As I was pondering and seeking the Lord on what to share with you this evening, I was thinking about how we just finished up with Christmas and in just a few weeks we will be going into Lent and the Easter season. That really got me thinking about the different memorial seasons we observe to focus on different events in Jesus' life. The church calendar will look very different depending on your background. Obviously Catholics have a lot more holidays with the different feast days for the saints and other observances, but we Protestants/Evangelicals mostly observe five major holidays: Christmas, Good Friday, Easter, Ascension and Pentecost.
Our key text for tonight touches on all of these themes. It comes from the Gospel according to… Isaiah! Have you ever heard it called that? The title comes from all of the messianic Prophecies it contains. Even if we didn't have the four Gospels in the New Testament, we could still learn a lot about Jesus just from reading Isaiah!
As we go along I will be revisiting some things that I have, shared with you before but this time I want to put them on a much larger spectrum. The title of the message is Manger, Cross and Crown. So with that in mind let's go to Isaiah chapter 53.
Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. 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, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.
Isaiah 53:1?-?12 ESV
This is the well known prophecy of the Suffering Servant who is, of course, ultimately revealed to be Jesus.
CHRISTMAS
Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we desire him.
Notice that it says the Messiah comas as a, "root out of dry ground." It was a very dry time because there hadn't been any prophetic messages from God in about 400 years. When Jesus does arrive on the scene there is not a lot of fanfare. The first people to hear about it were not kings or other nobility. Rather, the first people to be informed of Jesus' birth were shepherds working on a night watch. Nonetheless, an often overlooked prophecy indicates that these were no ordinary shepherds. The Book of Micah 4:8 foretells that the Messiah would be revealed from the Migdol Eder, or "Tower of the Flock." This was a watchtower where they kept the lambs which were to be used as sacrifices for the Jewish Passover holiday. So the Shepherd's responsible for these special lambs were the first called to see the One Who was to be the true Passover Lamb. Isn't that powerful?
Of course it doesn't end there. Some time later we see Jesus visited by Wise Men, or Magi. Although they are depicted as part of our modern Nativity scenes, they were not at the manger at all. At the time of their arrival, Jesus is described as a young child, rather than as an infant and they were by this time living in a house , as opposed to a stable. At any rate, Jesus could have been as much as two years old by the time the Wise Men arrived. . TheMagi were an order of preists and scientists from the region of Persia, which is now modern Iran. In the Old Testament we read about the tragic events that led up to the Jewish people being carried away captive to Babylon. The Babylonian Empire was later overthrown by the Persian Empire. A key person living in the region at that time was the Prophet Daniel. Daniel worked with the order of the Magi and may have been the one who introduced them to the Hebrew Scriptures and the prophecies of the coming Messiah.
Tradition says there were three Wise Men, but while the Bible doesn't specifically tell us how many there were, three men simply passing through carrying small gift boxes would not have caused the kind of reaction that these men did . Magi actually travelled in large caravans and we're men of tremendous political power and influence, regarded as, and remember this title, King Makers. When they showed up King Herod knew exactly what was going on.
While we are on this topic, I also want to review why Jesus had to be born of a virgin Why is the virgin birth so important? The Bible teaches us that life is in the blood (Leviticus 17:11), so this is how the sin nature, which is inherently a part of every person (Psalms 51:5; Romans 5:15-19), is passed down through the generations. Medically speaking, a child inherits its blood line (but not necessarily it’s blood type) from its father. Since Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, rather than by a human father, His blood line was untainted by sin. In his insightful book The Chemistry of the Blood, Bible scholar and physician M.R. DeHaan points out:
How wonderfully God prepared for the virgin birth of His Son. When He created woman He made her so that no blood would be able to pass from her to her offspring… Conception by the Holy Ghost was the only way the virgin birth could be accomplished…The Holy Spirit contributed the blood of Jesus. It is sinless blood. It is divine blood. It is precious blood, for there has never been any other like it (3).
