Story: Malcolm Muggeridge was a Marxist before he found Christ.
During the Cold War he travelled to Russia to write a story about the Communist party and the decline of religion in that atheistic regime.
After conducing a series of interviews with officials in the Kremlin, he attended a Russian Orthodox Easter service.
The church was packed.
At the close of the service the priest said, “Christ is risen”, and the people shouted back, “He is risen indeed!”
Muggeridge looked into their faces and instantly realized that they were right and that Stalin was wrong.
He said it was the reality of their joy that tipped the
scales of his soul toward Christ.
The reality of Christian joy is compelling!
According to an ancient Russian Orthodox tradition, the day before Easter was devoted to telling jokes.
Priests would join the people in telling their best jokes to one another.
The reason was to reflect the joke God pulled on the devil in the Resurrection.
Satan thought he won on Friday, but God had the last laugh on Easter Sunday.
Professor Charlie Moule, the famous NT theologian once said:
"the birth and rapid rise of the Christian Church ... remains an unsolved enigma for any historian who refuses to take seriously the only explanation offered by the church itself - the resurrection."
C.F.D. Moule, The Phenomenon of the New Testament).
Most Sundays we profess our faith in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead when we say the words of the Creed:
“ I believe ..….in Jesus Christ,
his only Son our Lord who was
Conceived by the Holy Spirit,
Born of the Virgin Mary,
Suffered under Pontius Pilate,
Was crucified, dead and buried
He descended into Hell;
The third day he rose again from the dead”
(The Apostles Prayer - BCP)
The Resurrection is a major pillar of our faith .
St Paul puts it like this:
“..if Christ has not been raised from the dead, your faith is futile” (I Cor. 15: 17)
Yet, have you ever been surprised how little space all four Gospel writers give the post Resurrection appearances of Jesus?.
St Matthew devotes one Chapter out of 28
St Mark devotes one Chapter out of 16
St. Luke devotes only one chapter out of 24 &
St. John devotes two Chapters out of 21.
St. Luke only records two post Resurrection appearances.
- one of these was Jesus’ appearance to the disciples on the Road to Emmaus (Lk 24:13-35) and
- the other is found in our Gospel reading this morning.
We know from St. Paul, that at least 513 men – not to count the women such as Mary Magdalene and the other Mary (as St. Matthew calls her) - saw the risen Lord (see 1 Cor. 15:3-8).
So the question I asked myself as I prepared was
" Why did Luke pick this Resurrection appearance in Lk 24:36-48 to record as one of the two key Resurrection appearances of his Gospel?"
What was so special about it?
To answer that question, I will have to pose another and that is:
What was St. Luke’s aims when he wrote his Gospel?
As you all know, St. Luke was a consummate historian.
He wrote his two volume treatise (Luke-Acts) on the Christian faith with - I would suggest to you - three aims in mind.
1. His first aim is to give a reliable explanation of the origins of Christianity.
That is to say Luke sets out to tell the story of Jesus and its continuation in the life of the church.
2. His second aim, I believe is to show the relationship of Christianity to Judaism.
In other words, St. Luke sets out to show how Jesus was the fulfilment of the messianic prophecies of the Old Testament Scriptures.
3. And finally the Gospel - and its sequel Acts - were written to show how Christianity moved from Judaism to embrace the Gentiles.
And interestingly, the post Resurrection story of our Gospel reading this morning meets all three of these objectives.
1. Firstly we read, in the story of Jesus, of the veracity of the Resurrection.
The resurrected Jesus was seen by the disciples –probably the eleven remaining apostles.
Luke is telling us: Jesus really bodily rose from the dead.
We read of the Resurrected Jesus saying to his petrified disciples
“Look at my hands and feet. It is I myself. Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see that I have….Do you have anything here to eat? They gave him a piece of broiled fish and he took it and ate it in their presence (Lk 24:39, 41 &42).
When we say in the Creed that “on the third day He rose again” we are assenting to our belief in the resurrection of Jesus, as recorded by the Gospel writers.
2. Secondly we see the relationship of Jesus with the Old Testament Scriptures of Judaism
St Luke records:
“ Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. (Lk 24:45)
And, as an aside - by the Scriptures St. Luke meant the Old Testament as none of the New Testament books had been written by this stage).
He told them: This is what is written; The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day. (Lk 24: 46, 47)
Jesus was the fulfilment of what God promised centuries and even a millennium before - in the Old Testament.
3. And thirdly we see how Christianity moved out from Judaism to the Gentiles.
Luke goes on to say that:
“…repentance and forgiveness will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem.
You are my witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high” (Lk 24:47-49)
And of course, we will recall how this did indeed happen.
In Acts 1 and 2, we read of how the disciples waited in Jerusalem until the power of the Holy Spirit came upon them at Pentecost. And the book of Acts records how the message spread from there.
So that’s a nice story, but how does that impact us in 21st Century Britain?
I’d like to suggest that there are five elements to how Christianity spread recorded here – which can help us understand what God wants us, corporately as his Church to do in our towns and villages today.
The disciples were overjoyed to see the risen Jesus. But Jesus told them that God has work for them to do.
1. Firstly they were called to preach the Gospel
Jesus, in this post Resurrection appearance, told the disciples that they would be called to preach.
They began to fulfil this call in Acts 2, and ever since the church has been proclaiming Jesus through the spoken word.
And we are called to continue to tell our friends and neighbours the Good News of Jesus.
2. Secondly the nature of the Gospel is to be a call to repentance.
The Gospel is a call to repentance.
And by repentance, Jesus is not merely discussing a "change of mind" that the Greek concept of "metanoia" suggests.
Rather he is referring to the concept of "turning one’s life around" (see Jas. 5:20) that is bound up in the Hebrew concept of repentance.
Those who need a relationship with God are called to turn to God in faith.
Coming to God involves the awareness that the road one was travelling was the wrong one.
To come to know him is to change one’s direction in life.
3. Thirdly the hope of the Gospel is a message of forgiveness of sins.
There no longer needs to be an obstacle between humankind and God due to sin.
As we turn to God through Jesus, the offer of forgiveness shows that God is willing to be gracious and to cancel our sin.
4. Fourthly the authority of the Gospel resides in Jesus’ name.
Here is a major theme that will come out in the book of Acts.
As the Church, we don’t have to worry – because we don’t go out in our own authority. We go out in the authority of the Risen Jesus - the Name above all names.
We merely proclaim what He has revealed to us.
5. And finally the message of the Gospel is for all nations
It took the Early Church a long time to realise that the Christian Gospel wasn’t just for the Jews.
God showed them that the Good News of Jesus was for all humanity. (see Acts 10 and 11)
In closing, I was challenged from this passage to consider
the depth of Jesus’ message – repentance and forgiveness of sin; and
the breath of the call – for it is a call of repentance and forgiveness to all nations.
