Three Things

Luke 24:52,53 "And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen."

We know from Matthew 28 that Jesus' eleven guys, the disciples, went with Him to Galilee to a mountain. When He was there He blessed them, gave them the great commission and was lifted out of their sight. What an experience! To be with the risen Christ, to hear Him challenge you and then to watch Him leave this earth. The disciples' response is what I would expect. Worship, joy, praise, blessing.

Look at each of the responses: Worship. Guess what this reveals? That Jesus is God. I don't care how much people want to get around this fact, but the only individual who is worthy of our worship, or proskyneo, our falling on our faces in adoration is God. Jesus knew this, and Jesus accepted it. Why? Because Jesus was and is God. God in the flesh, who died, who rose, who ascended to heaven. The Disciples knew this and did the only natural thing that they could do was worship Him.

Even though we don't see the risen Christ and did not experience his ascension, we still experience the risen Christ. He works in our lives, He speaks to us, He reveals what He is like to us. Our response should be one thing: Total and complete worship.

Their second response: Joy. Not just a little joy but great joy. The Greek word for great is "mega". Mega joy. Mega gladness. Mega hope. And why not? Jesus was alive and these guys knew it.

I wonder about me…do I have mega joy? My joy should not be in the stuff I have, or the circumstances that surround me, or even in my family. My joy has to be based in a risen Savior. Why? Because a risen Savior proves victory over everything. I mean everything. Every temptation, every sin, every habit, every trial, every difficulty, even death. Mega joy should be a hallmark of the church and Jesus' believers…no matter what.

Their third response: Continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Go figure. These guys wanted to be together, so they did what they knew and got together in the temple and while there they praised and blessed God. They didn't just do this sporadically. They didn't just do this when the weather was good. They didn't just do this when they felt like waking up. They did it all the time. The word continually means constantly. They spent time together and their time together did not center on food or sports or the news. Their time together centered on praising and blessing God. Go figure. They just saw a Man who was crucified, dead and buried…alive, living, breathing, speaking, eating…ascended. I would think that this would energize anyone. And it should. It should still energize us today because we still have that alive, living, breathing, speaking Christ. And what should we do? Continually be together praising and blessing God.

They Got It

Luke 24:45 "And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures."

Up until this time, the disciples were unable to take the Law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms and match them up to the life of Christ. They were relying on the personal teaching of Jesus to direct what they did and to tell them who He was. Even that, however, did not cut it with them. They still didn't get it. Even though Jesus was standing in front of them in the flesh, even though He had eaten food in their presence, they still doubted (v38), they still did not believe what was happening (v41), so Jesus did an amazing thing. He took the scales off of their eyes. He opened their understanding. He opened their minds and their souls to understand the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms. The word for understand is pretty cool, because it actually means to set or join together in the mind. Before Jesus opened their minds, they had all these pieces parts. It was kind of like a connect the dots puzzle. They could see the dots, but they had no idea how they all connected and what they all meant. When Jesus opened their understanding, they saw it. They saw the whole picture. They saw how all of the scriptures fit together and they all pointed to Christ, the Messiah, the crucified living Savior who was standing in front of them talking to them. They got it. Not because they worked hard at trying to get it, but because Jesus opened their brains and their inner man to get it.

Jesus still does this today. There are times in my life when I am reading His word and all of a sudden something hits me. I had never seen or understood something before and God just says: "Glen, I am going to open your mind and heart to get this one." Those are amazing times. This isn't something that God wants to do periodically, however, it is something that He wants to do all the time. It is something that He wants me to experience daily. It is this living, breathing, walking, talking relationship. We don't have to have scales over our eyes any longer. God has given us His word and His Holy Spirit who "…will guide you into all truth." John 16:13. That isn't just some truth. That isn't just partial truth. That isn't just periodic truth. That is all truth.