Sine Jesus is the only person to ever be born from a sinless bloodline, only He was able to be the Holy, perfect sacrifice for the sins of all people. Ultimately, that's what it's all about.
John Macarthur writes :
Here’s a side to the Christmas story that isn’t often told: those soft little hands, fashioned by the Holy Spirit in Mary’s womb, were made so that nails might be driven through them. Those baby feet, pink and unable to walk, would one day walk up a dusty hill to be nailed to a cross. That sweet infant’s head with sparkling eyes and eager mouth was formed so that someday men might force a crown of thorns onto it. That tender body, warm and soft, wrapped in swaddling clothes, would one day be ripped open by a spear. Jesus was born to die. And we pick it back up in Isaiah 53
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. 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, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.
Isaiah 53:3?-?9 ESV
GOOD FRIDAY
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John 10:17?-?18 ESV
For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
We see here how Everything about Jesus’ death was very deliberate. He did not die as a victim. No one took His life, He voluntarily laid it down (John 10:17-18). Although legions of angels were standing by to rescue Him (Matthew 26:53), He would not fail to complete His mission
Historians estimate the date as being around Friday, April 7th, A.D. 30 (1). What was unfolding was a plan which God had ordained before the very foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). From the earthly viewpoint, the religious leaders of the day, jealous of Jesus’ influence and popularity, had turned him over to the Roman government to be tried for false charges of sedition. Although the occupying Roman Empire gave the Jews a great deal of freedom in conducting their legal affairs, Roman approval was required for an execution. In order to avoid a riot, and thus preserve his standing with the Emperor, Governor Pontius Pilate reluctantly consented to the crowd’s demands to have Jesus crucified (Matthew 27:22-24).
History tells us that Pilate spent the last years of his life in exile and eventually committed suicide.
The first step in this horrible process was a brutal beating with a leather whip, which was called scourging. The whip was what we would today call a “cat-o-nine-tails.” Jewish civil law limited the beating to forty lashes. However, the Romans recognized no such law, and thus were at liberty to beat the person as viciously as they pleased. They violently yanked out His beard (Isaiah 50:6), and His face was marred and disfigured unlike any other person who had ever lived (Isaiah 52:14). The beating itself was often fatal. Geikie’s “Life of Christ” tells us that:
Victims condemned to the cross first underwent the hideous torture of the scourge, and this was immediately inflicted on Jesus…He was beaten at the pleasure of the soldiers, with knots of rope, or plaited leather thongs, armed at the ends with acorn shaped drops of lead, or small sharp pointed bones. In many cases not only was the back of the person scourged cut open in all directions, but even the eyes, the face, and the breast were torn…Under the fury of the countless stripes, the victims sometimes sank-amidst screams, convulsive leaps, and distortions-into a senseless heap; sometimes died on the spot; sometimes were taken away, an unrecognizable mass of bleeding flesh, to find deliverance in death, from the inflammation and fever, sickness and shame. (2)
After that , it was off to the hill known as “The Skull,” (“Golgotha” in Aramaic, “Calverius” in Latin). (4) This was the designated place where local executions took place, some by stoning, others by crucifixion.
According to Unger’s Bible Dictionary, crucifixion was used by a number of ancient civilizations, including the Egyptians (Genesis 40:19), and the Persians (Esther 7:10). It was used by the Romans from the very beginning of their history, until it was eventually abolished by Emperor Constantine. For a devout Jew, it was even worse because according to the Old Testament Law, a person who was hanged on a tree was cursed of God (Deuteronomy 21:23).
“And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance.
