Lectionary Calendar

Wednesday, December 4th, 2024
the First Week of Advent

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Bible Commentaries
Luke 24

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Verses 1-12

RISEN! (24:1-12)
1. THE WOMEN BACK TO THE TOMB! (1-4)
2. The story of the morning begins with the women & ends with Peter.
3. Women, last at the cross, 1^st at the tomb.
  1. Their love had not ceased, though their faith temporarily failed.
  2. They came to find a dead body & honor it.
  3. [Poem]
    But dark the shadow of the cross
    Fell then O’er earth & sky;
    There was an echo in each heart,
    To that deriding cry – “He saved others.”
    Can it be Himself He cannot save?
    Ah! Love lives still, but faith & hope Lie crushed within His grave. (Griffith Thomas; pg.361)
4. (2,3) Open tomb(2); Empty tomb(3).
  1. The Christian Church is built upon an empty grave!
  2. The crucifix is not the true symbol of redemption! (diff cross/ crucifix?)
    1. I personally feel the crucifix still is a wonderful symbol to bring us to remembrance of His death…but not for a symbol of redemption!
5. (2) The stone was rolled away –
  1. [1] The stone was rolled away from the tomb of Christ.
    1. “Not to enable Him to leave, but to allow others to see he had gone!”
  2. [2] The stone was rolled away from the hearts of the Disciples.
    1. They spent 3 days in Jerusalem where their hopes laid buried.
  3. [3] The stone was rolled away from the graves of our Dear Ones.
    1. The sting of death was removed!
    2. Up to then none had come back (except those raised back to life)
      1. Christ not only came back, but showed the way through death to everlasting life & light.
    3. His pledge? – “Because I live, you shall live also!”
    4. Reunion with saved loved ones was guaranteed! – “For if we believe that Jesus died & rose…then we…shall be caught up together with them…wherefore comfort one another with these words.”
  4. Q: How does this relate to each of us personally?
    1. If you are still “dead in your sins!” – Then, the stone is still there…but Christ is ready to say “Come forth” as He did to His friend Lazarus.
      1. For sin there will be salvation, for death there will be life! (Griffith Thomas; pg.372)
    2. If you are already “alive from the dead!” – Then just remember, He is not a cute baby in a manger; He is not hanging on the cross; nor lying in a grave; but triumphantly at the right hand of His Fathers throne!
      1. He is on the Throne & now it is always Easter, & it is always Pentecost!
  5. If we have special difficulty or sorrow, let it not rob you of Resurrection Joy!
    1. He is alive forevermore!
    2. Rev.1:18 “I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore.”
6. THE ANGELS AT THE TOMB! (5-8)
7. (7) Forgotten words come back w/fresh meaning when circumstances have changed & we have made progress in knowledge & character.
  1. An encouragement for parents who have had kids that have walk away from the truth. If you have stored truth in your child’s minds it is a little task for the Spirit of God to illuminated them in later life.
8. (8) The misty picture became focused & sharp & clear.
9. The stone was gone; the body was gone; the women were perplexed; & now angels have to show up to explain everything.
  1. They had heard but they never understood.
  2. The issue was what? They forgot His Words!
  3. Today, angels aren’t going to show up & remind us of His Word…that’s the Holy Spirits job/ministry.
  4. Yield to the Spirit & let Him remind you of the promises that will encourage your heart.
10. THE WOMEN TELLING THE REST! (9-12)
11. (9) Women 1^st saw the empty tomb; Women 1^st saw the living Lord; Women 1^st heard loving words; Women 1^st told joyful news!
  1. Told – These women were the 1^st preachers!
    1. [The rest could only share death & burial]
12. (11) Idle tales – Nonsense. “Used in medical language of the wild talk of the sick during delirium”.
  1. Delirium = L. “to be deranged”. Literally “to be out of your track,” from lira “ridge between furrows.” (LKGNT)
  2. Q: What do these words mean to you?
13. (12) Yes John ran too, & beat him.
  1. But here we have Peter running with hinds/deer’s feet, maybe thinking all is not lost! (marveling/wondering)
    1. So here we have Hope, & spontaneous & reckless abandon!
14. Clothes lying by themselves – found like a deserted chrysalis/cocoon, with no body in them.
15. Easter morning was the Father’s audible Amen to all the claims of Jesus Christ!
  1. It declares God’s acceptance of His sacrifice.
  2. It reveals our power for life.
  3. It assures us of a present Friend.
  4. It anticipates our future Glory.
16. Christianity then is trust in a Person; a Living Person; a Present Person; a Powerful Person.
  1. Christ is a personal, living, present, powerful Savior. Is He yours?
  2. That’s My Jesus…Do you know Him? (S. M. Lockridge)

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Verses 1-12

RISEN! (24:1-12)
1. THE WOMEN BACK TO THE TOMB! (1-4)
2. The story of the morning begins with the women & ends with Peter.
3. Women, last at the cross, 1^st at the tomb.
  1. Their love had not ceased, though their faith temporarily failed.
  2. They came to find a dead body & honor it.
  3. [Poem]
    But dark the shadow of the cross
    Fell then O’er earth & sky;
    There was an echo in each heart,
    To that deriding cry – “He saved others.”
    Can it be Himself He cannot save?
    Ah! Love lives still, but faith & hope Lie crushed within His grave. (Griffith Thomas; pg.361)
4. (2,3) Open tomb(2); Empty tomb(3).
  1. The Christian Church is built upon an empty grave!
  2. The crucifix is not the true symbol of redemption! (diff cross/ crucifix?)
    1. I personally feel the crucifix still is a wonderful symbol to bring us to remembrance of His death…but not for a symbol of redemption!
5. (2) The stone was rolled away –
  1. [1] The stone was rolled away from the tomb of Christ.
    1. “Not to enable Him to leave, but to allow others to see he had gone!”
  2. [2] The stone was rolled away from the hearts of the Disciples.
    1. They spent 3 days in Jerusalem where their hopes laid buried.
  3. [3] The stone was rolled away from the graves of our Dear Ones.
    1. The sting of death was removed!
    2. Up to then none had come back (except those raised back to life)
      1. Christ not only came back, but showed the way through death to everlasting life & light.
    3. His pledge? – “Because I live, you shall live also!”
    4. Reunion with saved loved ones was guaranteed! – “For if we believe that Jesus died & rose…then we…shall be caught up together with them…wherefore comfort one another with these words.”
  4. Q: How does this relate to each of us personally?
    1. If you are still “dead in your sins!” – Then, the stone is still there…but Christ is ready to say “Come forth” as He did to His friend Lazarus.
      1. For sin there will be salvation, for death there will be life! (Griffith Thomas; pg.372)
    2. If you are already “alive from the dead!” – Then just remember, He is not a cute baby in a manger; He is not hanging on the cross; nor lying in a grave; but triumphantly at the right hand of His Fathers throne!
      1. He is on the Throne & now it is always Easter, & it is always Pentecost!
  5. If we have special difficulty or sorrow, let it not rob you of Resurrection Joy!
    1. He is alive forevermore!
    2. Rev.1:18 “I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore.”
6. THE ANGELS AT THE TOMB! (5-8)
7. (7) Forgotten words come back w/fresh meaning when circumstances have changed & we have made progress in knowledge & character.
  1. An encouragement for parents who have had kids that have walk away from the truth. If you have stored truth in your child’s minds it is a little task for the Spirit of God to illuminated them in later life.
8. (8) The misty picture became focused & sharp & clear.
9. The stone was gone; the body was gone; the women were perplexed; & now angels have to show up to explain everything.
  1. They had heard but they never understood.
  2. The issue was what? They forgot His Words!
  3. Today, angels aren’t going to show up & remind us of His Word…that’s the Holy Spirits job/ministry.
  4. Yield to the Spirit & let Him remind you of the promises that will encourage your heart.
10. THE WOMEN TELLING THE REST! (9-12)
11. (9) Women 1^st saw the empty tomb; Women 1^st saw the living Lord; Women 1^st heard loving words; Women 1^st told joyful news!
  1. Told – These women were the 1^st preachers!
    1. [The rest could only share death & burial]
12. (11) Idle tales – Nonsense. “Used in medical language of the wild talk of the sick during delirium”.
  1. Delirium = L. “to be deranged”. Literally “to be out of your track,” from lira “ridge between furrows.” (LKGNT)
  2. Q: What do these words mean to you?
13. (12) Yes John ran too, & beat him.
  1. But here we have Peter running with hinds/deer’s feet, maybe thinking all is not lost! (marveling/wondering)
    1. So here we have Hope, & spontaneous & reckless abandon!
14. Clothes lying by themselves – found like a deserted chrysalis/cocoon, with no body in them.
15. Easter morning was the Father’s audible Amen to all the claims of Jesus Christ!
  1. It declares God’s acceptance of His sacrifice.
  2. It reveals our power for life.
  3. It assures us of a present Friend.
  4. It anticipates our future Glory.
16. Christianity then is trust in a Person; a Living Person; a Present Person; a Powerful Person.
  1. Christ is a personal, living, present, powerful Savior. Is He yours?
  2. That’s My Jesus…Do you know Him? (S. M. Lockridge)

