Resurrection Sunday.
length: 88:55 - taught on Mar, 31 2013
Class Outline:
Title: Resurrection Sunday.
This morning we are going to study the encounter that two men had with the resurrected Christ. They were with the other disciples after the crucifixion and as confused, saddened, and disappointed as the rest. They were in the room with the twelve, soon to be apostles, and were eye witnesses to Mary Magdalene’s entrance in which she told them all that the tomb was empty and that she and other women with her had seen angels who had announced to them that Jesus was raised and that all of them were to meet the Lord in Galilee, a four day journey from there. None of them believed her. Peter and John ran to the tomb and returned with the same witness - the stone is rolled away and the tomb is empty. The other women who were with Mary at the tomb and witnessed the angels and heard their message arrived later and collaborated Mary’s witness as well as that of Peter and John, but still they did not believe [including Peter and John], and so these two men left the room and headed to Emmaus, about 7 miles away, where they were most likely from. If they had stayed longer they would have witnessed Mary M return a second time to tell them all that she had personally seen the resurrected Christ, but it probably wouldn’t have mattered since no one believed her second witness either.
LUK 24:13 And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem.
LUK 24:14 And they were conversing with each other about all these things which had taken place.
LUK 24:15 And it came about that while they were conversing and discussing, Jesus Himself approached, and began traveling with them.
LUK 24:16 But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him.
“prevented” - krate,w [krateo; imperfect passive indicative] = to take hold of. Something held their eyes from recognizing Him - most likely their unbelief in the resurrection.
Prevented is a word that means to take hold of, and it is in the passive voice. So this verb tells us that something held their eyes from recognizing Him, which could be something supernatural, or more likely, their own unbelief in expecting Him to be dead and not who they hoped He was. If you remember the disciples didn’t recognize Jesus walking on the Sea supposing Him to be a ghost.
Without faith in the proper doctrine we will not recognize Christ for who He really is.
Recognizing is a word that means to recognize something for what it really is. No doubt He is in His resurrection body and at this point it does not reveal Him as anything more than a regular man, except for the nail prints which they cannot see now.
The Lord wants them to see the truth from the word of God and not just from His appearance. Where would any of us be if we needed a personal appearance from the Lord in order to have faith?
But it will be He who guides them to a conclusion from the truth over the course of a number of hours as they walk. He does the same for those who endeavor to know the truth (PV), after hour after hour of His word we are gradually and lovingly being brought to the correct conclusions about God’s decree, God’s program, God’s history, God’s plan, and our place in it all. It is with patience in the guiding of the Holy Spirit through the mind of Christ and the plan of the Father that is going to open our eyes to all truth.
How often Christ is so close to us and we don’t recognize it. Sadness and grief fills our heart when happiness is so close, it’s in the word, in your own soul, ready to be believed.
"For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach. It is not in heaven, that you should say, 'Who will go up to heaven for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?' "Nor is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who will cross the sea for us to get it for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?' "But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may observe it.
LUK 24:17 And He said to them, "What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?" And they stood still, looking sad.
God often asks us probing questions from His word in order to get the thought process going.
Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
Do you not know that you are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
The one named, “Cleopas,” is likely the father of the apostle James the Less, not James the brother of John and cousin to Christ.
Dr. Lightfoot has shown that Cleopas and Alphaeus are the same name:
James the son of Alphaeus [possibly the same as Cleopas]
Their faith has failed them for things didn’t go the way that they had expected. Not only that, but Passover is over, which is Israel’s fourth of July. It is a festive and fun occasion for them and now the party is over and nothing turned out the way they expected and so you can sense their deep sadness.