Deuteronomy 21:22?-?23 ESV
In any scenario, crucifixion was reserved for slaves and for the worst kind of criminals. (5)
Large, rusty spikes were driven into the wrists (considered in Jewish thought to be part of the hand) as well as into the feet. The cross was then erected, with the person’s body suspended about four feet above the ground. What followed was a long, excruciating death so horrible that mere words cannot begin to do it justice. Medical Doctor Gerald H. Bradley gives us a look:
This was the most agonizing death man could face…He had to support Himself in order to breathe…the flaming pain caused by the spikes hitting the median nerve in the wrists explodes up His arms, into His brain and down His spine. The spike burning through the nerves between the metatarsal bones of the feet jerks His body erect, then the leg muscles convulse and drive His body downward…beating Him against the cross. Air is sucked in, but cannot be exhaled until the buildup carbon dioxide in the lungs and blood stream stimulates breathing to relieve the cramps. Exhaustion, shock, dehydration and paralysis destroy the victim. The heart is barely able to pump the thick blood as each of His billions of cells die one at a time. Prior to His death in all His agony, Jesus is in full control of His mind. He asks the heavenly Father to “Forgive them; for they know not what they do.” And the dear Lamb of God was sacrificed for you… (7)
At least thirty Old Testament prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus’ death (8). The guard thrust his spear into Jesus’ side, and blood and water came out (John 19:34). Medically, this showed that the ultimate cause of death was heart failure due to shock and constriction of the heart by fluid in the sac around the heart. Think about that for a moment: Because of our sins, He literally died of a broken heart (9).
However, I believe Jesus’ agony started before the first nail was ever driven. As horrible as His physical death on the cross was, the spiritual aspect of His suffering was millions of times worse. When Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane, He faced the reality of becoming sin, something that was totally foreign to His holy nature (2 Corinthians 5:21). This culminated when, for the only time in history, God the Father turned His back on His Son, resulting in Jesus’ heart wrenching cry “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34)
John Calvin put it:
If Christ had died only a bodily death, it would have been ineffectual. No – it was expedient at the same time for him to undergo the severity of God’s vengeance, to appease his wrath and satisfy his just judgment. For this reason, he must also grapple hand to hand with the armies of hell and the dread of everlasting death (11).
The legendary evangelist Billy Graham echoes this theme:
Jesus’ cry, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34) has puzzled many. Jesus is actually quoting the opening of Psalm 22 and using it to express His deep agony on the cross. He is suffering the penalty for our sin in our place. The penalty for sin is death (Romans 6:23). Death includes two dimensions — physical and spiritual. Physical death is the separation o the spirit from the body. Spiritual death is the separation of the spirit from God. Since Jesus was dying for our sin as our substitute, He was experiencing the agony of separation from His Father. It was the agony of hell (12).
In order to understand this principle, we must understand the concepts of substitution and identification. In order to redeem us from sin, Jesus had to taste of the full penalty of that sin. His death bought back everything that the curse of sin had stolen from us.
He was cursed, so that we could be blessed (Galatians 3:13-14).
He was made sin, so that we could be made righteous. (2 Corinthians 5:21).
He was wounded, so that we could be healed. (Isaiah 53:5; 1 Peter 2:24).
He was made poor, so that we could be made rich (2 Corinthians 8:9).
He died, so that we could live (John 3:16, Hebrews 2:14-15).
Now back to Isaiah 53:10
Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.
Praise God the story doesn't end there. He will prolong His days! He will see His offspring. Friends, that's taking about us! And that begins with the wonderful day we know as Resurrection Sunday, or Easter!
EASTER
Jesus would have just been another martyr were it not for the event that followed: His bodily resurrection from the dead. In other words, it was Friday, but Sunday was a comin!
Throughout Jesus’ earthly ministry, His followers were perplexed by His mysterious prophecies that He must be rejected and killed, then rise again on the third day (Matthew 17:22-23; Mark 9:31; Luke 9:18-22). One can only imagine what it was like in that room when He actually stood before them, showing them the wounds in His hands and in His side (John 20:19-29).
In the forty days following His resurrection, Jesus made numerous other appearances to His disciples, as well as to many others. In all, He was physically seen by over 500 people (1 Corinthians 15:6)!
Jesus' resurrection proved who He was (John 10:17-18; Romans 1:4), and that God’s Word is true (Psalm 16:10; Luke 24: 44-47; Acts 2: 25-31). It established Him as the head of His church (Ephesians 1:19-23), and showed His ultimate victory over the powers of darkness (see John 12:31; 16: 8-11).