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Verses 13-27

Intro:
1. Isaac Asimov tells the story of a rough ocean crossing during which a Mr. Jones became terribly seasick. At an especially rough time, a kindly steward patted Jones on the shoulder and said, "I know, sir, that it seems awful. But remember, no man ever died of sea-sickness." Mr. Jones lifted his green countenance to the steward's concerned face and replied, "Man, don't say that! It's only the wonderful hope of dying that keeps me alive."
2. Newsweek, Feb. 7, 1983, p. 13. A California woman wrote, "No matter how bad the pain is, it's never so bad that suicide is the only answer. Suicide doesn't end pain. It only lays it on the broken shoulders of the survivors." And she ends her story. "By the way: to all the doctors, nurses and psychiatrists who forced me to live when I didn't want to - thank you for keeping breath in my lungs and my heart beating and encouraging hope in me when I didn't have any hope!"
3. Q: Ever have the bottom drop out of your life? Your hopes & dreams dashed? Thoughts like, “Where’s Jesus when you need Him?”
  1. We meet 2 individuals this morning that felt the same.
4. “Other men see only a hopeless end, but the Christian rejoices in an endless hope”
5. Explain 2 Part series: (communion next week)
  1. Here we have a beautiful story that so mirrors many among us, who have passed through the gloom of doubt, to the clear shining of faith!
  2. We meet up with them taking leaden steps away from One who was the pure embodiment of Faith, Hope, & Love!
6. Title: A Walk To Remember! – [No, not the movie with Shane West & Mandy Moore]
  1. Jesus Journeying With Them! - Jesus Sympathizing With Them! - Jesus Expounding the Scriptures To Them!
A WALK TO REMEMBER! (13-27)
1. Here we have what the disciples thought & felt & even gives how they looked, just before they understood the resurrection!
2. These guys could have walked & talked for days & never gotten rid of their disappointment.
  1. They lacked the key that unlocks the OT.
    1. Messiah must suffer & die before entering his glory.
3. So who was the other disciple? It very much could have been his wife! John in 19:25 tells us, “Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleopas, and Mary Magdalene”. [we’re not sure]
4. JESUS JOURNEYING WITH THEM! (15,16)
5. (15) We note…that Jesus drew near when they were conversing about Him.
  1. Might we experience His nearness when we also converse w/others about Him?
6. (16) Eyes were restrained –
  1. See Mrk 16:12,13 – “another form” This could mean that He took on a form different from that in which He appeared to Mary Magdalene (9-11) or, more likely, that He appeared to them in a form different from that in which they had previously recognized Him as Jesus.
7. Jesus’ resurrection body remains a mystery: (Shepherd’s Notes; pg.94)
  1. He appeared to the disciples from time to time, usually suddenly.
  2. He had a body that could be seen & touched.
  3. The disciples recognized Jesus’ body as His body.
  4. The resurrection means more than that His spirit survived death!
  5. It points to 2 great truths of Christianity:
    1. [1] The tomb was empty.
    2. [2] People saw Jesus alive in bodily form.
8. Why leave today?
  1. You heard he would rise the 3^rd day, couldn’t you wait one more day?
  2. You heard the women report the body missing.
  3. You heard that angels appeared & said he was alive!
  4. Yet, they walk off into the country, into the sunset, perplexed.
    1. Such is our impatience!
  5. At least their minds still cleave to Him still. They can’t talk about anything else!
9. Why does the Lord join them?
  1. For, “He does not despise the day of small things.” (Zech.4:10)
  2. For, “He will not cast off those who have little strength” (Ps 71:9)
  3. For, “a bruised reed he will not break, & the smoking flax He will not quench.” (Is.42:3)
10. Where does He meet them?
  1. Let it be wherever! In the temple; your house; in the field; on the road
  2. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them. Mt.18:20
11. They did not know Him –
  1. It is often the same with us!
  2. Haven’t you ever come to His table & not met Him there?
  3. Maybe you’re in deep trouble & He says, “it is I don’t be afraid,” yet you cannot detect him.
  4. How often have you opened his precious book yet never had a glimpse of Him?
  5. Why did they not see Him? – Unbelief! Why might we miss Him then? – Unbelief!
  6. Make it your prayer, “Open mine eyes Lord, I want to see Jesus!”
12. Q: What if we found out that Jesus did this all the time…still? hmmm
  1. What if it was someone that was a little sharp? (like Jesus was in 25,26)
13. JESUS SYMPATHIZING WITH THEM! (17-24)
14. (17) What a tender & beautiful playfulness in the way he dealt with these men.
15. Conversation - means to “throw in turn, back and forth like a ball, from one to another, a beautiful picture of conversation as a game of words.” [LKGNT]
16. Walk – ESV & NIV capture the orig best, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad.”
17. (18) Everyone in Jerusalem was talking about Jesus!
  1. Jesus must have been blessed to come upon them & here that all of there thoughts were regarding Him.
18. (19) What things? – I’ve done that as a Pastor in regards to our church, or regarding the pastor there. (always told them after) :-O
  1. He was drawing them out, & it worked.
19. They still believed in Him. They still loved Him. Even though defeated, they still were saying “He was mighty in word & deed before God”.
  1. It had only slain their Hope! So they limped on to Emmaus.
20. (21) 1^st half of verse w/a smile of hope; 2^nd half w/frown of despair.
21. Doubt!
22. There is a difference between doubt & unbelief:
