THE START OF THE CHURCH

 

Luke 24:36-53

 

V:36.  "And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you."

 A.  Jesus is the source of our peace.

      1. He is the peace between you and the Father.

      2. He is the peace between you and Him.

      3. He is the source of peace between you and other believers.

 B. Trusting Jesus brings peace in the mist of troubling situations.

     1. The eleven (disciples) were troubled by the death of their leader.

     2. They heard the reports of His resurrection, yet they were still troubled.

     3.  Lack of trust in the Word leads to a troubled mind.     

 C. Jesus is in the mist of whatever is going on in the life of believers.

     1. Our trust in Him ought to calm us down and assure us of the best outcome.

         a. We are commanded to be anxious for nothing.

 

V:37. "But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit."

 A. Some people are hard to convince.

    1. They had the testimony of the women and the men from Emmaus, yet they would

         not believe.

    2. They saw what looked like Jesus, but they refused to believe it was Jesus.

    3. They obviously believed in spirits.

       a. They immediately believed what they saw was a spirit.

       b. It was common in Old Testament times for Angels to appear in human form to

           God's chosen.

 B. Jesus is Spirit, but He chose to reveal Himself in human form. 1 Cor 15:45

     1. They could not grasp the reality that Jesus was alive and standing before them.

     2. We have to take hold of the reality that Jesus is always present when believers

         come together in His name. 

 

V:38. "And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?"

 A. When you refuse to believe the Word of Jesus, your mind will play tricks on you.

      1. When you refuse to believe the Word, you open the door for Satan to deceive

          you.

      2. Unbelief is an invitation to Satan to enter your life.

 B. We make our own trouble by not following and believing the Word.

     1. The Bible is our light.

     2. The only way to walk in the dark is to turn off the light.

 C. Out of the heart flows the issues of life.

     1. Put the Word of God in your heart and let confidence flow out.

 

V:39. "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have."

 A. There is always a way to arrive at the truth.

     1. You have to check it out for yourself.

     2. Jesus instructs us to take a look at Him.

     3. The disciple saw Him nailed to the cross.

         a. They observed the holes in His hands.

         b. They observed the holes in His feet.

 B. Jesus reminded them that a spirit does not have flesh and bones.

     1. There was something unique about His body.

        a. He could put it on and take it off in an instant.

        b. He walked through closed doors.

    2. The Word does not make common sense until Jesus enlightens us.

 C. Where two are more gathered in His name, Jesus is in the mist.

    1. I don't have to see Him to know He is present.

    2. It is our faith that gives us the spiritual sight to see Jesus.

    3. All of us need an experience with Jesus to grow our faith.

 

V:40. "And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet."

 A. If you study the Word, Jesus will make you know that He is real.

     1. The Word is Jesus and you will understand it through the power of the Holy Spirit.

     2. The glory of God is shown through His creation.

         a. To see His glory all you have to do is observe your surroundings.

         b. The work of the Lord is always before you.

         c. His glory is shown through His creation.

 B.  His hands represent our security.

     1. Our life is in His hands.

     2. All the provisions of life is in Jesus.

 C. His feet represents our walk.

     1. His walk is our way to heaven.

     2. Jesus is our role model.

 

V:41. "And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat?"

 A. Faith in Jesus comes by discovery.

     1. There is joy in discovering who Jesus is.

     2. Your mind ought to wonder about the person of Jesus.

     3. The more we ponder who Jesus is, the closer we get to Him.

 B. Jesus knows how much it takes for us to have faith in Him.

     1. Spirits have no need for meat.

     2. The flesh needs meat for nourishment.

     3. To have faith in Jesus, we must believe He died and was raised from the dead.

     4. If what we see with our eyes causes joy, how much more joy will there be with

         belief?

 

V:42. "And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb."

 A. Jesus takes the ordinary to reveal the extraordinary.

      1. Food is ordinary, but Jesus is extraordinary.

      2. Jesus the extraordinary, brought Himself low for us to behold His Glory.

      3. Jesus knows us because He lived with us.

 B. When we share what we have with those in need, we share with Jesus.

   1. Jesus reveals Himself to us in our sharing.

   2. Our hearts are uplifted when we lift others up.

 

V:43. "And he took it, and did eat before them."

 A. Jesus our Lord and Savior takes time with us to enlighten and comfort

      us in our time of trouble.

    1. He is never to busy to visit with us.

    2. Jesus was about to be glorified by the Father, but His focus was His disciples.

 

V:44. "And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me."

 A. Jesus is one who keeps promises.

     1. The Old Testament is a complete prophecy of the coming of Jesus Christ.

     2. From beginning to the end of the Old Testament, all the prophecies.

         concerning Jesus Christ were fulfilled.

 B. We should take comfort in the prophecy of His second coming.

     1. We should take comfort in all the promises Jesus made to us in the

         New Testament.

