The Church of Eleven22 - S01 E55 - The Resurrection

Episode Date: July 15, 2020

Hey, church family. If you got your Bibles, it is time for Devo. We're going to be in Luke chapter 24 talking about the resurrection of Jesus. And though the resurrection is the most important, we're not really going to focus on that, but we're going to focus on how God's word points to the resurrection. So Luke 24, beginning of verse 1, but on the first day of the week, that's Sunday, which, by the way, that's why we worship on Sundays, the Sabbath in the Old Covenant, was Friday evening to sundown on Saturday, but Christians, or Christians wanted to gather on the Lord's Day to make much of him. So just imagine if our entire Christian culture just decided Tuesday morning is the morning we're going to start worshiping, okay? So that's why we worship on the first day of the

week. At early dawn, they went to the tomb taking the spices that they had prepared. The women are taking the spices, and the reason is because some men had prepared the body. And so the women were like, they probably didn't do good job, so they're going to fix it. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. But when they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And while they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. This is evident that these are angels.

If you'll remember, in the Mount of Transfiguration, I think it's Mark says that Jesus's shirt was as bright as bleach. Well, that seems like an underwhelming comment. especially when Luke and Matthew compared Jesus to the sun and lightning. But really what I think was happening at the Mountain of Transfiguration was a foreshadowing of what would happen at the resurrection. So there's angels there in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened, the women came, and they were frightened.

And they bowed their faces to the ground. The men said to them, a super important question. Why do you seek the living among the dead? Now here, they're obviously talking about, why are you looking for dead Jesus when Jesus is alive? But I want to ask you that question. Why do you seek life among things that don't give life? Why do you seek the living among the dead?

You see, you thought a relationship with her was going to make you complete. And it's not because it can't do that. Or you thought a raise was going to fulfill all your dreams. And it's not. You just can't do that. Or you thought a new, an addition on your kitchen at a kitchen at a lot of, a new half bath in your house, you thought that was going to fully and finally satisfy. And it's not.

And you thought if you just lost 10 more pounds, you would be there. And you're not finding life in these things that you thought would fulfill you. You see, Jesus says in John 1010 that the enemy comes to still kill and destroy, but I have coming to give you life and give it abundantly. You see, there's a lot of us that are like these women, and we're still looking for, for the living among the dead. You're not going to find life in the things of this world.

In fact, when you find your life in Christ, then and only then, can you truly experience the joy that can be found in the things of this world? So why do you look for the living among the dead? He goes on and says, he is not here, but he has risen. Remember how he told you, which

it blows me away that they forgot that. It seems like, of all the things that he taught, that they would have remembered the whole death burial and resurrection. However, all the disciples, including the women, they forgot. He says, remember how he told you while he was still in Galilee, that the son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and on the third day rise.

Now, again, we look at this and we think, what a bunch of dummies. How in the world could you forget? And yet, how quickly do we forget the gospel? He says, don't you remember he shared the gospel with you, his life, death, and resurrection? And yet I'm telling you, as believers, and one second we can go and look for life and things that don't bring life. And I think the angels would swoop in and say,

how could you forget the gospel? We think that people's opinions of us determine who we are. We think our behavior determines who we are. We think that our desires, that our expectations that go unmet are defining who we are. We think our circumstances tell us who we are. And how quickly don't you remember what he tells us. told you that the gospel tells us who we are. And they remembered his words. And in returning from

the tomb, they told all these things to the 11, that's the what will be apostles and to all the rest. Now, it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles. But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter rose and he ran to the tomb, stooping and looking at he saw the linen cloths by themselves. And he went home marveling at what had happened, that Peter experiences the empty tomb. And again, if the tomb is empty, anything is possible.

In that very day, two of them were going to a village named Amas, about seven miles from Jerusalem. And they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. And while they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. The bodily resurrected Jesus shows up seven miles away from the place where he was crucified and he resurrected. And on the same day that he resurrected, there he is, seven miles away.

Which is, by the way, I can't buy into what is known as the swoon theory. There are some people that purport that Jesus did not die on the cross, that he just swooned. He went into like a coma, and they wrapped him up in about 100 pounds of burial cloth, and they stuck him in this cold, damp grave. And after three days of sleeping there, he woke up, feeling like a million bucks, and he jogged seven miles. I told you before, if I sleep wrong in my bed just a little bit, I got to have Advil the next day. You cannot tell me that he was beaten, tortured, crucified, flogged, and then now, a few days later, after just some rest and relaxation that he had just swooned after having a spear jabbed into his heart and now he's okay.

This is a literal, physical, bodily, miraculous. He was dead, but now was alive resurrection. But their eyes were kept from recognizing Jesus. And Jesus said to them, what is this conversation that you were holding with each other as you walk? And they stood still, looking sad. and then one of them named Cleopas answered him, Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things

that have happened there in these days? And he said to them, what things? And they said to him concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet, mighty and deed and word before God, and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death and crucified him. Notice what they call him.

a man who was a prophet, mighty indeed, and word before God. So that's how they identified Jesus. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, besides all of this, it is now the third day since these things happened. Moreover, some of the women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us

went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see. So they've seen an empty tomb or heard about an empty tomb and they believe that Jesus is a prophet and a mighty man of God and they were hoping he's the Messiah. They were hoping he was the one that came to redeem Israel, but they're not sure right now. And they look at what happens next. And Jesus, Jesus said to them, O foolish ones, and slow of heart, to believe all that the prophets, to believe all that the prophets have spoken, was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory? And then look what he does.