  1. Doubt is a state of suspense in which the mind is not made up either to believe or reject.
  2. Unbelief is a definite attitude of refusal.
  3. The walls of Jericho fell flat, at Israel’s mighty shout; But no one ever shouts like that, while paralyzed by doubt.Lord, turn our doubt & leaden tread, to leaping, joyous faith instead! (Awake My Heart; J. Sidlow Baxter pg.140)
23. Hopeless!
24. There are no hopeless situations; there are only people who have grown hopeless about them.
25. JESUS EXPOUNDING THE SCRIPTURES TO THEM! (25-27)
26. Now Jesus began to talk to them.
  1. His 1^st word was that of rebuke, like the angels to the women. (5)
27. (25) O Foolish ones - Literally without sense, not understanding. Slow of heart – Old word for one dull, slow to comprehend or to act.
  1. I guess Jesus didn’t read Dale Carnegie’s, “How to win friends & Influence People.”
  2. They are rebuked in both intellect & heart.
  3. Jesus leads them to faith 1^st before sight (31).
28. (26) Ought not – Was it not necessary? The very things about the death of Jesus that disturbed them so, were the strongest proof that he was the Messiah of the Old Testament! (Word Pictures in the NT;)
  1. Many people in Jesus’ day were diligent students of the bible, but most missed the central message.
  2. They focused on the “Messiah is a Glorious King” passages, & overlooked the “Messiah needs to suffer to save mankind” passages!
29. He proceeds to show them how this theme runs through the whole OT.
  1. He showed them that the suffering of the cross is the way of triumph! (Shepherd’s Notes; pg.94)
30. (27) What does Jesus’ use of the OT here & in verses 44-47 teach us of its importance & reliability, & the way we should use it? (Treasury of Scripture Knowledge; Stibbs; pg34.)
  1. Importance - it all points to Him (silver thread throughout).
  2. Reliability - We can obviously trust the OT (all parts) if Jesus is using it.
  3. The way we should use it – to remove the OT’s lens cover, so as to uncover & discover…Jesus!
    1. Jesus found Himself in the Old Testament, a thing that some modern scholars don’t seem able to do!
  4. “In the OT the New is enfolded; in the NT the Old is unfolded!” (Griffith Thomas; pg.384)
  5. Shame on the Christians who say, “I don’t like reading the OT”. Isn’t it like saying, “I don’t like digging to find the treasures regarding Jesus in the OT stories”?
    1. I admit, it is easier picking up pearls in the NT, then it is mining for diamonds in the old.
31. Illustration: It is told that the great preacher D.L. Moody said, “I prayed for faith and thought that some day it would come down and strike me like lightning. But faith didn’t seem to come. One day I read in Romans that “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” I had up to this time, closed my Bible and prayed for faith. Now I opened my Bible and began to study, and faith has been growing ever since!”
32. Expounded – or, explained.
  1. Here the diamond cut the diamond!
  2. The Master of the house unlocked the doors & invited His guests to his table.
  3. He who hid the treasure in the field Himself guided the searchers to it.
  4. After dinner comes dessert! And there is none sweeter than His own person & work.
  5. Oh to have Jesus as both our teacher & our lesson!
33. ☺ So Jesus breathed into their ears the secret of love which lay at the heart of the ancient Law. They listened as He traced each Messianic note in the music of all the prophets.
34. I’m the Seed of the women in Gen.;
  I’m the Passover Lamb of Ex.;
  I’m the Anointed High Priest of Lev;
  I’m the Brazen Serpent of Num;
  I’m the Great Rock of Deut;
  I’m the Captain of the Lord’s Hosts of Josh;
  I’m the Messenger of the Lord of Jdg;
  I’m the Kinsmen Redeemer of Ruth;
  I’m the Great Judge in 1 Sam;
  I’m the Seed of David of 2 Sam;
  I’m the Lord God of Israel of 1 Kg;
  I’m the God of the Cherubim of 2 Kg;
  I’m the God of our salvation in 1 Chrn;
  I’m the God of our fathers of 2 Chrn;
  I’m the Lord of Heaven & Earth of Ezra;
  I’m the Covnt-keeping God of Neh;
  I’m the God of Providence in Esther.;
  I’m the Returning Redeemer of Job.;
  I’m the Good shepherd of the Ps;
  I’m the Wisdom of God in the Prvb;
  I’m the One above the Sun of Ecc;
  I’m the Altogether Lovely of SoS;
  I’m the Virgin-born Immanuel of Is;
  I’m the Branch of Righteousness of Jer;
  I’m the Compassionate One of Lam;
  I’m the Lord Is There of Ezek;
  I’m the Stone Cut w/o Hands of Dan
  I’m the King of the Res in Hos;
  I’m the God of the Battle of Joel;
  I’m the Plumbline of Amos;
  I’m the Destroyer of the Proud of Obad;
  I’m the Risen Prophet of Jonah;
  I’m the Bethlehem-Born of Micah;
  I’m the Bringer of Good Tidings of Nah;
  I’m The Anointed of Hab;
  I’m the King of Israel of Zeph;
  I’m the Desire of All Nations of Hag;
  I’m the Branch of Zech;
  I’m The Sun of Righteousness of Malachi. (Adapted from Willmington’s Book of Bible Lists.)
  1. What a Post-Resurrection Bible Study that must have been!!!
35. I thought it was interesting, “expounded” is the word the Greeks used of interpreting a foreign language.
36. Do you allow the Holy Spirit to help you interpret the Scriptures?
  1. Jn.16:13-15 “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.” ☺
  2. 1 Cor.2:9,10 “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit.”
37. Do you have the Holy Spirit to help you interpret the Scriptures?
38. Did you know that…Jesus is always Journeying with us; Jesus is always Sympathizing with us; Jesus is always Expounding the Scriptures to us; [& we’ll see next week] Jesus is always Revealing Himself to us.
39. End: He delights to make our days a sunlit Emmaus walk!
  1. Enjoy that walk with Him today!
  2. “Other men see only a hopeless end, but the Christian rejoices in an endless hope”