Turn with me to Colossians 2:13?-?15 ESV
And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.
Jesus “spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.” This is military terminology. The image being drawn is that of an army overthrowing a rival kingdom, stripping its ruler naked and parading him down the streets in humiliation. This is exactly what Jesus did to Satan. Had the forces of darkness known this, they would not have crucified Him (1 Corinthians 2:8).
G.K. Chesterton said that
“Christianity has died many times and risen again; for it has a God who knows the way out of the grave.”- (1)
Friends, Jesus’ resurrection, is a fully verifiable historical fact so powerful, so dramatic that it has split our calender in half into “B.C.” and “A.D.”!
But that doesn't mean that it hasn't been challenged.
On numerous occasions, prominent scholars have researched this topic, and to the surprise of many, have strongly verified the historicity of the Gospel accounts. One example would be Dr. Simon Greenleaf, the Royall Professor of Law at Harvard University. Dr. Greenleaf is considered one of the world’s top authorities on legal evidences. After applying this expertise to the Resurrection, he concluded that it was, in fact, an historical reality. His research is available in a book called The Testimony of the Evangelists.Another example would be British lawyer Frank Morrison. He set out to write a book repudiating the Resurrection and instead found the evidence so overwhelming he actually became a believer himself! His findings can be read in his book,Who Moved The Stone? Similarly, journalist Lee Strobel began his quest as a skeptic attempting to discredit the Christian faith, but wound up having his own life-changing encounter with the risen Jesus. His story is told in the popular book The Case For Christ. As we shall see, these men came to their conclusions based on verifiable historical and archeological facts which make Jesus’ Resurrection the single most provable event in human history.
Three of the most common arguments used to deny the Resurrection are:
1. Jesus did not really die on the cross. Rather, He simply “swooned” or lost consciousness. Later, He revived and walked out of the tomb Himself.
2. His disciples stole His body.
3. The four Gospel accounts of the Resurrection are worded differently, each including details omitted by the others. Therefore, they are contradictory and cannot be trusted.
Of course, the first two arguments are totally ridiculous in light of the facts. As anyone who has seen the movie The Passion can attest, the horror of crucifixion (which included a whipping so brutal that it alone was often fatal) was not something a person could simply survive and walk away from. Again, Jesus’ death was confirmed when a Roman guard put a spear into His side. Later, a Roman soldier reported to Pilate that Jesus was indeed dead (Mark 15:44, 45). Jesus’ body was then wrapped for burial and placed in the tomb by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus (John 19:38-40). The tomb’s entrance was sealed with a heavy, disc shaped stone weighing between one and a half and two tons. A stone of this size would take approximately 20 strong, healthy men in order to move it. In addition, the tomb was guarded by elite Roman soldiers who would be brutally executed (burned alive) if the tomb was disturbed (5). Obviously, this does away with any possibility that Jesus’ body could have been stolen. Also, as we shall examine shortly, the disciples were willing to suffer and die for their faith in the Resurrection. Why would they do this if they had staged the whole thing by stealing the body?
Moving on to the third argument, it is true that each Gospel narrative puts a unique perspective on the Resurrection account. But is this a contradiction? Not at all. A contradiction is two or more statements which cannot possibly be true at the same time. Multiple people describing something in different words is not a contradiction. One person including details that another person doesn't is not a contradiction. Each Gospel features its own special points of emphasis, and these additional details are complimentary, not contradictory. The notes on Matthew 28 in the Scofield Study Bible combine all four narratives to produce a very helpful time line of the post-resurrection events:
1. Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome, start for the sepulchre, followed by other women bearing spices. The three find the stone rolled away, and Mary Magdalene goes to tell the disciples (Luke 23:55-24:9; John 20:1-2).
2. Mary, the mother of James, draws nearer to the tomb and sees the angel of the Lord (Matthew 28:2). She goes back to meet the other women following with the spices.
