Written by: Mark Leadbeater

Luke 24 v 22-24
And today some women among us amazed us. Early this morning they went to the tomb, but they did not find his body there. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels who said that Jesus was alive! So some of our group went to the tomb, too. They found it just as the women said, but they did not see Jesus.”

Notes 
Have you ever told anybody about Jesus’ resurrection? Have you ever had to stand in front of a complete stranger and tell them about visions of angels? Have you ever tried to tell a best friend that Jesus’ body disappeared from the tomb?

If you have, how did you feel? When I have been in situations like that in the past, I have sometimes felt a bit stupid. At other times, embarrassed. Some times I get a little doubt thing creeping into my mind and I wonder if I really believe it myself.

But in this story, we see the reactions of two of the disciples on the day that the resurrection begins to come to light. They meet a stranger on the road (Jesus, but they don’t recognise him) and they just have to tell him about events.

It is easy to slip into a mode of thinking where events like the resurrection become interesting and important theological themes. We try to work out what the resurrection means. We discuss the implications of the resurrection for our salvation.

But let’s not forget that the resurrection was about people crippled with grief at the loss of their leader finding an empty tomb and seeing visions of angels. It’s about God on earth rising from the dead to be with his people again.

Forget theology for a few minutes. Just picture the empty tomb, the faces of the women running back to their friends with the news, the vision of the angels. How will you feel when you next tell someone about the resurrection?

Luke 24 v 25-27
Then Jesus said to them, “You are foolish and slow to believe everything the prophets said. They said that the Christ must suffer these things before he enters his glory.” Then starting with what Moses and all the prophets had said about him, Jesus began to explain everything that had been written about himself in the Scriptures.

Notes
If I were one of the disciples, I think I would be livid that Jesus hadn’t told me all this stuff before! The last couple of weeks would have been awful, triumphant entries into cities, cryptic last meals and foot-washing, betrayal, rigged trials, crucifixions and then all this resurrection business. And now Jesus turns up and tells us that he knew it was all going to happen anyway!!

It’s one of the things we need to put up with it seems. Jesus might know what the future holds for us. He might give us guidance and insights through reading the Bible, prayer and prophesy. But at the same time, not everything is set in stone.

All these prophesies he explained to the two disciples on the road relied on the actions of people to fulfil them and those people had free will. Prophesies are not things which are guaranteed to come true but are things which happen if we follow God’s promptings in the correct direction.

Jesus does not pop up and tell us what to do next. Adrian Plass once wrote that he thought God sometimes wanted to say “Surprise me!” rather than “Do this!”. Praying for guidance is good but don’t expect a crystal ball. Jesus is as interested in what we might do next as we are in what he might do.

Luke 24 v 28-32
They came near the town of Emmaus, and Jesus acted as if he were going farther. But they begged him, “Stay with us, because it is late; it is almost night.” So he went in to stay with them.
When Jesus was at the table with them, he took some bread, gave thanks, divided it, and gave it to them. And then, they were allowed to recognize Jesus. But when they saw who he was, he disappeared. They said to each other, “It felt like a fire burning in us when Jesus talked to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us.”

Notes 
When I telephone my parents, I usually say something like “Hiya. It’s me”. They never have to ask “Which me?”. They recognise my voice and style. Similarly, I can send a text message to my wife and, even if her phone didn’t recognise my number and tell her it was from me, she would know that it was me who sent it because she would recognise my tone and style in the message.

When we spend time with someone and get to know them well, we can recognise them in things. The two disciples walked for a long time with Jesus as he talked with them, but it was only as he broke the bread they recognised him. As Jesus gave thanks to God for the food and began the honour of distributing the meal, they saw some of his trademarks; his thankfulness, generosity, love.

As we walk through life, we know, in theory, that Jesus is walking alongside us. Keep an eye out for some of those “Hey, it’s me!” moments when Jesus might, briefly, reveal himself to you.

Luke 24 v 33-35
So the two followers got up at once and went back to Jerusalem. There they found the eleven apostles and others gathered. They were saying, “The Lord really has risen from the dead! He showed himself to Simon.”
Then the two followers told what had happened on the road and how they recognized Jesus when he divided the bread.

Notes 
There are a number of different things which, over the years, have gripped me, things which people have explained to me and made me go “Yes! That’s it! You’ve really got something there”. One of these is story telling and the power of story and narrative.

I once saw someone tell almost the whole of John’s Gospel as a story, from memory. There is no way I would ever agree to sit through a reading of the Gospel but as a story, it was totally different. I, myself, have performed a couple of stories. One was the feeding of the five thousand story from Mark chapter 6. I could see in people’s faces that they were listening to the very familiar story in a way that they would not have done had I been simply reading from a Bible.