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Verses 13-27

Intro:
1. Isaac Asimov tells the story of a rough ocean crossing during which a Mr. Jones became terribly seasick. At an especially rough time, a kindly steward patted Jones on the shoulder and said, "I know, sir, that it seems awful. But remember, no man ever died of sea-sickness." Mr. Jones lifted his green countenance to the steward's concerned face and replied, "Man, don't say that! It's only the wonderful hope of dying that keeps me alive."
2. Newsweek, Feb. 7, 1983, p. 13. A California woman wrote, "No matter how bad the pain is, it's never so bad that suicide is the only answer. Suicide doesn't end pain. It only lays it on the broken shoulders of the survivors." And she ends her story. "By the way: to all the doctors, nurses and psychiatrists who forced me to live when I didn't want to - thank you for keeping breath in my lungs and my heart beating and encouraging hope in me when I didn't have any hope!"
3. Q: Ever have the bottom drop out of your life? Your hopes & dreams dashed? Thoughts like, “Where’s Jesus when you need Him?”
  1. We meet 2 individuals this morning that felt the same.
4. “Other men see only a hopeless end, but the Christian rejoices in an endless hope”
5. Explain 2 Part series: (communion next week)
  1. Here we have a beautiful story that so mirrors many among us, who have passed through the gloom of doubt, to the clear shining of faith!
  2. We meet up with them taking leaden steps away from One who was the pure embodiment of Faith, Hope, & Love!
6. Title: A Walk To Remember! – [No, not the movie with Shane West & Mandy Moore]
  1. Jesus Journeying With Them! - Jesus Sympathizing With Them! - Jesus Expounding the Scriptures To Them!
A WALK TO REMEMBER! (13-27)
1. Here we have what the disciples thought & felt & even gives how they looked, just before they understood the resurrection!
2. These guys could have walked & talked for days & never gotten rid of their disappointment.
  1. They lacked the key that unlocks the OT.
    1. Messiah must suffer & die before entering his glory.
3. So who was the other disciple? It very much could have been his wife! John in 19:25 tells us, “Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleopas, and Mary Magdalene”. [we’re not sure]
4. JESUS JOURNEYING WITH THEM! (15,16)
5. (15) We note…that Jesus drew near when they were conversing about Him.
  1. Might we experience His nearness when we also converse w/others about Him?
6. (16) Eyes were restrained –
  1. See Mrk 16:12,13 – “another form” This could mean that He took on a form different from that in which He appeared to Mary Magdalene (9-11) or, more likely, that He appeared to them in a form different from that in which they had previously recognized Him as Jesus.
7. Jesus’ resurrection body remains a mystery: (Shepherd’s Notes; pg.94)
  1. He appeared to the disciples from time to time, usually suddenly.
  2. He had a body that could be seen & touched.
  3. The disciples recognized Jesus’ body as His body.
  4. The resurrection means more than that His spirit survived death!
  5. It points to 2 great truths of Christianity:
    1. [1] The tomb was empty.
    2. [2] People saw Jesus alive in bodily form.
8. Why leave today?
  1. You heard he would rise the 3^rd day, couldn’t you wait one more day?
  2. You heard the women report the body missing.
  3. You heard that angels appeared & said he was alive!
  4. Yet, they walk off into the country, into the sunset, perplexed.
    1. Such is our impatience!
  5. At least their minds still cleave to Him still. They can’t talk about anything else!
9. Why does the Lord join them?
  1. For, “He does not despise the day of small things.” (Zech.4:10)
  2. For, “He will not cast off those who have little strength” (Ps 71:9)
  3. For, “a bruised reed he will not break, & the smoking flax He will not quench.” (Is.42:3)
10. Where does He meet them?
  1. Let it be wherever! In the temple; your house; in the field; on the road
  2. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them. Mt.18:20
11. They did not know Him –
  1. It is often the same with us!
  2. Haven’t you ever come to His table & not met Him there?
  3. Maybe you’re in deep trouble & He says, “it is I don’t be afraid,” yet you cannot detect him.
  4. How often have you opened his precious book yet never had a glimpse of Him?
  5. Why did they not see Him? – Unbelief! Why might we miss Him then? – Unbelief!
  6. Make it your prayer, “Open mine eyes Lord, I want to see Jesus!”
12. Q: What if we found out that Jesus did this all the time…still? hmmm
  1. What if it was someone that was a little sharp? (like Jesus was in 25,26)
13. JESUS SYMPATHIZING WITH THEM! (17-24)
14. (17) What a tender & beautiful playfulness in the way he dealt with these men.
15. Conversation - means to “throw in turn, back and forth like a ball, from one to another, a beautiful picture of conversation as a game of words.” [LKGNT]
16. Walk – ESV & NIV capture the orig best, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad.”
17. (18) Everyone in Jerusalem was talking about Jesus!
  1. Jesus must have been blessed to come upon them & here that all of there thoughts were regarding Him.
18. (19) What things? – I’ve done that as a Pastor in regards to our church, or regarding the pastor there. (always told them after) :-O
  1. He was drawing them out, & it worked.
19. They still believed in Him. They still loved Him. Even though defeated, they still were saying “He was mighty in word & deed before God”.
  1. It had only slain their Hope! So they limped on to Emmaus.
20. (21) 1^st half of verse w/a smile of hope; 2^nd half w/frown of despair.
21. Doubt!
22. There is a difference between doubt & unbelief:
  1. Doubt is a state of suspense in which the mind is not made up either to believe or reject.
  2. Unbelief is a definite attitude of refusal.
  3. The walls of Jericho fell flat, at Israel’s mighty shout; But no one ever shouts like that, while paralyzed by doubt.Lord, turn our doubt & leaden tread, to leaping, joyous faith instead! (Awake My Heart; J. Sidlow Baxter pg.140)
23. Hopeless!
24. There are no hopeless situations; there are only people who have grown hopeless about them.
25. JESUS EXPOUNDING THE SCRIPTURES TO THEM! (25-27)
26. Now Jesus began to talk to them.
  1. His 1^st word was that of rebuke, like the angels to the women. (5)
27. (25) O Foolish ones - Literally without sense, not understanding. Slow of heart – Old word for one dull, slow to comprehend or to act.
  1. I guess Jesus didn’t read Dale Carnegie’s, “How to win friends & Influence People.”
  2. They are rebuked in both intellect & heart.
  3. Jesus leads them to faith 1^st before sight (31).
28. (26) Ought not – Was it not necessary? The very things about the death of Jesus that disturbed them so, were the strongest proof that he was the Messiah of the Old Testament! (Word Pictures in the NT;)
  1. Many people in Jesus’ day were diligent students of the bible, but most missed the central message.
  2. They focused on the “Messiah is a Glorious King” passages, & overlooked the “Messiah needs to suffer to save mankind” passages!
29. He proceeds to show them how this theme runs through the whole OT.
  1. He showed them that the suffering of the cross is the way of triumph! (Shepherd’s Notes; pg.94)
30. (27) What does Jesus’ use of the OT here & in verses 44-47 teach us of its importance & reliability, & the way we should use it? (Treasury of Scripture Knowledge; Stibbs; pg34.)
  1. Importance - it all points to Him (silver thread throughout).
  2. Reliability - We can obviously trust the OT (all parts) if Jesus is using it.
  3. The way we should use it – to remove the OT’s lens cover, so as to uncover & discover…Jesus!
    1. Jesus found Himself in the Old Testament, a thing that some modern scholars don’t seem able to do!
  4. “In the OT the New is enfolded; in the NT the Old is unfolded!” (Griffith Thomas; pg.384)
  5. Shame on the Christians who say, “I don’t like reading the OT”. Isn’t it like saying, “I don’t like digging to find the treasures regarding Jesus in the OT stories”?
    1. I admit, it is easier picking up pearls in the NT, then it is mining for diamonds in the old.
31. Illustration: It is told that the great preacher D.L. Moody said, “I prayed for faith and thought that some day it would come down and strike me like lightning. But faith didn’t seem to come. One day I read in Romans that “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” I had up to this time, closed my Bible and prayed for faith. Now I opened my Bible and began to study, and faith has been growing ever since!”
32. Expounded – or, explained.
  1. Here the diamond cut the diamond!
  2. The Master of the house unlocked the doors & invited His guests to his table.
  3. He who hid the treasure in the field Himself guided the searchers to it.
  4. After dinner comes dessert! And there is none sweeter than His own person & work.
  5. Oh to have Jesus as both our teacher & our lesson!
33. ☺ So Jesus breathed into their ears the secret of love which lay at the heart of the ancient Law. They listened as He traced each Messianic note in the music of all the prophets.
34. I’m the Seed of the women in Gen.;
  I’m the Passover Lamb of Ex.;
  I’m the Anointed High Priest of Lev;
  I’m the Brazen Serpent of Num;
  I’m the Great Rock of Deut;
  I’m the Captain of the Lord’s Hosts of Josh;
  I’m the Messenger of the Lord of Jdg;
  I’m the Kinsmen Redeemer of Ruth;
  I’m the Great Judge in 1 Sam;
  I’m the Seed of David of 2 Sam;
  I’m the Lord God of Israel of 1 Kg;
  I’m the God of the Cherubim of 2 Kg;
  I’m the God of our salvation in 1 Chrn;
  I’m the God of our fathers of 2 Chrn;
  I’m the Lord of Heaven & Earth of Ezra;
  I’m the Covnt-keeping God of Neh;
  I’m the God of Providence in Esther.;
  I’m the Returning Redeemer of Job.;
  I’m the Good shepherd of the Ps;
  I’m the Wisdom of God in the Prvb;
  I’m the One above the Sun of Ecc;
  I’m the Altogether Lovely of SoS;
  I’m the Virgin-born Immanuel of Is;
  I’m the Branch of Righteousness of Jer;
  I’m the Compassionate One of Lam;
  I’m the Lord Is There of Ezek;
  I’m the Stone Cut w/o Hands of Dan
  I’m the King of the Res in Hos;
  I’m the God of the Battle of Joel;
  I’m the Plumbline of Amos;
  I’m the Destroyer of the Proud of Obad;
  I’m the Risen Prophet of Jonah;
  I’m the Bethlehem-Born of Micah;
  I’m the Bringer of Good Tidings of Nah;
  I’m The Anointed of Hab;
  I’m the King of Israel of Zeph;
  I’m the Desire of All Nations of Hag;
  I’m the Branch of Zech;
  I’m The Sun of Righteousness of Malachi. (Adapted from Willmington’s Book of Bible Lists.)
  1. What a Post-Resurrection Bible Study that must have been!!!
35. I thought it was interesting, “expounded” is the word the Greeks used of interpreting a foreign language.
36. Do you allow the Holy Spirit to help you interpret the Scriptures?
  1. Jn.16:13-15 “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.” ☺
  2. 1 Cor.2:9,10 “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit.”
37. Do you have the Holy Spirit to help you interpret the Scriptures?
38. Did you know that…Jesus is always Journeying with us; Jesus is always Sympathizing with us; Jesus is always Expounding the Scriptures to us; [& we’ll see next week] Jesus is always Revealing Himself to us.
39. End: He delights to make our days a sunlit Emmaus walk!
  1. Enjoy that walk with Him today!
  2. “Other men see only a hopeless end, but the Christian rejoices in an endless hope”