It is probable that they were intimate disciples, who may have been much with the Savior during the latter part of his ministry and the closing scenes of his life. But it is wholly unknown why they were going to Emmaus, which is about 7 miles from Jerusalem. It may have been that this was their native place, or that they had friends in the vicinity. They seem to have given up all for lost, and to have come to the conclusion that Jesus was not the Messiah, though they naturally conversed about it, and there were many things which they could not explain. They seem to have expected victory before the cross with Jesus as King of Israel and not as the suffering Savior who would through the cross bring the crown to all who believe, both Jew and Gentile. Their Master had been crucified contrary to their expectation, their hopes dashed, their anticipation disappointed, and they were now returning in sadness, and very naturally conversed, in the way, of the things which had happened in Jerusalem.
No one is condoning such an attitude, but how often this failure in our faith is fertile soil for God’s comfort, because we are all ears.
LUK 24:18 And one of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, "Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?"
One can almost sense his frustration. They have been talking about the events of the last three days and this unknown man seems to know nothing about it. They have been told about the empty tomb and that angels had told the witnesses at the tomb that Jesus has risen and they are discussing the possibility of such a thing.
I love that they think He is visiting Jerusalem, for in one sense they are absolutely correct.
"A great prophet has arisen among us!" and, "God has visited His people!"
The resurrection of Christ means victory for all believers. Those who continue in faith will be delivered from all heartache no matter what the circumstances dictate presently.
LUK 24:19 And He said to them, "What things?" And they said to Him, "The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people,
They don’t call Him Lord or Messiah because they lost their faith in that (doesn’t mean loss of salvation). This is a very unique situation for all of them. They don’t know what we all know. Imagine if the resurrection of Christ was not recorded in the scripture - wouldn’t we all question and debate its authenticity? But fortunately for us we don’t have to.
They only acknowledge Him as a prophet who had the power to do miracles and was a great teacher before God and Israel.
Without faith in the proper doctrine we will not recognize Christ for who He really is.
LUK 24:20 and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him up to the sentence of death, and crucified Him.
LUK 24:21 "But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened.
They had expectant hope that He was the Messiah, the Redeemer of Israel, but three days have gone by and nothing’s happened.
They had witnessed the teachings and the miracles, but then the tragedy of His death agitated them so much that they lost their faith in who they thought He was.
We are all cautioned not to let any tragedy in our own lives take away from the very real fact that He has risen in victory and we share in that victory. It truly is a matter of the proper perspective.
For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
If they were within the group of His followers or disciples, which it seems clear that they were, they would have been told about the death burial and resurrection from the Master’s own mouth or at least from the other disciples who heard the Lord teach it several times, but expectancy of the truth can often be different than what you hear. If I listen to something with preconceived notions I might interpret what I hear incorrectly, especially if I am very emotionally charged about the matter.
LUK 24:22 "But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning,
LUK 24:23 and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels, who said that He was alive.
LUK 24:24 "And some of those who were with us went to the tomb [Peter and John] and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see."
They were with the other disciples, soon to be apostles earlier and were there when the women came to tell them what they had seen.
1. The guards saw an angel roll away the stone.
2. Shortly after May Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Salome, and others arrived at the tomb.
3. The angel announced to them that He was risen and Mary M ran off to tell the disciples with the others following more slowly.
The disciples thought it was nonsense and did not believe them.
4. Peter and John ran to the tomb followed by Mary M.
5. Christ appears to Mary M. after Peter and John left.
6. Mary M. returns again to the disciples to tell them that she had seen Him.
These two men leave on their journey to Emmaus after Mary M’s first account of the empty tomb but before her second return to tell them that she had seen Him raised.
7. Christ appears to the other women.
And I want us to notice what He had said to them, the same as what the angel said to them:
MAT 28:5 And the angel answered and said to the women, "Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified.
MAT 28:6 "He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying.
MAT 28:7 "And go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going before you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you."
MAT 28:8 And they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to report it to His disciples.
MAT 28:9 And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him.
MAT 28:10 Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they shall see Me."
But they don’t believe any of it.
LUK 24:10 Now they were Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James; also the other women with them were telling these things to the apostles.
