Hope Resurrected – Luke 24:13-53

 

 

Introduction – The Gospel of Luke began with a scene in the temple and ends with the final scene in the temple (v53). The exaltation of Jesus and the worship of the living God are central to Luke’s vision of the Christian life. In between these bookends, the drama of the ministry of Jesus has reached its climax with His resurrection. And yet for His disciples, lost in their dismay, their hope needs to be resurrected. If you have read the scriptures and yet have lost hope, you too need a fresh encounter with the resurrected Christ.

 

 

Blind Men Walking by Sight (vv13-27) – Restrained by God from seeing that it was Jesus, two disciples enter into a conversation with Him on the way to Emmaus. Expecting Jesus to be the greater Moses, their hope had been that Israel would be liberated once for all from pagan domination (v21), and this is why the crucifixion was so devastating. If Jesus was to defeat the pagans, He wasn’t supposed to die at their hands.

“O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe…” – But dying at their hands was how Jesus was to redeem Israel, and the resurrection made all the difference. Jesus led them through a Bible study, showing them that the Messiah had to suffer these things and enter into His glory (v26-27). The story was not a story of how God would redeem Israel from suffering, but rather how God would redeem Israel through suffering, and in particular the suffering taken on by Israel’s covenant Head, the Messiah.

This is Us – This section illustrates how important it is that we read and understand the Old Testament. More importantly, it illustrates how we must receive the Old Testament typologically and not only as a series of stories before Jesus came. We too often see discontinuity between the Old and New where Jesus sees continuity. Such study and understanding is essential if we are to see Jesus for all He is, the church for all she is, and the kingdom of God for all it is. The rebuke is for us – “O foolish ones…”, and our misunderstanding leads us to the same hopelessness the disciples felt. We wonder why God is not sanctifying us from our sufferings rather than seeing Him sanctifying us through our sufferings.

 

 

Opening Eyes (vv28-43) – I’m sure that it was a perfect Bible study, but note that the study itself still did not bring them to fully realize Whom it was that was with them and what had happened. The Word, by itself, is not enough. It is not until He broke bread with them that their eyes were opened and they really saw Him.

The Meal of the New Covenant – There was a meal in the old covenant, in the first pages of Genesis. “…she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened…” (Gen 3:6-7). Luke, echoing that story, describes the first meal of the new creation (v31).

This is Us – It is the same for the church of the new creation; it is the same for us today. The Word without the Bread becomes merely intellectual, abstract platitudes, moralistic teachings, detached from the things of real life. The Bread without the Word turns into a magic act (hocus-pocus). Together, you have the center of Christian life, nurture, and kingdom. After the meal, the disciples rose up and returned to Jerusalem (vv32-35). The encounter of Jesus in Word and Bread equip us for mission.

The New Resurrected Body (vv36-43) – It is hard to comprehend what exactly is a resurrected body. We see that it certainly is more than simply “life after death,” or “going to heaven,” because Jesus stands, sits, and eats with His disciples here on earth. The new body, it seems, and the new Body (of Christ, His church), will belong in both dimension of God’s world, in both heaven and earth. In fact, Revelation ends with heaven and earth finally being joined together into one (Rev 21-22); a final consummation of the redemption of all things. We are told that we “taste” this dimly when we join with the saints in heaven on the Lord’s Day in worship (Heb 12).

 

 

An Ascension and Benediction (vv44-53) – There is more instruction from the scriptures (vv44-45) given from Jesus to His disciples. There is a commission of what is to be preached (repentance and the remission of sins) and to whom (all nations – an international call and the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham) – vv46-47. There is the promise of the Holy Spirit for which they are commanded to tarry (v49), for the work of the New Israel, as with the old, was to take place under the power from on high, and not in the flesh of men. There is the benediction of Jesus (v50), and His promised ascension (v51).

Great Joy – When the Word and the Bread reveal and give us Jesus, there is great joy, there is resurrected hope, and there is empowered commission. Our worship is central to this. If we are in dismay, we need to come, for it is here that our hope is restored. If we have seen Him at work in our lives, we need to come, for it is here that He is praised. If we need direction and instruction, we need to come, for it is here, that He blesses us, placing His name upon us, empowering us through His Spirit, and speaking to us through His Word. Regardless, it is here where we see, hear, and taste the words of Jesus, “Behold, I make all things new!” This was the gospel according to Luke – “the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (19:10).

 

 

Dave Hatcher – April 15^th, 2007