Luke 24 ... Week 11 of 11 ... March 18-24

Luke 24

Resurrection and Beyond

Jesus - crucified, dead, and buried at the end of chapter 23 – emerges alive in chapter 24, leaving behind an empty tomb and amazed disciples.  Luke wraps up his account of Jesus’ life and ministry by continuing along the same lines that we’ve been following throughout his gospel.  Let’s look at both of these major themes, as we keep in mind that the final chapter of Luke’s gospel is meant to transition us into the first chapter of his second volume, the book of Acts.

Jesus’ ministry to the marginalized

Who were the first witnesses at the tomb? Women!  Earlier in Luke we mentioned the women who followed Jesus, and how women were of lower status than men in that place and time.  Here women brave being there for Jesus until the very end (23:55), and “Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them” come to the tomb on the first day of the week and find the stone rolled away from the doorway of the empty tomb (24:1-10).  The only way Jesus’ eleven disciples found out about his rising from the dead was from the women’s testimony.  They are essential to the story of Jesus’ resurrection, immortalized as the first Christian witnesses.

The response of the eleven male disciples in 24:11 adds weight to this story of reversal.  Not only were the eleven not at the burial site in order to discover the resurrection, they didn’t even believe what the women were saying: “But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.”  Only one of them was humble enough to break out of this stupor of disbelief.  Get ready for yet another reversal of status!  Who was it?  Simply the one who had shown the most weakness and offense to Jesus in his last days, the one “sifted like wheat” by Satan who had denied Jesus three times.  Yes, it was Peter who “got up and ran to the tomb…,” and he was rewarded with amazement as he joined the women in being a witness to the empty tomb.

Reflection Questions:

1. What do you think it means that the women who followed Jesus were the ones to discover the empty tomb?
2. How might this be a reversal of expectations, or an unexpected “twist” to the story?
3. Do you feel like women are listened to in today's church? Explain your answer.
4. Think of a time when you've learned something about Jesus from an unlikely person.  Were you initially open to the message?  If not, what changed?
5. Why do you think Peter was the only disciple who responded to the women's testimony?

An orderly account of a world-changing movement

...and the person and power at the center

Luke 24 can be considered the first chapter of Luke's account of the expansion of the church into a world-wide movement.  Note the connections between these episodes and the account of the early church in Luke's second volume, the book of Acts.

 

 

1. Meeting Jesus On The Road...The Road To Emmaus

 

Followers of Jesus travelling along a road.  Boy, will we see this a lot in the book of Acts!  These Christian travelers and evangelists are never alone; Jesus is with them on the journey.  The fact that the resurrected Jesus reveals himself to disciples as they go out is very important for the expansion of the church from Jerusalem outward.  The missionary impulse of the early church is fueled by an expectation that those carrying out the mission may encounter Jesus along the way. 

 

In this episode, we also see shades of the importance of hospitality in the early church, welcoming travelers into a home for the good of the movement.  We learn from Acts 2:42 that early church believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.  There are parallels between the Emmaus encounter and these spiritual practices of the early church fellowships.  The breaking of bread (Communion) was of particular importance, and the Emmaus story gives us a reason why:  “When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him…They told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.” [Luke 24:30-31, 35]

Question: How has Jesus revealed himself to you in the breaking of the bread?  Who were you with when this happened? 

2. The Foundation of Early Church Preaching

Jesus’ resurrection appearances in Luke are mini-sermons about who Jesus is and why people should believe that he died on the cross and then rose from the dead.  These resurrection appearances are filled with preaching points employed by early church evangelists (referred to as the "Kerygma," from the Greek word for "preaching").  Key to New Testament preaching about Jesus is that his death and resurrection is a fulfillment of Hebrew prophecy.  We’ll see this in detail in the preaching of Peter, Stephen, and Paul in the book of Acts.  There are four mini-sermons in chapter 24, two of them offered by Jesus himself!

A. The Message of the Angels at the Empty Tomb … Luke 24:4-8

“Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again. Then they remembered…”

B. The Explanation of Cleopas and His Friend on the Road to Emmaus ... Luke 24:18-24

“…the things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place…”

C. The Teaching of the Unrecognized Jesus on the Road to Emmaus ... Luke 24:25-27

“'How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken!  Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?'  Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.”

D. The Teaching of the Recognized Jesus with his Disciples ... 24:44-49

“These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you – that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled….Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem.  You are witnesses of these things.”

Questions: Why do you think there is so much talk of the Old Testament (Moses, prophets, etc.) when people are discussing Jesus' resurrection?  How important is the Old Testament to you?  How important should the Old Testament be in the church, in its teaching and preaching?

3. The Ascension

Luke offers the only reliable testimony about Jesus’ ascension up to heaven (not covered in Matthew & John, and Mark includes it in the optional ending), true to form for a gospel undertaken as an “orderly account” of the story of Jesus.  The ascension also serves as a bridge between volumes.  The brief treatment in 24:50-53 is covered more completely in the first chapter of Acts.  Right before the ascension, in verse 49, Jesus alerts his disciples to a major Holy Spirit sighting that will happen soon:  "I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”  This power charges up the opening act of the world-wide movement…we look at that in Acts 1-2.

Questions: How important do you think the ascension is to Christian belief?  Why did Jesus ascend to heaven?  How is it personally meaningful to you?


Pastor Kurt

...next week we look at the Acts of the Apostles, Luke's second volume