     2. What He said would be done in the past was done.

     3. Therefore, we can be sure that His Word is true.

         a. We can be sure that His word is sure concerning us.

 

V:45. "Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures."

 A. It is the Lord that makes it possible for us to understand the scriptures.

     1. God has a time for us to understand certain parts of scripture.

     2. The disciples walked with and were taught by Jesus for three and a half years,

         yet Jesus kept them blind concerning His death and resurrection.

 B. Perhaps Jesus wanted His disciples to keep their focus totally on Him.

    1. His disciples needed to experience His crucifixion and death in their hearts

        so that the Good News of His resurrection would carry them through future

        trials and tribulations.  

    1. Once Jesus was resurrected, His disciples were allowed to see Him in

        the Old Testament prophecies.

    2. We need constant training in scriptures to  understand fully God's plan of

         redemption.

 

V:46. "And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day."

 A. Jesus planned His death and His resurrection on the third day.

    1. He suffered for our sins.

    2. He was raised on the third day for our redemption. 1 Cor 15 :21-22

    3. He was three days in the ground to reset the day of worship from Saturday to

        Sunday.

       a. By Jewish law, no work could be done from sun down Friday through sun rise

           Sunday.

       b. The work of atonement was completed by sun down Friday.

       c.  The Work of grace begin on Sunday.

 B. Christ was dedicated to His plan of redemption.

 

V:47. "And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem."

 A. Jesus designed His plan of redemption to begin in Jerusalem.

     1. Jerusalem is God's Holy City.

     2. He designed and guided the building of the Temple in Jerusalem.

     3. He focused His time on earth on the cross.

     4. He planned the lives of all those who would participate in His unjust death.

 B. Jesus designed His plan of redemption so that redemption would be

      offered to the Jews first and then the Gentile nations.

     1. It is good to remember that God is always in control.

 

V:48. "And ye are witnesses of these things."

 A. The disciples were eye witnesses to the death and the resurrection of Jesus.

     1. We are not eye witnesses but we have been gifted with faith to believe

          in Jesus as our salvation.

     2. We have the testimony of the Law, the prophets and Psalms of the

          coming of Jesus Christ.

     3. We have the testimony of disciples of the life of Jesus.

 B. We have God's record of Jesus in His Word.

      1. We have our own witness of Jesus in our lives.

      2. We have the testimony of the Holy Spirit which lives within us.

 

V:49. "And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high."

 A. The Father empowered the Church with the Holy Spirit.

     1. Jesus gave His disciple the promise of power that enables every believer

         with the ability to resist sin.

     2. The supernatural power of the Holy Spirit was given first to the disciples of

          Jesus in Jerusalem.

 B. The giving of the Holy Spirit is the divine authority of the Church.

 

V:50. "And he led them out as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them."

 A. Jesus assumed His new role as head of the Church by leading His disciples to

      the base of the Mount of Olives.

    1. Jesus is the leader of our lives.

    2. He leads us in the way of righteousness.

    3. He leads us according to the will of the Father.

 B. Jesus is the blessings of the Church.

    1. Jesus is our eternal blessings.

    2. Jesus intercedes for us at the right hand of the Father to provide us with all

        the blessings of life.

 

V:51. "And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven; And they worshipped him, And returned to Jerusalem."

 A. The completion of God's plan of redemption for man was the return of His Son to

      His right hand on the heavenly throne.

    1. All power over Heaven and earth was given to Him.

    2. The Father allowed Jesus to be brought low before men so that He could be

         highly exalted above men and angels.

 B. Jesus blessed us with a kingdom address.

    1. Jesus blessed us with the atonement for our sins.

    2. Jesus blessed us with a teacher to understand His Word.

    3. Jesus blessed us with His unselfish sacrificial love.

 

V:52. "And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy"

 A. His disciples worshipped Him.

    1.All believers should worship the Lord for what He has done for each of us

       individually.

    2. We ought to bless the Lord for our privilege to fellowship with Him.

    3. We ought to bless the Lord for eternal life.

 B. The disciples returned to Jerusalem.

    1. After worshipping the Lord, we ought to return to our homes,

        and serve the Lord with our hearts, minds and soul.

    2. We ought to let God use us as His vessels to spread the Gospel and use

         us as His workers.

 C. It ought to bring us great joy when we think about the goodness of the Lord.

     1. It ought to bring us great joy to serve the Lord.

 

V:53. " And were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God. Amen."

  A. We have a duty and an obligation to praise the Lord.

      1. His praise should be continuously on our lips.

      2. Jesus is our role model.

           a. We ought to bless Him because we are grateful for His work on the cross.

 B. When we come into His sanctuary, we should have no other motives but praise

       worship and prayer.

 C. We ought to make it our main business to come into His house to fellowship.