LUK 24:11 And these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe them.
The angel and the Lord Jesus Christ gave instructions for the disciples to go to Galilee and He would meet them there and they refuse to believe the resurrection, never mind taking a four day journey to Galilee to see Him. So what does the Lord do?
The love and faithfulness of God is manifested as Christ comes to see the disciples personally even though they have failed in faith.
Just as He was going to walk right by the boat on the Sea of Galilee, He stops because He sees their fear. He repeated Himself when they would not understand or believe. Time and time again He does in great patience the things that are for us and not against.
But before He appears to them as a group, He appears to the one who denied Him so that Peter would drop His guilt and be restored and go and lead the others.
8. Christ appears to Peter.
9. Christ appears unrecognized to disciples walking to Emmaus.
He appeared to many for the same reason, to restore and strengthen their faith. Their doubts did not stop Him from coming to them and encouraging them.
and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep;
LUK 24:25 And He said to them, "O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!
This isn’t as harsh a rebuke as we might think.
There are four different words for fool in the NT and this one means to be lacking understanding as opposed to being a complete fool.
A complete fool is one who lacks the perception of reality. They are not fools but only acting foolish from a lack of understanding like the naturally minded man in 1CO 2:14, which can easily be corrected with understanding.
It’s a mild reproof indicating that they have not seen what they should have seen from the scriptures.
LUK 24:26 "Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?"
LUK 24:27 And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.
Beginning with Moses, and with all the prophets, and the writings He will reveal His suffering as well as resurrection glory as prophesied.
Revealing while walking is a picture of learning from perception of doctrine while in fellowship with your risen Lord. Notice that He is the key to opening the scriptures. Without Him it only looks like foolishness to us.
And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her seed;
He shall bruise you on the head,
And you shall bruise him on the heel."
The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me [Moses] from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him.
And Aaron shall make atonement on its horns once a year; he shall make atonement on it with the blood of the sin offering of atonement once a year throughout your generations. It is most holy to the Lord."
Even my close friend, in whom I trusted,
Who ate my bread,
Has lifted up his heel against me.
Malicious witnesses rise up;
They ask me of things that I do not know.
I gave My back to those who strike Me,
And My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard;
I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting.
So I took the thirty shekels of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the Lord.
Then the Lord said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he shall live." And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.
With each passage that the Lord reveals to them the eyes of their souls are being opened wider and wider. Then when He spoke the granddaddy of them all, how their hearts must have burned within them:
ISA 52:13 Behold, My servant will prosper,
He will be high and lifted up, and greatly exalted.
ISA 52:14 Just as many were astonished at you, My people,
So His appearance was marred [disfigurement of face] more than any man, And His form [shape; referring to the body] more than the sons of men.
ISA 52:15 Thus He will sprinkle many nations,
Kings will shut their mouths on account of Him;
For what had not been told them they will see,
And what they had not heard they will understand.
ISA 53:1 Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?
ISA 53:2 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.
ISA 53:3 He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face, He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
ISA 53:4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.
ISA 53:5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.
ISA 53:6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.
ISA 53:7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth.
ISA 53:8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living [3 hours of spiritual death], For the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due?
ISA 53:9 His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.
ISA 53:10 But the Lord was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand [resurrection].
ISA 53:11 As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities.
ISA 53:12 Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong [resurrection]; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.
"So you are to know and discern that from the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince there will be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; it will be built again, with plaza and moat, even in times of distress.
DAN 9:26 "Then after the sixty-two weeks the Messiah will be cut off and have nothing, and the people of the prince who is to come will destroy the city and the sanctuary [Romans]. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined.
My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?
Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning.
O my God, I cry by day, but Thou dost not answer;
And by night, but I have no rest.
But I am a worm, and not a man,
A reproach of men, and despised by the people.
All who see me sneer at me;
They separate with the lip, they wag the head, saying,
"Commit yourself to the Lord; let Him deliver him;
Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him."