The sad thing is our unwillingness to receive. Oh, we don't do this brazenly. We are sly about it. We say that we believe God's word and want to learn from God's word and we want God to direct us through His word and to teach us the truth, but then we fail to read it. We say we don't have time. We say that we are too tired. We say that we can't focus. We say that we don't like to read. Unbelievable. Here is Jesus. He died on the cross. He rose from the dead. He lives now. He is willing to open our understanding so that we can comprehend the Scriptures. He has left us with the ultimate Teacher in the Holy Spirit and we say that we don't have time. Unreal. No wonder we flounder in our lives. No wonder we are directionless. No wonder we struggle.

The point: He will open our understanding to comprehend the scriptures. We have to let Him.

Heartburn

Luke24:32 "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"

Heartburn. It isn't something I like. You know, that greasy pepperoni pizza tasted so good going down and then it hits you. Not good.

The guys who walked with Jesus on the road to Emmaus had heart burn…only this was the good kind. Cleopas (who may have been Peter) and another guy were walking to Emmaus talking about all of the events that surrounded that week and the Bible says that "Jesus Himself drew near". Now, I don't know how He drew near. He may have just appeared, but I kind of like to think that He was walking behind them eavesdropping. They didn't see Him and as they talked He picked up His pace and gradually "drew near" so that He was walking with them as well. I am not exactly sure what the deal was here, but they did not recognize Him and He asked them what they were talking about. These guys were surprised that He allegedly didn't know what had happened and they told Him. Kind of funny, these guys telling Jesus that He had been crucified and then some people said that He rose from the dead. I bet, when they finally figured out who He was, they probably had a good laugh at how dumb they may have sounded.

Anyway, before they figured it out, Jesus had an opportunity to open their eyes. He spent time with them, beginning with Moses and all the prophets explaining all of the things the Old Testament had to say about who He was and what He was going to do. (See yesterday.) Then, He had a chance to sit down with them at a meal. Before they ate He took the bread and blessed it and broke it. I am thinking these guys may have had a sense of Déjà vu. "And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them…" Mark 14:22 Or, "…He took the five loaves…He blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples…" Luke 9:16 I think these guys may have thought: "Where have we seen this before?" "Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him…" v31 What a cool time. What a cool experience. What an amazing revelation. I can just imagine their excitement when they realized that they had been walking and talking and eating with the risen Christ!

Then they said this: "Didn't we have heart burn?" Wasn't our inner man stirred when Jesus talked to us and opened the scriptures to us? Wasn't there this inner sense that we were experiencing God's presence?

I wonder, do I get heart burn when I hear God's word spoken, and taught and preached? Do I get heart burn when I am in the presence of Christ, when I know that He is speaking to me? I really think that many of us take the teaching of God's word for granted. We go to church every Sunday and we hear the preaching and what do we do when it is done? We evaluate it. Or better yet, we evaluate the preacher. This shows something. It shows that we really aren't hungry for the truth. Oh, sure, we want to hear the word preached effectively so that it impacts our lives, but we leave all of this up to the preacher or teacher. Instead, I think it is a more a personal heart thing. Are we ready to hear the word preached? Do we anticipate that God will speak to us…not because of who the messenger is but because of the message. You see, it is the word of God that is sharper than any two edged sword. It is the word of God that will not return void. It is the word of God that is living and active. We can't leave it up to the deliverer of the message, we have to let the source of the message impact our lives and give us heart burn. Now this does not exempt the teacher from having to work hard at delivering God's word effectively. The preacher or teacher must study and be a workman and handle accurately the word of truth. When that happens and when our hearts are ready to receive it, man, our hearts will burn. God bring it.

Grab and Go

Luke 24:25 "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!"

I thought for sure I would be writing about a different verse today, but no, this one hit me. Why? Because I am like these guys.