3. Meanwhile, Peter and John, warned by Mary Magdalene, arrive, look in and go away (John 20:3-10).
4. Mary Magdalene returns weeping, sees the two angels, then Jesus (John 20:11-18) and goes as He bade her to tell the disciples.
5. Mary (mother of James and Joses), meanwhile, has met the women with the spices and, returning with them, they see the TWO angels (Luke 24:4-5; Mark 16:5). They also receive the angelic message, and going to seek the disciples, are met by Jesus (Matthew 28:8-10). (6)
Want more evidence? Just look at the immediate impact on the religious world. With the founding of the church in 32 AD, we see a sudden change in the day of worship. This is significant because all of the early Christians were Jews coming from a strict background of observing the seventh day Sabbath. Once they became Christians, however, they made their day of worship Sunday, the first day of the week (Acts 20:6-12; 1 Corinthians 16:1-2) (7). This was done in order to commemorate Christ’s Resurrection on that day (Matthew 28:1-7; Mark 16:1-9; Luke 24:1-8; John 20:1-16). In addition, we see new ordinances practiced by Christians from the very beginning of church history. These include Lord’s Supper, i.e. Communion or Eucharist, which represents Jesus’ broken Body and shed Blood, as well as baptism, which represents His death, burial and Resurrection. In addition, the Resurrection is depicted in Christian art found in the catacombs dating back to the time of the persecutions. The First Century Church has also left numerous other monuments, such as hymns and church readings done in honor of the Resurrected Christ (8).
This brings us to the strongest evidence of all: The fact that the risen Jesus was seen alive by over 500 eye witnesses! If these appearances were a delusion, how could this many people testify to the exact same thing?
This is especially significant when we consider that many of them were tortured and killed for bearing witness to it. Would people endure this for something they knew to be false? NO WAY! We also see the dramatic conversions of two previous skeptics: James, brother of Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:7) and a brilliant scholar named Saul of Tarsus, who we now know as the mighty apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 15:8-9).(9)
1 Corinthians 15:6 ESV
Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.
Here Paul states that most of these 500 witnesses were still alive at the time (1 Corinthians 15:6). In other words, the reader could easily ask them about the things they had seen.
The Resurrection narratives strike at the very core of who we are as human beings. the shadow of death is a continual reality in our lives.
Hebrews 2:14?-?15 ESV
Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. In other words, until the fear of death is dealt with, we will never truly learn to live. Knowing this reality makes Jesus’ promise all the more precious: “..because I live, ye shall live also” (John 14:19).
Again Jesus spent 40 days with His disciples, teaching and encouraging them. Wouldn't you like to have been a fly on the Wall? The Gospels do give, us a few glimpses and the one we will look at this evening is in John 20:19?-?23 ESV
On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”
Keep this in mind because we will be coming back to it.
We talk often about Jesus' death, burial and resurrection but the ascension into Heaven is no less important.
ASCENSION
Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.
Isaiah 53:10?-?12 ESV
The last two events we will be talking about, the Ascension and Pentecost, are both touched on in this passage. Let's turn to Acts 1:1?-?11
In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But 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.” And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
Before we go further I'll give you a little background on this passage. The Book of Acts was written by Luke who obviously also wrote the Gospel of Luke. He was a physician by trade, which would indicate that he was an educated man, a man of science. He was either a Gentile or a Jew who had adapted to Greek culture as many of them had by that time. If he wad a Gentile, then he has the distinction of being the only non-Jewish writer in the entire Bible. Even secular scholars have acknowledged him as being a historian of the highest caliber.
Also notice the reference to a person known as Theophilus. In other ancient literature, this was the author' s way of acknowledging a benefactor, someone who sponsored their work. So it at have been that Theophilus was a wealthy Gentile convert who wanted to know more about the faith and knowing Luke's reputation commissioned him to gather it for him.
So in these two books we get an in depth look at both the earthly life of Jesus and of the Holy Spirits work through the early Church.