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Verses 28-35

FROM MOURNERS TO MISSIONARIES! (28-25)
1. WELCOMING HIM! (28,29)
2. Indicated he would have gone further – Christ testing them to see if they really desired to abide with Him.
  1. He awaited their invitation to come in.
3. What a blessing for them that they were given to hospitality!
  1. What they would have missed had they not been!
4. Abide with us –
  1. Did you know that the word religion implies a bond.
  2. The 2^nd ½ of the word comes from the Latin root ligare “to bind”.
  3. Like our word ligament (the bond of fibrous tissue that holds the bones together)
  4. The Christian religion then implies our link/bond w/Christ (that which bonds us together w/Him in a love-relationship).
    1. Now, that love-relationship can hardly be maintained w/a dead person who lived 2000 yrs ago, & now has passed entirely beyond human contact???
5. Abide Illustration: Dr. Howard Hendricks tells of a small town in Texas where one year the school burned to the ground with the loss of more than 200 lives, because they didn’t have a sprinkler system. They began to rebuild after the initial shock had passed and called in the foremost company in fire prevention equipment to install a sprinkler system. When the new school was opened for public inspection, guides pointed out the new sprinklers in each room, to alleviate fears of another disaster. The school operated without incident for a number of years, then they needed to add on to the existing structure. As work progressed, they made a startling discovery. The new fire extinguishing equipment had never been connected to the water supply! They had the latest in technology and equipment, yet it was entirely useless!
  1. Jn.15:5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
  2. Or, using the analogy above, “I am the water supply, you are the piping system. He who is connected to the water supply, and I connected to him, their sprinkler heads work properly; for without Me you can do nothing.”
6. DISCERNING HIM! (30,31)
7. They offered Him hospitality, & He accepted it; & then He gave them hospitality!
  1. A common meal turned into a communion meal. An ordinary meal turns into a sacramental meal.
8. Took, blessed, broke, & gave – a familiar act.
9. Jesus came & talked to them, when their hopes were dead & buried.
  1. But now the meaning of life became clear & the darkness became light.
10. Some ordinary disciples, on an ordinary road, to an ordinary town, in an ordinary home, eating an ordinary meal, but who invited an extraordinary guest…in!
  1. And He vanished from their sight!
11. Here were 2 people in a very distressed state, unable to think straight.
  1. 1^st of all Jesus asked questions: He got them to talk, established a relationship, and so made them receptive to what He had to say.
  2. 2^nd He explained the Scripture - showing them that what had been puzzling them.
  3. Finally, He revealed his presence. “Stay with us” they had said to him on reaching Emmaus. In the deepest sense He did, even after they ceased to see Him.
12. REJOICING IN HIM! (32)
13. Heart burn within us….the good kind!
  1. Didn’t you feel something different when we spoke with Him?
  2. This is experiential – I guess Experience can be legit! 2.13.2.1. We usually hear of it in the negative.
14. While other teachers only touch the ear, He penetrates & touches the heart.
15. TELLING OTHERS OF HIM! (33-35)
16. When we suddenly realize the Lord Jesus died for us, and rose again, our lives also are forever changed!
17. See their radiant eagerness!
  1. Their limping doubt has become leaping faith!
  2. The wilderness has blossomed as the rose!
  3. Beauty has replaced ashes; oil of joy has rubbed out their mourning, & the garment of praise has done away w/heaviness.
  4. There was now the gladness of certainty!
  5. They had seen & known & communed with their Lord.
18. Q: Which direction had they been walking to go home? N/W (towards the sunset)
  1. The Christian is the one who walks not toward the sunset but toward the sunrise!
    1. Long ago it was said of the children of Israel that they journeyed in the wilderness toward the sunrise. (Numb.21:11)
  2. “The Christian goes onward, not to a night which falls, but to a dawn which breaks!” (William Barclay; Luke 24.)
19. (33) They had to share their experience, and no one in Emmaus would understand.
  1. One of the best signs of recovery from depression is a desire to be back among other believer’s.
  2. So the long discourage walk to Emmaus now became a joyous run to Jerusalem, with renewed strength and encouragement.
  3. They take off in the dark, but their love becomes a lamp unto their feet!
20. (34) This is actually the 11 speaking.
21. * However the resurrection took place this I am certain: Christ survived His death; Proved His survival to His followers; and, Is still available to those who seek Him! (Leslie Weatherhead; Treasury of Great Preaching; pg.132.)
  1. Interesting, the earliest sermons in the church (in Acts) were about His Resurrection, not expositions of His teachings.
    1. Nothing less would have turned runaways into missionaries overnight.
  2. If Jesus’ death had been the end of Him, it would have been the death of His religion.
    1. His friends probably would have venerated His tomb; His enemies would have exploded the “myth” of resurrection, if they could disprove it.
  3. Remember the resurrection was preached w/in 6 weeks of the crucifixion, in the very area where His death had taken place!!!
    1. Scores of people could have refuted it, had it not taken place!
22. (35) They couldn’t keep this good news to themselves! – 2 Kings 7:9.
  1. In the same way these 2 disciples of the Lord, who had been blinded by their own grief, decided that the fact that Jesus was alive, and had appeared to them was too good to keep to themselves, so they left immediately for Jerusalem, even though it was dark.
    1. They didn’t worry about the danger, or the distance.
  2. They had good news to share and they couldn’t wait to tell their story.
  3. Great reminder: Speak what you know; testify what you have seen!
23. When you’ve met w/Jesus, you should immediately go away to do His will!
  1. Not to emphasize creeds, doctrines, liturgies, & ceremonies, but to spread His loving spirit in the world.
  2. That doesn’t mean giving up what you are doing. It means doing the same job in a different spirit for a different Master.
  3. No job is of itself secular. It is secular or sacred according to the way we do it & the One to whom we offer it.
    1. Jesus was as much the Son of God when he did carpentry as when He preached sermons.
    2. Proof: before he had preached at all the Voice said, “this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”
  4. At the end of our journey the important thing will not be what we’ve done; it will be what all our doing has made us!!! (Leslie Weatherhead; Treasury of Great Preaching; pg.134.)
24. Communion:
25. A COMMON MEAL OPENED TO A COMMUNION MEAL!
26. He was recognized by them in the breaking of bread –
  1. Was it because of the Last Supper (some say but they were not there!)
  2. Was it because of the Feeding of the 5000?
  3. Was it because they saw His nailed scarred hands?
  4. Either way He took them back to His life, Death, & Resurrection.
27. What makes a common meal into a communion meal?
  1. Isn’t it every time you remember Him? (i.e. “do this in remembrance of Me”) Isn’t it every time you welcome Him to the table? (sense His presence)
28. Poem:
  Though He talked of the Kingdom & all it would bring,
  The disciples knew not that they walked with the king;
  At the evening repast, on the home table spread,
  
  He was known unto them in the breaking of bread.
  So we wonder, we question, we doubt, & we fear,
  Seeking Christ in the distance who liveth so near,
  And then back to the hearthstone at eventide led
  He is known unto us in the breaking of bread.
  
  With the purest emotion our hearts may have burned
  When the presence of Christ was but dimly discerned;
  Yet the spiritual hunger no other has fed –
  He is known to our souls in the breaking of bread. (Alfred J. Hough) (Griffith Thomas; Luke; pg.385)
29. My shocking find on sin:
30. Did you know Jesus only spoke on sin on 6 occasions(found in noun form), & 3 occasions(verb from). Paul 91 times!
  1. When Jesus did speak of sin it was to condemn hypocrites, or reveal sin to those who wouldn’t see it in their life.
  2. Remember the story of Michelangelo when he saw in the builder’s yard, a lump of marble, “stained, unattractive, & cast aside.” He said, “Take it to my studio. There is an angel imprisoned in that marble & I can set it free!”
  3. That seemed to be Christ’s heart toward the penitent sinner.
  4. Go to the records:
  5. [1] Men despised a woman because she was a prostitute. Jesus doesn’t pretend she was an angel. He says, “Her sins, which are many, are forgiven for she loved much.”
    1. There was an angel imprisoned in that woman, & He set it free.
  6. [2] A woman was taken in adultery. He doesn’t pretend she isn’t a sinner, because He says, “sin no more.” But He also says, “I don’t condemn you.”
  7. [3] Even with a dying guilty criminal He made a love-relationship.
    1. Thus Jesus passed through the gates of death, with His arm around the shoulder of a thief.
31. is Jesus speaking to your heart (feel mind-stirring & heart-burning) “Is there an angel imprisoned in you that He desires to set free!”
  1. Turn from your sin. Abide in Him.
  2. He awaits your invitation to come in! ☺
    1. Q: Will you invite Him in this morning or let Him pass on?