And these stories are stories about other people. But when they were first told, these stories were about the people who starred in them. The stories that these disciples shared about the resurrection were not stories from an ancient book but were things that happened to them the day before.

When we tell the stories of Jesus, we must remember that the Bible stories are about real people and their experiences of God. And we must not forget that Jesus’ story is still going on today. What stories can we tell that have the punch line “The Lord really has risen from the dead! He showed himself to me”?

Luke 24 v 36-43
While the two followers were telling this, Jesus himself stood right in the middle of them and said, “Peace be with you.”
They were fearful and terrified and thought they were seeing a ghost. But Jesus said, “Why are you troubled? Why do you doubt what you see? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have a living body as you see I have.”
After Jesus said this, he showed them his hands and feet. While they still could not believe it because they were amazed and happy, Jesus said to them, “Do you have any food here?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish. While the followers watched, Jesus took the fish and ate it.

Notes
This is a very important bit of text. Luke is recording this episode for a very specific reason and that is to show that Jesus rose physically from the dead. Jesus was not some apparition or ghost. Neither was he just a figment of the disciples’ imagination. One minute the broiled fish was there, the next it had disappeared down Jesus’ throat.
However, Jesus isn’t just living again, as though someone had popped into the tomb and given him mouth-to-mouth. He appears and disappears throughout the resurrection stories all over Jerusalem and the surrounding countryside. People walk with him and don’t recognise him. They realise who this stranger is through symbolic actions, like breaking bread, and words, like “Peace be with you”.

There are a couple of other stories in the Gospels where Jesus raises people from the dead but after this they are pretty normal people. They walk about and talk, but they can’t do the Star Trek beam-me-up thing that Jesus does as he appears and disappears.

The resurrection is not just about coming back from the dead. Jesus is a new, recreated person. He is similar to the pre-death Jesus but is also different. He is no longer bound by the rules of this world but is living entirely within God’s kingdom.

Does this have any practical application for life today? I don’t know to be honest. But if anyone asks you what heaven is going to be like, at least we can answer “Different to now!”.

Luke 24 v 44-49
He said to them, “Remember when I was with you before? I said that everything written about me must happen—everything in the law of Moses, the books of the prophets, and the Psalms.”
Then Jesus opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He said to them, “It is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that a change of hearts and lives and forgiveness of sins would be preached in his name to all nations, starting at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I will send you what my Father has promised, but you must stay in Jerusalem until you have received that power from heaven.”

Notes 
In this passage, we see both the context and the content of Jesus’ mission on earth. The context is the Jewish religion of Jesus’ day. The content is a total revolution of that entire religion.

At that time, the Jews were looking forward to the Messiah, the Christ, coming to lead them in a revolution against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire. They wanted to regain their military might and independence. They wanted to stand again as God’s Chosen People. But Jesus turned this idea on its head, not just because he felt like it but because it is written in the Scriptures that the Christ would suffer and die, not lead armies.

The Jews believed that sacrifices were the way to rid themselves of sin and regain God’s favour. But Jesus says that God simply wants to forgive people and change their hearts and lives.

The Jews believed that they had a special place in God’s heart, but Jesus says that the Good News will be preached to all nations.

The longer I am a Christian, the more I believe that Jesus wants to preach the same message to us today. Passages like this do not make me think “Well I’m glad I got all that right” but “I wonder what Jesus wants to change about my religion”. The Jews thought they had it right and it was the ones who had the humility to change who found favour with Jesus.

I believe wholeheartedly that Jesus lives today. I hope I have the humility to listen to Him as my faith develops and grows.

Luke 24 v 50-53
Jesus led his followers as far as Bethany, and he raised his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he was separated from them and carried into heaven. They worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem very happy. They stayed in the Temple all the time, praising God.

Notes
I find it tempting to think that following Jesus would have been easier when he was walking around on earth as a real person. If I could see him, talk to him face to face, play squash or walk the dog with him, then I would feel his enthusiasm for life, know what his thoughts and feelings were and be inspired to follow.

And yet here, we see the disciples who have walked around with him say their final goodbye and then go back to the city rejoicing. They clearly thought that life without the physical Jesus would be every bit as good, if not better, than life with.

They knew what he taught and what he did. They saw his power and love. But then they passed it on, wrote it down and taught it to their children. So we know what he taught and what he did. We can see his power and love when we read about his life.

The disciples knew that they could meet Jesus again whenever they wanted. They went to the Temple and praised God and Jesus was there with them. We are no different. If we want to spend time with Jesus, he’s there ready for us. It won’t be the same as having him physically here, but it might even be better.


word-on-the-web uses the Scripture text taken from the Youth Bible, New Century Version (Anglicised Edition) copyright 1993 by Word Publishing Milton Keynes