the long expected Messiah. And it closes at the same place with devout believers praising and blessing god for answered prayer and accomplished redemption. And when god does this kind of work in his people as Luke writes, we say, amen.

36:37 Amen. As we think back some more to this book and we think about Luke's perspective, Luke's very unique perspective on the Lord Jesus Christ and how he has presented the lord. Luke Luke wrote his gospel to the Greeks. And the Greeks were looking for the perfectly divine human being at this time. They were looking for someone who manifested all of the strengths of men and women, but none of their weaknesses.

37:22 And that's how Luke has presented the Lord as the son of man, as the perfect son of man, strong yet compassionate. His humanity has been so prominent here. You think about his prayer life, for example, his prayer life is discussed more in this gospel than any of the others. Because we need to pray. His sympathy and his compassion are mentioned very frequently here.

38:04 Perhaps this is why women and children occupy such a prominent place in Luke's story. A lot of us may know of Luke's gospel as the missionary gospel. The gospel has gone out here to the Gentiles. And the Lord Jesus has been presented as the savior of the world. And finally, if I could say this, this gospel is a discipleship manual for us.

38:46 We've traced the pathway of discipleship in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. We've heard it expounded in his training, in his teaching of his followers. And it is this feature that we've been able to follow throughout this book. And it is the life of the perfect man. And in the life of the perfect man, we find the elements that make up the ideal life for all mankind.

39:22 And so it is in his incomparable words that we find the way to the cross to which he calls us. Let's pray. Dear heavenly father, we come to you once more with thanksgiving to you for your word. We thank you for the unique perspectives that we have seen of the lord Jesus Christ in the book of Luke. Lord, as we think back to all we have studied, all we have heard, may we remember, May we be able to apply to our lives the things which our Lord has taught us.

40:08 We ask for your blessing now as we go. In the Lord Jesus name. Amen.