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Verses 28-35

FROM MOURNERS TO MISSIONARIES! (28-25)
1. WELCOMING HIM! (28,29)
2. Indicated he would have gone further – Christ testing them to see if they really desired to abide with Him.
  1. He awaited their invitation to come in.
3. What a blessing for them that they were given to hospitality!
  1. What they would have missed had they not been!
4. Abide with us –
  1. Did you know that the word religion implies a bond.
  2. The 2^nd ½ of the word comes from the Latin root ligare “to bind”.
  3. Like our word ligament (the bond of fibrous tissue that holds the bones together)
  4. The Christian religion then implies our link/bond w/Christ (that which bonds us together w/Him in a love-relationship).
    1. Now, that love-relationship can hardly be maintained w/a dead person who lived 2000 yrs ago, & now has passed entirely beyond human contact???
5. Abide Illustration: Dr. Howard Hendricks tells of a small town in Texas where one year the school burned to the ground with the loss of more than 200 lives, because they didn’t have a sprinkler system. They began to rebuild after the initial shock had passed and called in the foremost company in fire prevention equipment to install a sprinkler system. When the new school was opened for public inspection, guides pointed out the new sprinklers in each room, to alleviate fears of another disaster. The school operated without incident for a number of years, then they needed to add on to the existing structure. As work progressed, they made a startling discovery. The new fire extinguishing equipment had never been connected to the water supply! They had the latest in technology and equipment, yet it was entirely useless!
  1. Jn.15:5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
  2. Or, using the analogy above, “I am the water supply, you are the piping system. He who is connected to the water supply, and I connected to him, their sprinkler heads work properly; for without Me you can do nothing.”
6. DISCERNING HIM! (30,31)
7. They offered Him hospitality, & He accepted it; & then He gave them hospitality!
  1. A common meal turned into a communion meal. An ordinary meal turns into a sacramental meal.
8. Took, blessed, broke, & gave – a familiar act.
9. Jesus came & talked to them, when their hopes were dead & buried.
  1. But now the meaning of life became clear & the darkness became light.
10. Some ordinary disciples, on an ordinary road, to an ordinary town, in an ordinary home, eating an ordinary meal, but who invited an extraordinary guest…in!
  1. And He vanished from their sight!
11. Here were 2 people in a very distressed state, unable to think straight.
  1. 1^st of all Jesus asked questions: He got them to talk, established a relationship, and so made them receptive to what He had to say.
  2. 2^nd He explained the Scripture - showing them that what had been puzzling them.
  3. Finally, He revealed his presence. “Stay with us” they had said to him on reaching Emmaus. In the deepest sense He did, even after they ceased to see Him.
12. REJOICING IN HIM! (32)
13. Heart burn within us….the good kind!
  1. Didn’t you feel something different when we spoke with Him?
  2. This is experiential – I guess Experience can be legit! 2.13.2.1. We usually hear of it in the negative.
14. While other teachers only touch the ear, He penetrates & touches the heart.
15. TELLING OTHERS OF HIM! (33-35)
16. When we suddenly realize the Lord Jesus died for us, and rose again, our lives also are forever changed!
17. See their radiant eagerness!
  1. Their limping doubt has become leaping faith!
  2. The wilderness has blossomed as the rose!
  3. Beauty has replaced ashes; oil of joy has rubbed out their mourning, & the garment of praise has done away w/heaviness.
  4. There was now the gladness of certainty!
  5. They had seen & known & communed with their Lord.
18. Q: Which direction had they been walking to go home? N/W (towards the sunset)
  1. The Christian is the one who walks not toward the sunset but toward the sunrise!
    1. Long ago it was said of the children of Israel that they journeyed in the wilderness toward the sunrise. (Numb.21:11)
  2. “The Christian goes onward, not to a night which falls, but to a dawn which breaks!” (William Barclay; Luke 24.)
19. (33) They had to share their experience, and no one in Emmaus would understand.
  1. One of the best signs of recovery from depression is a desire to be back among other believer’s.
  2. So the long discourage walk to Emmaus now became a joyous run to Jerusalem, with renewed strength and encouragement.
  3. They take off in the dark, but their love becomes a lamp unto their feet!
20. (34) This is actually the 11 speaking.
21. * However the resurrection took place this I am certain: Christ survived His death; Proved His survival to His followers; and, Is still available to those who seek Him! (Leslie Weatherhead; Treasury of Great Preaching; pg.132.)
  1. Interesting, the earliest sermons in the church (in Acts) were about His Resurrection, not expositions of His teachings.
    1. Nothing less would have turned runaways into missionaries overnight.
  2. If Jesus’ death had been the end of Him, it would have been the death of His religion.
    1. His friends probably would have venerated His tomb; His enemies would have exploded the “myth” of resurrection, if they could disprove it.
  3. Remember the resurrection was preached w/in 6 weeks of the crucifixion, in the very area where His death had taken place!!!
    1. Scores of people could have refuted it, had it not taken place!
22. (35) They couldn’t keep this good news to themselves! – 2 Kings 7:9.
  1. In the same way these 2 disciples of the Lord, who had been blinded by their own grief, decided that the fact that Jesus was alive, and had appeared to them was too good to keep to themselves, so they left immediately for Jerusalem, even though it was dark.
    1. They didn’t worry about the danger, or the distance.
  2. They had good news to share and they couldn’t wait to tell their story.
  3. Great reminder: Speak what you know; testify what you have seen!
23. When you’ve met w/Jesus, you should immediately go away to do His will!
  1. Not to emphasize creeds, doctrines, liturgies, & ceremonies, but to spread His loving spirit in the world.
  2. That doesn’t mean giving up what you are doing. It means doing the same job in a different spirit for a different Master.
  3. No job is of itself secular. It is secular or sacred according to the way we do it & the One to whom we offer it.
    1. Jesus was as much the Son of God when he did carpentry as when He preached sermons.
    2. Proof: before he had preached at all the Voice said, “this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”
  4. At the end of our journey the important thing will not be what we’ve done; it will be what all our doing has made us!!! (Leslie Weatherhead; Treasury of Great Preaching; pg.134.)
24. Communion:
25. A COMMON MEAL OPENED TO A COMMUNION MEAL!
26. He was recognized by them in the breaking of bread –
  1. Was it because of the Last Supper (some say but they were not there!)
  2. Was it because of the Feeding of the 5000?
  3. Was it because they saw His nailed scarred hands?
  4. Either way He took them back to His life, Death, & Resurrection.
27. What makes a common meal into a communion meal?
  1. Isn’t it every time you remember Him? (i.e. “do this in remembrance of Me”) Isn’t it every time you welcome Him to the table? (sense His presence)
28. Poem:
  Though He talked of the Kingdom & all it would bring,
  The disciples knew not that they walked with the king;
  At the evening repast, on the home table spread,
  
  He was known unto them in the breaking of bread.
  So we wonder, we question, we doubt, & we fear,
  Seeking Christ in the distance who liveth so near,
  And then back to the hearthstone at eventide led
  He is known unto us in the breaking of bread.
  
  With the purest emotion our hearts may have burned
  When the presence of Christ was but dimly discerned;
  Yet the spiritual hunger no other has fed –
  He is known to our souls in the breaking of bread. (Alfred J. Hough) (Griffith Thomas; Luke; pg.385)
29. My shocking find on sin:
30. Did you know Jesus only spoke on sin on 6 occasions(found in noun form), & 3 occasions(verb from). Paul 91 times!
  1. When Jesus did speak of sin it was to condemn hypocrites, or reveal sin to those who wouldn’t see it in their life.
  2. Remember the story of Michelangelo when he saw in the builder’s yard, a lump of marble, “stained, unattractive, & cast aside.” He said, “Take it to my studio. There is an angel imprisoned in that marble & I can set it free!”
  3. That seemed to be Christ’s heart toward the penitent sinner.
  4. Go to the records:
  5. [1] Men despised a woman because she was a prostitute. Jesus doesn’t pretend she was an angel. He says, “Her sins, which are many, are forgiven for she loved much.”
    1. There was an angel imprisoned in that woman, & He set it free.
  6. [2] A woman was taken in adultery. He doesn’t pretend she isn’t a sinner, because He says, “sin no more.” But He also says, “I don’t condemn you.”
  7. [3] Even with a dying guilty criminal He made a love-relationship.
    1. Thus Jesus passed through the gates of death, with His arm around the shoulder of a thief.
31. is Jesus speaking to your heart (feel mind-stirring & heart-burning) “Is there an angel imprisoned in you that He desires to set free!”
  1. Turn from your sin. Abide in Him.
  2. He awaits your invitation to come in! ☺
    1. Q: Will you invite Him in this morning or let Him pass on?

