Luke 24 – The Resurrection
©Revd Sam Q. Griffiths
Wellington Baptist Church
Somerset, UK
When it comes down to it – all the great detectives worked the same way: for Poirot – it was in the little grey cells, for Holmes – it was in deduction and for Miss Marple – the workings of a small country village always gave the clue to her.
How they studied the crimes were all along the same lines – recognise the fact of the incident – it has happened, study the evidence of the case – and then come face to face with the solution.
In one sense we have no murder or crime present in the account of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but we have Luke who lays out the scene of the incident: he shows us the key pieces of evidence and calls the reader to be a kind of detective – and he invites the reader – as he does all of us here this morning, to follow it all to the logical conclusion, face to face with a risen Saviour – Jesus Christ, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Here Luke lays out the evidence – and it is evidence that demands a verdict: your verdict and mine. Some are simply too scared to face up to the evidence – they are often defensive and seem to not do the hard work.
Luke is the scientific brain and the levelheaded thinker – the careful investigator. Dr Luke no less. He mind if given to reason and careful thinking. He is able to think beyond the norm, as those in medicine are skilled to do. He sets out an orderly account – so that – Chapter 1:4 – “You may know the certainty of the things that you have been taught”. He provides the witnesses and lays out the clear case.
And all of these appearances of the Risen Christ are in or near Jerusalem, and all are one day – the first day of the week.
This section in chapter 24 is a whole worship experience for the early church – as it is for us this Easter day. This was how they would have worshipped – they would read the account and understand – and then they would worship. In this chapter, there is an announcement of the resurrection, there is a period of teaching and then there is an experience of the living Christ.
1. FIRSLY THEN
THERE IS THE FACT OF THE RESURRECTION – VERSES 1-12
It is interesting to note, that even as the fact of the resurrection comes home to them – it seems to have little immediate effect on them. It’s as if they have been in shock. They have been taken to the very edge of life and death. All their hopes, faith and aspirations had been challenged. They had trusted Jesus, and now it seemed as if it had all gone wrong.
Here are the women on the way to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus in a fitting and right manner. These are the same women who had watched Jesus die – back in verse 49 – and we find out who they are in verse 10.
Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of Jesus.
“But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance, watching these things.”
They go then having seen Jesus die – they have one purpose – and they expect to find Jesus’ body and to fulfil what they have planned. To anoint his dead body. It was in a way a final act of worship and respect. Drained emotionally, with nothing more to give, they make their way into the area of the tomb, to face death again.
But they are surprised at what they find – and even more so at the angel.
But notice that Luke doesn’t mess around here. He mentions the women for a purpose. When the angel addresses them he rebukes them for not remembering what Jesus had told them. This places the women in the inner circle of the disciples, where such a prediction by Jesus would have been shared – they are disciples themselves. This is further backed by the different account that Luke has to the other Gospel writers – in Matthew and Mark, the women are seen more as errand runners – but Luke wants to emphasise that they are equal disciples with the twelve, and it is to them that the first sign of the resurrection is shown. Even though they do go back to the twelve to report of what they have seen, their actions are no different to the two on the road.
Women have a vital and equal role to play in God’s purposes. There is no difference.
But notice too, that although the women and eventually the disciples, and Peter himself running to see for himself – come face to face with the fact of the resurrection – there isn’t much of a reaction – you might have thought they would throw a party at such good news – but even for Peter – verse 12 – he is left wondering to himself at what has happened.
And then there is this sense here in Luke’s account that – here is the fact of the resurrection staring them all in the face – but!!
And of course that can be true for us today. It’s possible to know the fact of the resurrection and to nod the head from a distance. To think you know what it means – but to look and marvel only from a distance.
It’s like the experience that we may have sometimes where something stares at us in the face, and we should know what it signifies – it’s there or at the back of our minds – but the penny doesn’t seem to drop.
It’s not good enough to gaze at a distance, for Jesus bids us to come and see and to believe, and to be involved and to be part of it.