So again, the events described here are 40 days after the resurrection and ten days before the Day of Pentecost. It happened on the Mount of Olives, just a short distance east of Jerusalem
Jesus had completed the work He came to earth to do and now His mission here is done and its time for Him to go back to His Father in Heaven. Turn with me to Hebrews 1:1?-?14
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son”? And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.” Of the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire.” But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.” And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end.” And to which of the angels has he ever said, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”? Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?
Notice how it Refers to the most quoted Old Testament passage in the New Testament, Psalm 110:1 The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” Don't miss this: When Jesus finished His redemptive work, He, sat down. The work was complete and He took His rightful place at His Father's side. Now He is no less involved in our lives but in a different capacity.
Because of the Ascension, Jesus is now our intercessor. Think about that for a minute. Jesus Himself is praying for you and me right now! How many of you can use some improvement in your prayer life? I know I can! But it's wonderful to know that it's not just our own efforts. We have a perfect prayer partner every minute of our lives!
Because of the Ascension, Jesus is also our advocate before the Father. When we mess up, we have Jesus representing us to the Father. Satan is your accuser, but Jesus is your defender! I've heard it put this way: The judge is your Father, the defense attorney is your older brother and neither of them like the prosecuting attorney!
Let not your hearts be troubled.
Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Let me stop here for a minute. This is probably the most controversial thing that Jesus ever said. He is not A way, friends He is THE way! But instead of quibbling about why God only gave us one way to be reconciled to Him, shouldn't we just be grateful that He DID give us a way?
He has gone to prepare a place FOR US!
Tim Keller said "At His Ascension our Lord entered heaven, and He keeps the door open for humanity to enter."
And friends, He gives us a role in that!
As, we begin to transition, I want us to look at a very intimate moment between Jesus and His disciples as they are on their way to Gethsemane just before Jesus is arrested. Turn to John 14:1?-?19
If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.
Works greater than Jesus did. How can that be? You're about to find out!
Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.
In other words, the representation of the Godhead in the, earth is about to change. Jesus is going away. They will see Him no longer. But another comforter will be coming!
Remember how just before Jesus ascended He told them to tarry in Jerusalem? He has died, He has risen from the dead and He is about to go back to Heaven. He has given them the Great Commission to go into all the world and preach the Gospel. But when we put this with it, we see that He is emphasizing Don’t do it yet. Wait until the Holy Spirit has empowered you. You cant do this on your own. They had tried it, and they wound up denying Jesus and running away in fear. He knew that they would not be in any condition to carry on His work in their own power. They would need supernatural empowerment to do it.
Which brings us to a day that literally shook the world-PENTECOST
(Acts 2:1?-?11 ESV)“
When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.
This was a harvest festival known as shavout, or Pentecost, which means “weeks.” It is set up to be seven weeks after the beginning of Passover. If you would like to study the background you can find it in Leviticus 23:15-16 and Deuteronomy 16:9-10. Pentecost was one of three Pilgrim Festivals celebrated by the Jews, the other two being Passover itself, and the Feast of Tabernacles. By timing it this way, the Holy Spirit saw to it that an international assembly would be there to witness this event¹
You don't have to turn there but John, chapter 12, verses 23 and 24:
Jesus replied, Now the time has come for the Son of Man to enter into his glory. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels a plentiful harvest of new lives.
Pentecost is, and don’t miss this, where we first see the kernel of wheat that fell to the ground come to fruition.
Remember all of the times in the Bible that God appeared to people in the form of fire? He, appeared to Moses in a burning bush. He led the Israelite as a pillar of fire. He descended onto Mt Sinai with smoke and fire. But now the fire came upon every believer! Do you understand what that means?
As part of this glorious New Covenant
God's presence wasn't limited to a particular location any more! We don't go to a temple, we ARE the Temple! Now we do still go to church, of course, but we bring God's presence WITH US!
Now, forward ahead 2000+ years and here we are! How can we do greater works than Jesus did? Because now His Body is not confined to one location at a time. We are all around the world with the Holy Spirit dwelling in us! He invites each and every one of us to carry on His mission! Friends, that is an awesome privilege!