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Verses 36-53

REAPPEARING! (36)
1. Shalom Alechem – Peace to you.
2. Here’s the question: If the disciples believed Jesus was risen, why were they startled & frightened when Jesus appeared to them? see 34,35
REASSURING! (37-43)
1. THEIR PANIC! (37)
2. Why are you troubled? – Ahh, no reason really!
3. The apostles are troubled fearing persecution from the authorities.
4. The apostles are terrified meeting behind locked doors.
  1. Jn.20:19 “On the evening of that 1^st day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”
5. The apostles are frightened believing He is a ghost/spirit!(37,39)
  1. He was not merely a ghost, or a vague “spiritual entity”.
  2. He was fully present capacities not available to becoming invisible (31) & physically, with special un-resurrected persons; such as passing through walls.
6. HIS PROOF! (38-43)
7. He offers a 2-fold proof, showing he’s not a ghost but has a real body.
8. 1^st PROOF – Shows Wounds!
  1. Look carefully & touch me.
  2. When Paul asked, “How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?” He answers his own question by going to nature using the seed phenomenon.
  3. 1 Cor.15:36-28(NLT) “When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn’t grow into a plant unless it dies first. And what you put in the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a bare seed of wheat or whatever you are planting. Then God gives it the new body he wants it to have. A different plant grows from each kind of seed.”
  4. Personality is not dependent on the identity of our material dwelling.
    1. Think about this…None of us has the same body that we had 7 years ago(most wish we did). There is not a particle of us here now that was us then!
  5. Why did He keep appearing & disappearing?
    1. He was getting them accustomed to the fact, that even when he was not visible to the eyes of the earthly body, He was still present & available!
9. 2^nd PROOF – Eats Food!
  1. He was capable of eating.
10. Having assured them of His physical resurrection, Jesus gave them His final instructions.
REVEALING! (44-49)
1. REVIEWS HIS PAST MINISTRY! (44-46)
2. The Torah of Moses; the Prophets (N’vi’im); and the Psalms (standing for the Wisdom books or K’tuvim), in other words, the entire Tanakh (Stern, D. H. (1992). Jewish New Testament commentary : A companion volume to the Jewish New Testament. Includes index. (1sted.) (Lk 24:44). Clarksville, Md.: Jewish New Testament Publications.) (T-N-KH).
3. (45) He opened their understanding – “to thoroughly open up” (it is like a picture blurred, out of focus, finally coming into sharp focus) “Many can bring the Scripture to the mind, but the Lord alone can prepare the mind to receive the Scriptures!” (Charles Spurgeon; Morning & Evening; Jan.19 Evening.)
  1. Unbelievers have a veil upon their hearts which the eyes of carnal reason cannot penetrate.
  2. Just like when we were once spiritually blind. Truth was to us as beauty in the dark, a thing unnoticed & neglected.
  3. We can no longer have attained spiritual knowledge than an ostrich can fly up to the stars.
  4. Others can teach us what is to be believed, but Christ alone can show us how to believe it!
4. (46) Necessity of the Cross! - It was necessary for Christ to suffer.
  1. All the Scriptures looked forward to the cross.
  2. The cross was not forced on God.
  3. It wasn’t an emergency measure when all else had failed.
  4. It was the plan of God, for it is the one place on earth, where in one moment of time, we see His eternal love.
5. Necessity of the Resurrection! - It was necessary for Christ to rise.
  1. He was no phantom or hallucination. He was real.
  2. Christianity is not founded on the dreams nor the imagination of men, but on One who in actual historical facts, faced & fought & conquered death…& rose again!
6. PREVIEWS THEIR FUTURE MINISTRY! (47-49)
7. Vs.46 was God’s part, now vs.47 is our part!
  1. To all men must go the call to repentance & the priceless offer of forgiveness.
  2. The church was not left to live in the upper room! It was sent out into all the world!
    1. After the upper room came the worldwide mission of the church.
  3. The days of sorrow were past, & the tidings of joy must be taken to all men.
8. (47) The apostles will be filled with the Holy Spirit, enabling them to become faithful witnesses!
9. Our churches Mission Motto is: To live the Great Commandment, To fulfill the Great Commission. [Share with you soon our churches Vision statement, Mission Statement, & Core Values]
10. The equation: He opens the Scriptures/We open our mouths & tell others.
11. Illustration: A penny doubled. [Mike N does in discussing $ w/people]
12. I have an employment opportunity. The job will pay 1 penny the 1^st day & will be doubled every day after that for 1 month. After that you must work for no additional pay.How long would you be willing to work after that first month?[A year? 5 years? The rest of your life?][$10,737,418.24 $21,474,836.47]
13. "Spiritual multiplication"
14. Let's suppose that Billy Graham - by most accounts the greatest evangelist of the 20th century - preached the Gospel in a stadium filled with 50,000 people every night for 35 years. Let's also suppose that each night during this time, 1,000 people came to faith in Christ. By the end of this 35-year period, we would still be further behind in our task of world evangelism than we are right now because the population of the world is growing faster than that.
15. Imagine with me that you are the only Christian alive on planet Earth. Imagine further that you prayed that God would allow you to lead one person to faith in Christ this year. If God answered your prayer (as I believe He would), by the end of 2007 there would be 2 Christians. If each of you led someone to Christ the following year, there would then be 4 Christians. If this process continued, there would be 8 Christians by the end of the 3^rd year; and so on.If you extrapolate this process out over 35 years, roughly 35 billion people would have become Christians, which - incredibly enough - is almost 5 times the world population!
16. This is but a tiny glimpse of the power of spiritual multiplication, because - obviously - you are not the only Christian in the world. If every committed Christians alive today led one person to faith in Christ each year, by the year 2013 we would virtually run out of people to evangelize!
17. Note: He gives the message, the commission, & the power!
18. Necessity of The Power!
  1. They had to wait in Jerusalem until power from on high came upon them.
  2. Q: Ever feeling that you are wasting time waiting on God? 4.17.2.1. But action w/o preparation must often fail!
  3. There is time to wait on God & time to work for God!
19. The quiet times in which we wait on God are never wasted; for it is in these times when we lay aside life’s tasks, that we are strengthened for the very tasks we lay aside. (William Barclay)
RE-ENTRY! (50-53)
1. HIS BLESSING! (50,51)
2. Jesus is most likely raising his hands and pronouncing over the congregation the Aaronic benediction of Numbers 6:24–26.
3. THEIR BLESSING! (52,53)
4. Note progression: terrified & frightened(37); still did not believe(41); they worshipped Him & returned to Jerusalem with great joy.
  1. Earlier when Jesus was taken from them by death, they were demoralized, disheartened, & discouraged.
  2. Now, after being assured of Hisresurrection, they were able to rejoice even though He departed from them. ☺
  3. What better could show the difference made by their confidence in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead? (Shepherds Notes; Luke; pg.96)
5. They worshiped him - because they now understood who he was, the Son of God, divine and worthy of worship, yet without being a “second god”.
  1. Isaiah 9:5 “For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace(36).”
  2. Worshipping something less than God would have been considered idolatry by every one of these highly religious Jewish disciples. (Stern, D. H. (1992). Jewish New Testament commentary : A companion volume to the Jewish New Testament. Includes index. (1^st ed.) (Lk 24:52). Clarksville, Md.: Jewish New Testament Publications.)
6. So all life became worship, every place a temple, every act, adoration!
7. The Ascension’s Importance:
8. It concluded Jesus earthly ministry.
9. It allowed eyewitnesses to see both the risen Christ on earth, & the eternal Christ returning to heaven.
10. The Ascension expanded Christ’s ministry from its geographically limited earthly dimensions, to its heavenly dimensions.
11. It pointed to a friend, not only on earth, but in heaven also!
  1. To die is not to go out into the dark; it is to go to Him!
12. They were now linked to someone who was forever independent of space & time.
13. Luke’s Conclusion:
14. Luke’s gospel ends where it began…in the house of God! Zach/Gabriel
15. The best place to end a study of Luke is the 1^st chapter of Acts(vs.1).
  1. The story of all He began to do & teach.
  2. In the book of Acts we have the story of His continued doing & teaching. The linkage being the Holy Spirit.
  3. The book of Acts could also be called “Luke Part II”.
    1. Which as Mike Hebebrand shared w/me this week, “its Luke that is given the most content in the NT.”5.15.3.2.Luke writings make up 28% of the Greek NT.
16. We’ll be going into the book of Acts next!