For dogs have surrounded me;
A band of evildoers has encompassed me;
They pierced my hands and my feet.
I can count all my bones.
They look, they stare at me;
They divide my garments among them,
And for my clothing they cast lots.
You got to wonder how impressed they were that He cited all these from memory.
He keeps all his bones;
Not one of them is broken.
They also gave me gall for my food,
And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
"And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him, like the bitter weeping over a first-born.
"The scepter shall not depart from Judah [ever - resurrection],
Nor the ruler's staff from between his feet,
Until Shiloh comes, And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.
For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
ISA 9:7 There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore [resurrection].
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this.
The Lord says to my Lord:
"Sit at My right hand,
Until I make Thine enemies a footstool for Thy feet."
For Thou wilt not abandon my soul to Sheol;
Neither wilt Thou allow Thy Holy One to undergo decay.
LUK 24:26 "Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?"
LUK 24:27 And beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.
His glory: They believe that His death and burial ended all hope.
In that day the Branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth will be the pride and the adornment of the survivors of Israel.
Who is this King of glory?
The Lord of hosts,
He is the King of glory.
And blessed be His glorious name forever;
And may the whole earth be filled with His glory.
Amen, and Amen.
Who is this who comes from Edom,
With garments of glowing colors from Bozrah,
This One who is majestic in His apparel,
Marching in the greatness of His strength?
"It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save."
"And to Him was given dominion,
Glory and a kingdom,
That all the peoples, nations, and men of every language
Might serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
Which will not pass away;
And His kingdom is one
Which will not be destroyed.
The Lord learned these scriptures as a child and soon enough related them to Himself. He trusted in them while the cross was yet future. His disciples abandoned them even when the cross was history and the events played out precisely as had been prophesied, yet He went to every one of them and encouraged them in the same way. What might have concerned Him as a child is now, after the resurrection, the sweetest of words and through Him they mean resurrection unto life to anyone who believes on Him.
LUK 24:28 And they approached the village where they were going, and He acted as though He would go farther.
Just like the boat on the Sea. He didn’t say He was going farther, just intended to.
LUK 24:29 And they urged Him, saying, "Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening, and the day is now nearly over." And He went in to stay with them.
LUK 24:30 And it came about that when He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them.
This was the custom of the master of the house and the risen Lord is a guest, but the risen Lord is the Master of all, especially believers and so He takes the bread and when He blessed it He held His hands in the position that any Jew would, palms up and hands raised.
One can picture His sleeves dropping to reveal two gaping holes where the nails once held Him. No more nails and no more sin and we who believe are set free from the sin that once held us.
LUK 24:31 And their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight.
He’s on to visit and encourage others. What manner of opposition could satan possibly put up against this?
and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep;
Believer, He’s alive, and through faith in Him so are you, forever.
LUK 24:32 And they said to one another, "Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?"
LUK 24:33 And they arose that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found gathered together the eleven and those who were with them,
LUK 24:34 saying, "The Lord has really risen, and has appeared to Simon."
LUK 24:35 And they began to relate their experiences on the road and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.
So, then, they had learned to full the Resurrection-lesson - not only that He was risen indeed, but that the impact on the believer concerning His resurrection did not need to visually see His bodily presence.
The lesson depends only on Him opening up the heart and the mind to all the Scriptures concerning Himself.
He told Mary Magdalene not to cling to Him:
Jesus said to her, "Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren, and say to them, 'I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.'"
It was ok that she touched Him, but He instructed her that it was time to let Him go to where He would ascend and then she as well as all the Church could then cling to His word through the brand new gift of the filling of the Holy Spirit, which would bring more life and more power to a people then the world had ever seen.
This is the great lesson concerning the Risen One, which the Church fully learned in the Day of Pentecost when 3000 found the life and from then millions more would rise from the death and darkness to the light of life in Christ Jesus. He is alive and so are we!
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