Luke 24:36-53 "Only The Beginning"
Something ever happen that was too good to be true? But it was? It’s actually happening, and you totally feel the excitement and joy but it doesn’t seem real? You’re just waiting to wake up and realize your dreams have punked you again. You didn’t really win the lottery, there’s not a hidden door in your house that leads to a bunch of undiscovered rooms filled with treasure—and all my hair grew back. Ha. I always try to go back to sleep real fast so I can hang on to it a little longer.
But I’m talking about when something really happens that you just can’t quite believe is true. For me, there was the day my mom found a white Epiphone Les Paul with a hard shell case in perfect condition at a garage sale and bought it for me for twenty bucks. What? Are you kidding me? There was the day a cute little cheerleader told me her boyfriend broke up with her, so she sat next to me in church. I’m not sure I paid a lot of attention to the preacher that day. And the day I married her. There was the night, after five years of sending demos to every record company on the planet, when a bigwig finally came out to see my band—and we totally bombed, we went on late, the club shut our set down by pulling the plug on the P.A., our manager got in a fight with the owner and was kicked out. Later that night, he came walking into Denny’s, where we were drowning our sorrows in pancake syrup—he’s all smiles. “They said yes. You can quit working at Dominos.” I had to pinch myself for sure. Didn’t seem real.
We’ve all had those moments. That new bike. The scholarship. He asks you out. She says “yes.” The Job. The promotion. The bonus. Two solid lines on that pregnancy test. The doctor comes back with an NED. Some things seem too good to be true.
That first Easter was certainly like that for the friends of Jesus.
They were hiding in a house with the doors locked because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. A lot had happened that day. The women went to the tomb where Jesus was buried to apply the spices and perfumes they prepared, but the stone is rolled away, the body is missing, a couple of angels tell them Jesus is back from the dead. They tell everyone else but no one believes them. A couple of the disciples go back to their home in Emmaus and meet Jesus on the road. They ran back to Jerusalem and had just told everyone about it but they aren’t the only ones who have seen the resurrected Jesus now. Peter and some of the women have also seen Him. Everything seems too good to be true. I’m sure they’re having quite a conversation. This is where our story picks up today…
Luke 24 starting at…
As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” Luke 24:36
The house was a-locked and no one had a-knocked. Just like Jesus had vanished right before the eyes of the Emmaus disciples when He gave them the bread—now He just appeared out of thin air. How do you picture it? A slow fade, like when Scotty beams up the crew? Or just popping in and out like on Bewitched or I Dream of Jeannie?
The resurrected Jesus does whatever He wants to do with His body. I used to think the angels rolled away the stone so Jesus could get out but that’s not it. The stone was rolled away so we would know it was empty. Jesus didn’t need any help. He passes through the graveclothes, through the stones, through locked doors—He does what He wants.
So He pops in and says, “Peace to you.” “Peace guys!” In one sense, this is just a standard greeting, like someone might say, “Good morning!” The typical friendly greeting was, “Shalom aleichem,” which means “peace to you.” So, that’s probably what He said.
Shalom is an interesting word, though. Our word “peace” mostly means to be without conflict or trouble—it’s defined by what’s not happening. If war or other trouble isn’t happening then we say we’re at peace. Shalom is more about the positive than the negative. It’s about all the good that has to be in place for there to be peace. Health, prosperity, a clear mind and heart—sometimes we get close to the meaning when we say something like, “I just feel at peace. Peaceful.”
But in the context of when He said it—you know, He had just been violently murdered right in front of them and their entire worlds had been shattered by His death—I don’t think this was just a typical greeting. This is Jesus creating peace with the power of His words. It’s not just a wish, He’s giving it to them as He says it. It’s the culmination of what He came to earth to do. Remember at His birth when the angels said, “Peace on earth and goodwill to men?” This is the fulfillment of that. He came, He lived, He died, He rose from the dead, and He did all this to bring peace—the peace that comes from reconciliation with God through Jesus' sacrificial death and victorious resurrection.
Jesus teleports in and says, “Peace to you” but He might as well have said, “Boo!”
But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. Luke 24:37-40
Jesus isn’t a spirit, a ghost, but He is supernatural. Fear is an understandable human response. It’s even a proper response to being in the presence of God—Jesus doesn’t get on their case for being a little jumpy but He does go straight to awkward about their lack of faith. They’re embracing their doubt. They are struggling to grasp the reality of the resurrection.
He says, “Look at the holes in my hands and feet!” Might as well make it weird, “Come over here, feel them for yourself.” It doesn’t say anyone did. I think they were like, “It’s cool. We’re good. We don’t have to feel your wounds. We believe you.”
Also, a better translation of “it is I myself” is “I AM Myself.” In Exodus 3:14, when Moses is talking with the Burning Bush, he asks God what His name is—remember?—God says His name is “I AM Who I AM” or, like Jesus says here, “I AM Myself.” Jesus had called Himself by this divine name of God several times in the Gospel of Luke—it’s the reason the Jewish leaders killed Him. They thought it was blasphemy. And it would be if Jesus wasn’t God.