Think about it. The prophets talked about the coming Messiah. They talked about His birth, his life and His death. (Micah 5:2; Is. 9:6; Is. 53) I am sure that Jesus probably reminded them of what the women realized when they spoke with the angels, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. They still didn't get it though. And Jesus said: "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe…". He may have also said: "You have the prophets who explained to you what was going to happen. You have the scriptures that outline what was going to take place, but you still don't get it." As a result Jesus had to spend more time with these guys going through Moses and all the prophets going through the scriptures expounding about the things concerning Himself. V27

What hit me? I am like this. I bet Jesus says to me: "O foolish one, slow of heart to believe…". So many times I operate out of fear. I am very cautious. I don't take risks. I like to be comfortable in what I know. I don't like being stretched. If I were one of these guys I would probably be right where they were. Not understanding that the Messiah had to come and die and then rise again. Sure, I would have read it. I would have thought that I understood it. I would have embraced it. But when the time came to actually experience it, to see it, to grasp it…clueless.

I am being stretched right now when it comes to our church. My pastor is a guy who loves to take risks. Who believes God for the improbable and in fact the impossible. Thank God for him. He makes me think outside the scope of the possible. He challenges me to believe. It isn't easy, really. I want to hang on to what I know…to what is safe. Frankly, that is not the Christian life. The Christian life is a life of faith, of trust, of believing…not what I know, not what I can do, not what I can see, but believing God and trusting His word and His promises and His direction.

Is God directing? Then step out. The key? Believe God. Don't be foolish and slow of heart to believe. Grab His word and go.

Because He Lives

Luke 24:5b,6a "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen."

This is it. This is the key…the lynchpin…the whole enchilada. This is the basis for Christianity. Without this the Christian faith and teaching is a crock. If the resurrection is true, however, then it verifies all that is written in the scriptures and our faith is solid and set apart from all other belief systems and religions in the world.

I could spend a ton of time discussing the various theories as to why the resurrection may not be true. People have used them for years. Jesus was not real. If He was, He really did not die. He was drugged. If He did die, then His followers came and stole the body. These people were just hallucinating. Frankly, all of these theories are just that. Unsubstantiated theories. They have no basis in fact. When you look at the facts surrounding the life, death and burial of Jesus, the fact that hundreds of people saw Him after His resurrection, as well as the fact that his followers were cowards who could not handle a weapon but all of a sudden became brave and were martyred because they knew the truth of the risen Christ…it is obvious that Jesus lives. And because He lives we have hope. Because He lives we have life. Because He lives we have the assurance of an eternity of life. Because He lives Christianity is set apart as truth and all of the other religions in the world are proven to be empty.

Yesterday I heard about a website. It is called endofamerica32.com. I went on the website and I will tell you, it is scary. This economist has a very credible argument about how our country is going to go down the tubes because of our financial mismanagement. Everything that we know, everything that we trust, everything that we value in this country will be altered…according to this man.

And then I read this: "Why do you seek the living among the dead. He is not here, but He is risen." This is a good question for us today too. Unfortunately, I think that I and we get sucked into looking for the living among the dead. We set our hope on that which is temporal. We rely on things that will one day burn. Instead, we have to rely on the One who is eternal. Who is living. Who wrote the scriptures that give us assurance that He is alive, He will never leave us or forsake us, He will supply all of our needs, He has a plan for us to prosper us and not harm us to give us a hope and a future, He will not leave us as orphans, He will add what we need to us. And we can rely on these promises. Why? Because some guy wrote them? Because some guy said them? Because they are in something called the Bible? No. We can rely on these promises because He lives. His life verifies each of these truths.

So, whenever things start to hit the fan, don't seek the living among the dead. "Because He lives I can face tomorrow. Because He lives all fear is gone. Because I know who holds the future. And life is worth the living just because He lives."