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Verses 36-53

REAPPEARING! (36)
1. Shalom Alechem – Peace to you.
2. Here’s the question: If the disciples believed Jesus was risen, why were they startled & frightened when Jesus appeared to them? see 34,35
REASSURING! (37-43)
1. THEIR PANIC! (37)
2. Why are you troubled? – Ahh, no reason really!
3. The apostles are troubled fearing persecution from the authorities.
4. The apostles are terrified meeting behind locked doors.
  1. Jn.20:19 “On the evening of that 1^st day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”
5. The apostles are frightened believing He is a ghost/spirit!(37,39)
  1. He was not merely a ghost, or a vague “spiritual entity”.
  2. He was fully present capacities not available to becoming invisible (31) & physically, with special un-resurrected persons; such as passing through walls.
6. HIS PROOF! (38-43)
7. He offers a 2-fold proof, showing he’s not a ghost but has a real body.
8. 1^st PROOF – Shows Wounds!
  1. Look carefully & touch me.
  2. When Paul asked, “How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?” He answers his own question by going to nature using the seed phenomenon.
  3. 1 Cor.15:36-28(NLT) “When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn’t grow into a plant unless it dies first. And what you put in the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a bare seed of wheat or whatever you are planting. Then God gives it the new body he wants it to have. A different plant grows from each kind of seed.”
  4. Personality is not dependent on the identity of our material dwelling.
    1. Think about this…None of us has the same body that we had 7 years ago(most wish we did). There is not a particle of us here now that was us then!
  5. Why did He keep appearing & disappearing?
    1. He was getting them accustomed to the fact, that even when he was not visible to the eyes of the earthly body, He was still present & available!
9. 2^nd PROOF – Eats Food!
  1. He was capable of eating.
10. Having assured them of His physical resurrection, Jesus gave them His final instructions.
REVEALING! (44-49)
1. REVIEWS HIS PAST MINISTRY! (44-46)
2. The Torah of Moses; the Prophets (N’vi’im); and the Psalms (standing for the Wisdom books or K’tuvim), in other words, the entire Tanakh (Stern, D. H. (1992). Jewish New Testament commentary : A companion volume to the Jewish New Testament. Includes index. (1sted.) (Lk 24:44). Clarksville, Md.: Jewish New Testament Publications.) (T-N-KH).
3. (45) He opened their understanding – “to thoroughly open up” (it is like a picture blurred, out of focus, finally coming into sharp focus) “Many can bring the Scripture to the mind, but the Lord alone can prepare the mind to receive the Scriptures!” (Charles Spurgeon; Morning & Evening; Jan.19 Evening.)
  1. Unbelievers have a veil upon their hearts which the eyes of carnal reason cannot penetrate.
  2. Just like when we were once spiritually blind. Truth was to us as beauty in the dark, a thing unnoticed & neglected.
  3. We can no longer have attained spiritual knowledge than an ostrich can fly up to the stars.
  4. Others can teach us what is to be believed, but Christ alone can show us how to believe it!
4. (46) Necessity of the Cross! - It was necessary for Christ to suffer.
  1. All the Scriptures looked forward to the cross.
  2. The cross was not forced on God.
  3. It wasn’t an emergency measure when all else had failed.
  4. It was the plan of God, for it is the one place on earth, where in one moment of time, we see His eternal love.
5. Necessity of the Resurrection! - It was necessary for Christ to rise.
  1. He was no phantom or hallucination. He was real.
  2. Christianity is not founded on the dreams nor the imagination of men, but on One who in actual historical facts, faced & fought & conquered death…& rose again!
6. PREVIEWS THEIR FUTURE MINISTRY! (47-49)
7. Vs.46 was God’s part, now vs.47 is our part!
  1. To all men must go the call to repentance & the priceless offer of forgiveness.
  2. The church was not left to live in the upper room! It was sent out into all the world!
    1. After the upper room came the worldwide mission of the church.
  3. The days of sorrow were past, & the tidings of joy must be taken to all men.
8. (47) The apostles will be filled with the Holy Spirit, enabling them to become faithful witnesses!
9. Our churches Mission Motto is: To live the Great Commandment, To fulfill the Great Commission. [Share with you soon our churches Vision statement, Mission Statement, & Core Values]
10. The equation: He opens the Scriptures/We open our mouths & tell others.
11. Illustration: A penny doubled. [Mike N does in discussing $ w/people]
12. I have an employment opportunity. The job will pay 1 penny the 1^st day & will be doubled every day after that for 1 month. After that you must work for no additional pay.How long would you be willing to work after that first month?[A year? 5 years? The rest of your life?][$10,737,418.24 $21,474,836.47]
13. "Spiritual multiplication"
14. Let's suppose that Billy Graham - by most accounts the greatest evangelist of the 20th century - preached the Gospel in a stadium filled with 50,000 people every night for 35 years. Let's also suppose that each night during this time, 1,000 people came to faith in Christ. By the end of this 35-year period, we would still be further behind in our task of world evangelism than we are right now because the population of the world is growing faster than that.
15. Imagine with me that you are the only Christian alive on planet Earth. Imagine further that you prayed that God would allow you to lead one person to faith in Christ this year. If God answered your prayer (as I believe He would), by the end of 2007 there would be 2 Christians. If each of you led someone to Christ the following year, there would then be 4 Christians. If this process continued, there would be 8 Christians by the end of the 3^rd year; and so on.If you extrapolate this process out over 35 years, roughly 35 billion people would have become Christians, which - incredibly enough - is almost 5 times the world population!
16. This is but a tiny glimpse of the power of spiritual multiplication, because - obviously - you are not the only Christian in the world. If every committed Christians alive today led one person to faith in Christ each year, by the year 2013 we would virtually run out of people to evangelize!
17. Note: He gives the message, the commission, & the power!
18. Necessity of The Power!
  1. They had to wait in Jerusalem until power from on high came upon them.
  2. Q: Ever feeling that you are wasting time waiting on God? 4.17.2.1. But action w/o preparation must often fail!
  3. There is time to wait on God & time to work for God!
19. The quiet times in which we wait on God are never wasted; for it is in these times when we lay aside life’s tasks, that we are strengthened for the very tasks we lay aside. (William Barclay)
RE-ENTRY! (50-53)
1. HIS BLESSING! (50,51)
2. Jesus is most likely raising his hands and pronouncing over the congregation the Aaronic benediction of Numbers 6:24–26.
3. THEIR BLESSING! (52,53)
4. Note progression: terrified & frightened(37); still did not believe(41); they worshipped Him & returned to Jerusalem with great joy.
  1. Earlier when Jesus was taken from them by death, they were demoralized, disheartened, & discouraged.
  2. Now, after being assured of Hisresurrection, they were able to rejoice even though He departed from them. ☺
  3. What better could show the difference made by their confidence in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead? (Shepherds Notes; Luke; pg.96)
5. They worshiped him - because they now understood who he was, the Son of God, divine and worthy of worship, yet without being a “second god”.
  1. Isaiah 9:5 “For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace(36).”
  2. Worshipping something less than God would have been considered idolatry by every one of these highly religious Jewish disciples. (Stern, D. H. (1992). Jewish New Testament commentary : A companion volume to the Jewish New Testament. Includes index. (1^st ed.) (Lk 24:52). Clarksville, Md.: Jewish New Testament Publications.)
6. So all life became worship, every place a temple, every act, adoration!
7. The Ascension’s Importance:
8. It concluded Jesus earthly ministry.
9. It allowed eyewitnesses to see both the risen Christ on earth, & the eternal Christ returning to heaven.
10. The Ascension expanded Christ’s ministry from its geographically limited earthly dimensions, to its heavenly dimensions.
11. It pointed to a friend, not only on earth, but in heaven also!
  1. To die is not to go out into the dark; it is to go to Him!
12. They were now linked to someone who was forever independent of space & time.
13. Luke’s Conclusion:
14. Luke’s gospel ends where it began…in the house of God! Zach/Gabriel
15. The best place to end a study of Luke is the 1^st chapter of Acts(vs.1).
  1. The story of all He began to do & teach.
  2. In the book of Acts we have the story of His continued doing & teaching. The linkage being the Holy Spirit.
  3. The book of Acts could also be called “Luke Part II”.
    1. Which as Mike Hebebrand shared w/me this week, “its Luke that is given the most content in the NT.”5.15.3.2.Luke writings make up 28% of the Greek NT.
16. We’ll be going into the book of Acts next!

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LukeLuk 23 LukeLuk JohnJhn 1

Copyright Statement
These files are the property of Brian Bell.
Text Courtesy of Calvary Chapel of Murrieta. Used by Permission.

Bibliographical Information
Bell, Brian. "Commentary on Luke 24". "Bell's Commentary". https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/eng/cbb/luke-24.html. 2017.

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Luke 24