So, they’re thinking Jesus is a ghost and He says, “Stop doubting. I’m not a ghost. I AM Myself. I’m me, Jesus. I’m also God Almighty—able to rise from the dead and teleport wherever I want.” Also, and this is very important, He’s still flesh and bones—not the kind of flesh and bones that grow old and die, though. This is the kind of flesh and bones that are promised to all of us in the resurrection. His resurrection means something for all of us.
If Jesus had just come back from the dead as a ghost, a spirit, that would have been a whole bunch of nothing. Meaningless. That’s not what happened. Jesus came back from the dead, resurrected in His own body—scars and all—but in a body that will not die. That’s the hope that comes from Easter. In the same way He was raised from the dead, you will also be raised. Our hope isn’t just to be disembodied spirits floating around in heaven. Our hope is to live in physical bodies on a New Earth—we will still be ourselves in our own bodies—the way they were meant to be before sin and death corrupted them.
So, if you were one of the disciples in the room that day, what would you be thinking? How would you be feeling? Like it’s all too good to be true? Thrilled out of your mind but at the same time having a hard time believing it’s real. That’s definitely the vibe in the room.
And while they still disbelieved for joy (How’s that for a phrase? “Disbelieved for joy”) and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them. Luke 24:41-43
You have to love that. Jesus is God but He’s also human—and He probably hasn’t eaten since Thursday night at the Last Supper. He’s hungry.
He might be hungry but also, He knows if they see Him eat actual food it’ll go a long way toward convincing them that He’s not a ghost.
I wonder if they stared at Him as awkwardly as my dog watching me eat Doritos?
Well, He has their attention, so while He’s eating, He goes into a Bible study.
Then he said to them, “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 and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures… Luke 24:44-46
Just like when He was on the road to Emmaus with the two disciples, He goes into an introduction to the Old Testament and explains how everything points to Him. The Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms—the entire Old Testament—it’s all about the Christ and it all must be fulfilled.
So, did He open their minds by teaching them? Or did He supernaturally give them the ability to understand by the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit? Or was it both?
I’m going to go with “both” along with Luther and Calvin. Diligent study and exposition of the Bible is absolutely vital but no one is going to understand any of it, especially how it points to Jesus, without the Holy Spirit enabling us to understand and apply God’s word.
So, Jesus is enjoying some nice broiled fish and opening their minds to understand the Bible. Probably covering a lot of the same stuff He said to the disciples on the road to Emmaus earlier that day. He wraps up His study by repeating something He had said many times…
and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. Luke 24:46-47
This is the key to understanding anything in the Scriptures, Old or New Testament. This is how God is saving the world—it’s been the plan all along. Everything that happened to Jesus had to happen, not only because it fulfilled prophecy but because it’s just how God wanted to do it.
These people had lived with Jesus. Their hearts were broken when they helplessly stood by and watched all those horrific things happen to Him. He wanted them to know it was no accident. No mistake. The resurrection wasn't’ God rescuing a failed mission—this was the mission. This was plan A. There was no plan B.
Now it’s their turn. The people in that room watching Him finish off the last of the fish. If the world is going to be saved, if anyone is going to repent and be forgiven of their sins—well, they have a lot of work to do.
This is also plan A.
That the Christ would rise from the dead and then send His followers and His friends, His brothers and sisters—send them out in His name. As Christians. With His authority. With His message of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Send them with the Good News, the Gospel, to all nations beginning from Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is where the story in Luke started, and it’s where His Gospel account will end.
But this is only the beginning. Now they have to let the whole world know what they know—that Jesus died, was raised, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins by trusting in His name is the key to everything.
That might have been a bit intimidating. They might have wondered, why us? We feel vastly underqualified and unprepared for a global initiative to save the entire race of mankind. Why us?
You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.” Luke 24:48-49
Why them? That’s why. They saw it all happen. The miracles, the teaching, everything Jesus did that fulfilled Old Testament Scriptures, His death, His resurrection. They even saw Him eat some fish. Who could argue with that? You can be talked out of an opinion but it’s almost impossible to talk someone out of something they’ve experienced.
But they weren’t going to have to do it alone—not on their own power. Now they were the ones who would be fulfilling prophecies. The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea—God will do this through His church, through the proclamation of the Gospel. They were the church. You are also the church. They weren’t alone and we aren’t either.
Jesus says He’s sending the promise of His Father upon them. You have to notice the Holy Trinity here: Jesus the Son saying the Father promises to send the Holy Spirit.
With the power of the Holy Spirit, the people in that room were going to change the world. Turn it upside down. Start something that gets brighter with every passing generation. The spark ignited in that room would be passed from person to person, spreading to every nation, every tribe, every tongue—from that room two thousand years ago to this room this morning. We’re here with the same promise and same mission. We might be wondering the same thing they were wondering, “How are we going to able to do this thing He’s called us to do?” And it’s the same answer. Not alone. Not on our own power. We will be clothed with power from on high. We have the same promise.