For the disciples and for the early church – something else was needed to lead them to the risen Jesus.
So
2. SECONDLY THERE IS
THE EVIDENCE FOR THE RESURRECTION
Verses 28-30 – the account of the two on the road to Emmaus.
Here is what seems to be a different scene – and for the disciples on the resurrection day it is – but for the early church as they read through the account – the whole of chapter 24 – they would now be faced with the scriptural evidence for the resurrection.
They, as we too read today, have had the fact of the resurrection – but there is a whole picture that needs to be presented for the coin to drop and for us, like the early church to have – as verse 32 says – our hearts burn in us as we read and understand.
So here the story is laid out of two people walking to Emmaus – reflecting in conversation as if still in shock after what has happened – talking of what might have been.
There is almost a sense of “Ah those were the days – but it’s all over now” – that the dream has been smashed – and it was nice whilst it lasted.
They have according to the account, heard the strange happenings of the morning – of the women and the vision of angels –but they are yet to take Jesus at his word and believe in his promise that he would rise again.
Then comes Jesus – of course they don’t recognise him – he is not as they remember him – and the account seems to indicate that they were kept from recognising him; and Jesus tells them off for their slowness of heart and their failure to believe.
Verse 25:
“How foolish you are, and how slow of heart of believe all that the prophets have spoken… And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.”
God’s Word puts the truth of Jesus’ resurrection into reality. This is what it’s all about. In every book of the Bible – OT and NT, the Scripture reveals Jesus and it tells us about him. Back thousands and thousands of years before Jesus came into human history, he is talked about in the Pentateuch – the first five books of the Bible – the books of Moses – the law and all the books of the Prophets. How about that for evidence? What more do you need?
You see it isn’t good enough to gaze at a distance and wonder at Jesus – at Christmas, christenings, funerals and weddings – God through the Bible calls us to make up our minds about his Son – Jesus.
And friends – it is all based on the fact of his resurrection. If Jesus hadn’t risen from the dead – then our faith is pointless – being a Christian is a waste of time.
This is what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:
“If Christ has not risen from the dead – then we are still in our sins and our faith is pointless.”
The fact of the resurrection is present before us in Scripture. Secular history books – Roman and Jewish – Josephus etc., make clear point of mentioning the death of Jesus – and remarking that his body could not be found after they laid it in the tomb.
Here is evidence that demands a verdict.
Someone has said:
“The identity of Jesus is crucial to Christianity. Without Christ, Christianity would cease to exist, for it rests upon his claim to be the eternal Son of God, a claim attested to by the resurrection.”
And so for the early church as they read the account – the coin would start to drop – as they saw the evidence of the Scriptures supporting the fact of Jesus’ resurrection.
But for Luke there is more – and indeed it is the climax of the evidence that he lays out.
3. THIRDLY IT IS
THE TRUTH OF THE RESURRECTION
Seen in the bread – verses 28-30:
“As he broke bread and began to give it to them, so their eyes were opened and they recognised him.”
Here for the two in the road, was a living experience of the risen Jesus.
Jesus is recognised in the breaking of the bread and drinking of the wine – as we have done this morning.
In the breaking of the bread – they would have remembered the last supper in Jerusalem before he was arrested, and they would have remembered the vivid picture of his body hanging there – broken – sweating blood – and for them the coin drops – and they see and believe.
As I have suggested on a number of occasions – the Lord’s Supper is the most intimate time for me in all of our church activities – for there we recognise the living presence of Jesus. As Baptists – we only have two sacraments – Baptism and Communion – it is so precious.
But Luke as he writes this section is laying out the evidence – and with it and through it – comes the voice of Jesus to see and believe.
To know the fact of the resurrection – to read the evidence – make a personal verdict – and then to believe in him as you see him in the bread and the wine. This, as we celebrate today, is the risen Lord Jesus Christ. We’re not making it all up.
But as we gaze – and start of understand – so our hearts melt before such a God – and all we can do is respond and worship.