And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, Jesus interpreted to them all the scriptures, the things concerning himself. So you've heard us say this over and over. over and over and over and over. That this whole book is about the gospel. For the very beginning to the very end, it points to the middle, which is Jesus on the cross,

his life, death, and resurrection. And so what Jesus does, these guys that aren't sure, these Jewish guys that have studied the prophets, he's like, how did you miss this? How did you miss that the Redeemer was going to be the suffering servant that was going to die on the cross

and be resurrected on the third day? And then Jesus does this thing. He does this Bible study. Imagine this. that Jesus himself interpreted to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself, from Moses to the prophets. Here's what he means. Maybe Jesus started.

In the beginning, God. One God and three persons. Created mankind in his own image and breathed the breath of life, the rule of life, into the very first man. The very first man opens his eyes. He's in a face-to-face relationship with God. And then shortly after that, man says, forget you, God. I got this, and he fractures that relationship.

And because God Almighty is perfect and holy and just, sin must be paid for. But because God is full of grace and mercy, he decided he would make the payment. And so he walks through the garden, and he finds Adam and Eve, and he makes a covering for their sin and their shame. And for the very first time in human history,

the blood of an animal is shed for the covering of sin, and he kicks them out of the garden. and then he picks, you go about 12 chapters, get to chapter 12 in the book of Genesis, and God picks Abraham, puts his favor on Abraham, and gives him a promise. Promises him a son, but also promises that through you, through your lineage will come a blessing for the entire world.

And Abraham believes in God, and God counts that faith as righteousness, credits it as righteousness. And then, Abraham's son has a bunch of sons. Those sons end up in Egypt, and God uses that oppression to build his people. Then he goes to Moses, and he says,

Moses go to Pharaoh, say, let my people go, and he takes his people that were a slave people, and they were not a people, and he draws them unto himself. He brings them into, across the Red Sea, and up Mount Sinai, and he says to Abraham, I mean, says to Moses, I'm going to make a covenant with you. I'll be your God and you'll be my people. And he gives them the law and not only in the law,

he gives them the tabernacle and the temple. And he says, in the tabernacle, in the temple, Leviticus 16, there's going to be this thing called the Day of Atonement where every single year, all of the nation of Israel will gather together at the temple, at the tabernacle, they will confess their sins. The high priest will transfer the sin of the people to the head of this goat. That goat will be cast out as far as the east is from the west.

and then a perfect spotless lamb, the blood will be shed, and sprinkled over the ark of the covenant containing the very broken law of God. Maybe Jesus took him to that place and said, hey, that was about me. And then maybe he took him to the book of Isaiah, where he said, by his stripes, we will be healed. Maybe he took him to Psalm 22, where it says, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? and gives a blow by blow, count by count, play by play, prediction, prophecy of the very crucifixion. Maybe he took them to all the major prophets.

Maybe he took them to all the minor prophets. Maybe he took them to the book of Malachi. Where at the end of the book of Malachi, it says that there will arise the son of righteousness with healing in his wings. And he says, you remember when Jesus healed the woman with the issue of bleeding because she just touched the edge of his garment? And then Malachi ends and says, there will come one who comes in the the spirit of Elijah and will turn the hearts of fathers to their sons and sons to their fathers.

And then when you get to the next page of the New Testament, the Bible says that John the Baptist is born it with the spirit of Elijah and he came to turn the hearts of sons to their fathers and fathers to their sons. And when John the Baptist is standing out in the wilderness at the Jordan dunking people and baptizing people, and Jesus walks up and he says, behold, Here he is, the Lamb of God who comes to take away the sin of the entire world. You see, the Old Testament, the sacrificial system, was that a Lamb of God would cover over the sin of the Jewish people for one year. And maybe Jesus took him there and said,

Now I have come. I am the Lamb of God who come to take away the sin of the entire world. And Jesus goes through the entire old covenant. And these boys have been studying their entire life. and he says if you miss me, you miss the point of the whole Bible. Then they're going to sit down. He's going to take bread. He's going to break it.

He's going to give thanks. And then these men, eyes are open and they recognize him. Jesus vanishes from their sight, and they said to each other, did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road and while he opened to us the scriptures. I hope and I pray that every single time you dive into the scriptures, that the Holy Spirit himself will burn us up on the inside and continuously point us not to tips and tricks on how to have our best life now,

but will continuously point us to the life, death, resurrection of Jesus that we may know him. Let's pray. Father in heaven, Lord, we thank you for the gift of the scriptures. We thank you for Jesus. your son, to whom all the scriptures point to. God, may we never put ourselves in the story and think that it's about us. God, you are for us. Because anybody that dies for us, it's for us, but Lord, it is not about us. Thank you. It is all about Jesus. May we be daily reminded of that as you unpack the scriptures for us. We prayed in Jesus now.