Jesus tells them to wait in Jerusalem until God gives them that power.
Then He hangs around for another 40 days—that’s why there’s 40 days of Easter. Paul says all kinds of people saw Jesus during that time. There were hundreds and hundreds of eyewitnesses who saw the resurrected Jesus—making it impossible to ignore the preaching of the Gospel. Everybody knew someone who knew someone who claimed to have seen the risen Jesus. I understand that it can be hard to believe all these years later, but we have tons of people who went on record to say they were witnesses to the resurrection—we have absolutely no one who went on record to deny it.
And then 40 days later…
And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God. Luke 24:50-53
And it may seem too good to be true, but that’s the end of the Gospel of Luke! Twenty nine months and 89 sermons later!
This last little section is like an epilogue—He didn’t want to leave us hanging, just in case we never have a chance to read his next book: Acts, where he continues telling the story of the early church.
Luke gives this scene a little more attention in the first chapter of Acts—we’ll stick to what he tells us here for now. My plan is to keep going in Acts—after we get finished with Easter.
Jesus leads them out toward Bethany, which is near Jerusalem—it’s where Lazarus, Mary, and Martha lived.
He lifts His hands and gives them a High Priestly blessing— almost certainly with the words from Numbers 6:24—the blessing God told Aaron and his descendants to say over the people. The words should very familiar to you:
May the Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
This is Jesus giving them the promise of His continued protection, favor, grace, and peace.
Then He does His vanishing trick again—with a twist. This time He ascended up into Heaven. We shouldn’t think of this as Jesus flying up into the sky like Superman, beyond the clouds, and then into outer space. If you have to picture it like a superhero movie, it’s probably more like when Iron Man went through the portal to save the planet from aliens—or maybe more to the point—like the multiverse in Dr Strange and Spider-Man.
The Son of God descended from heaven to earth, descended from earth to the grave, ascended from death to life in the resurrection, and then finished His earthly ministry by ascending back to heaven. He entered His creation, became part of it by taking on flesh, and ascended back to the Father with His human body as a permanent eternal part of Himself. In that sense, His humanity ascended to the highest place along with His divinity.
And the disciples worshiped Him. Think about that. The same devote religious people who prayed three times a day, “Hear O Israel, the Lord thy God, the Lord is One. You shall have no other Gods, you shall not bow down or worship them.” These are the people who are worshiping Jesus—and they didn’t change their religion. They absolutely believed that Jesus was the promised Messiah of their Jewish faith. They worshiped Jesus because they were convinced that if they didn’t, that would be refusing to worship the Lord their God—the one true God, YHWH. It was going to take a few hundred years before they had the words to explain why worshiping Jesus was the same thing as worshiping God the Father, Who is also Holy and Spirit. Three persons, One God. Eventually we would call this the Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But they just got it.
Jesus told them to wait in Jerusalem until they received the promise of the Father—the Holy Spirit. So, filled with all the joy, they went to the temple and blessed God. Those same people who were hiding behind closed doors at the beginning of this message—they aren’t afraid of the Jewish leaders anymore. What are they going to do? Kill them? Ha. So what. Jesus isn’t dead! He’s alive!
They did this for the next ten days—50 days after the resurrection if you’re counting. Then on Pentecost they received that promise Jesus was talking about and were filled with all the power they needed to do everything Jesus told them to do.
Luke’s Gospel started at the temple with Zechariah performing his worship duties—now it ends at the temple with the disciples praising God at the temple. It began with the special presence of God on earth being in a tiny baby in Bethlehem—it ends with the curtain in the temple that separated God from people being ripped down the middle—and the special presence of God on the earth preparing to enter His new temple. The people who make up the church. It ends with that small band of disciples being sent into all the earth in Jesus’ name to change the world. And they will.
They changed my world. First of all, none of us would be here, reality as we know it wouldn’t exist—if Jesus hadn’t risen from the dead, if those first disciples hadn’t done their job. Which is true of every generation of Christians carrying the message of the Gospel and passing it to the next generation ever since. But also, it changed my world when I found out who Jesus is when I was fourteen years old—hasn’t been a day since then that I haven’t wanted to share that with someone else.
It may sound too good to be true but Jesus offers you peace in the midst of fear. Peace with whatever you’re going through. Peace knowing that death isn’t the end. Peace with God.
NewChurch, we are not going to let that message get stuck with us. We’re not going to be where it stops. I don’t know how we’re going to do it but we’re going to change the world. We’re going to let people know Jesus is alive. He’s alive and that’s good news for everyone who hears and believes it. This is better news than a new guitar or a record deal. Better than winning the lottery or getting a clean bill of health. Some people might think it sounds too-good-to-be-true but we’re witnesses to the life-changing power of the Gospel, too. That should give us the boldness to tell the world about the hope and peace that only Jesus can give. This is only the beginning.