Father, forgive them

11 Luke 23:34 "Then Jesus said, 'Father forgive them, for they do not know what they do.'"

Jesus prayed. In Luke 22 He prayed in the garden of Gethsemane. He also prayed for Peter that his faith would not fail. And now? Now He prays for the people who put Him through a kangaroo court with Pilate and Herod. He prays for the soldiers who mocked Him and spit on Him and beat Him. He prays for the crowd who insisted that He be crucified (a Roman death) even though He did not break any Roman law. He prays for the guys who forced Him to carry the cross. He prays for the men who drove the spikes in His hands and feet. He prays for the people who mocked Him as He hung there dying. What does He pray? "God, send fire down and consume them."? Or: "Father get me off of this cross so I can prove who I am."? No. He prays: "Father forgive them…". This is a crazy prayer. Forgive them? These people were stupid. They did not understand what they were doing. They did not comprehend that fact that they were killing the Lord of Creation. They did not understand the gravity of this act. Forgive them? Yes…forgive them. Don't hold this debt to their account.

How could He do this? How could Jesus pray this? How could He go to His Father and ask Him to forgive these people? "For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved." John 3:17 Jesus whole mission was to save. "Because of you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior…". From His birth to His death Jesus goal was to rescue us. His goal was to rescue these people. His goal was to see these people come into His kingdom. Just look at the thief on the cross. No condemnation. Instead, forgiveness, hope, promise, paradise. v43 This was His prayer for these people…and, most likely, many of the people who stood there watching, and condemning, and mocking eventually turned to Him in faith…forgiven. This is the grace and compassion of God.

This is the grace and compassion of God now as well. We are all guilty. He came to rescue all of us as well. We were in that crowd. We are all guilty of hanging Jesus on that cross. It was my sin, my screw ups, my stupid words, my stinking attitudes, my dumb actions that put Him on that cross. And Jesus says: "Father, forgive Glen, for He really does not know what He is doing."

"Amazing grace how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see." Thank you Lord.

Incriminating Statements

Luke 22:69-70 "'Hereafter the Son of Man will sit on the right hand of the power of God.' Then they said, 'Are you then the Son of God?' He said to them, 'You rightly say that I am.'"

Jesus made some amazing claims when He was put on trial. First, He claimed that He was so special that He was going to sit on God's right hand. Historically, the right side of the king was a place of honor. Any old Joe just could not get up and sit down at the right side of the throne. It was a place reserved for individuals who were highly favored by the ruler.

This lead the Sanhedrin to ask another question: "Are you then the Son of God?" The word "then" is really important. By stating that He was going to sit at the right hand of the power of God, the spiritual leaders of the day realized that Jesus was claiming that He was closer to God the Father than any of them could ever imagine. They asked the "then" question. Then what? Who are You? Are you God's Son? This was a loaded question, for they knew that His answer would save Him or condemn Him. If He said that He was, then that would result in a sentence of death for no one could claim to be God's Son as this made him equal with God. "Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God." John 5:18 The spiritual leaders of the day were out to get Jesus for a very long time and now His answer would give them the evidence that they needed to put Him away for good. Jesus knew this too. He knew that if He claimed to be God's Son that this was akin to blasphemy and under Jewish law, the punishment was death by stoning. If Jesus were not God's Son, all He had to do was say: "This thing is just a big misunderstanding. No, I am not God's son. That is something my guys have made up. I am just a leader of a ragtag group of men who enjoy my teaching." He could have said this, but He didn't. He didn't because a statement like that would not have been true. Jesus had to speak the truth and the truth was, He was and is the Son of God, so He said: "You rightly say that I am."

The actual translation of this is interesting. The word "rightly" was thrown in by the NKJV editors. The actual translation says: Ὑμεῖς λέγετε ὅτι ἐγώ εἰμι. (Pretty cool, huh?) It means: "You say that I am." This doesn't sound so much like an affirmation on Jesus' part, does it? Why would these guys follow with the statement: "What further testimony do we need? For we have heard it ourselves from his own mouth." v 71. Because Jesus actually said: "You affirm that I AM." Now, this is a big deal. Under Jewish law, this would be worthy of death…only one problem…it was the truth. Jesus was and is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God, God Himself.

This is the One we worship. This is the One who came for me, who was put on trial for me, who was abused for me, who died for me, who lives for me, who sits at the right hand of the Father for me. Amazing.