The Gospel of Luke, chapter 24, verse 36, following as Christ has been raised from the dead and now speaking to his disciples. As they were walking, talking about these things, Jesus Himself stood among them and said, peace to you, but they were startled and frightened, and they thought they saw a spirit. And he said to them, why are you troubled and why do you doubt, do doubts arise in your heart? 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. And while they were still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, have you anything to eat? And they gave him a piece of boiled fish, and he took it and ate it before them. 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 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 and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem. 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're clothed with power from on high. And then 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 worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple, blessing God. This is the Word of the Lord.
Father in heaven, thank you for this gospel of Luke. Thank you for the way in which he ends it. So triumphant, victorious, the disciples is looking up and seeing you as sending. Lord, we pray that in the time we spend here in this text, these really brief moments that we would be transformed. Do we know that only your spirit can do that work so we pray you would remove from us all distractions, remove from us the things that we brought in here with us that would keep us from listening. We're seeing or hearing whether it's cynicism or boredom or Lord, if it's simply so much pain, it's hard to listen to anything. We pray that you would lift our eyes up that we might see rightly. We trust you for this Lord and we know your victory. We pray in Jesus name. Amen. Why would invite you to take the blue friendship pad which is located on the left side of each pew. Simply record your attendance, pass it down the row and recognize those you're worshiping with today. He has risen. Choir has heard this three times so they were ready. Year of the 11 o'clock crowd, there's a reason for that. So let's try again. He has risen. Now say it like you really mean it and listen to the difference. He has risen. Thank you for that. Hallelujah. It's true. It's true. He's risen. Imagine this scene for three years you've been walking with Jesus. He says some strange things. He certainly does things that no normal man can do and then suddenly what you thought was going to happen. This kingly rain comes to a horrific end. He's lifted high on a cross. He's crucified. You and the other disciples scatter. One of them turned him in and now the tomb is open. The report is brought. His body is not there. And now this man, this God is spending time walking on this earth that he made. And he's spending time with the people that he made. And he's spending time with those he called to be his disciples. And when he shows up they're startled. Wouldn't you be?
Here he is. He's in the flesh. They think it's like a spirit but he's not. He's got a body. He proves it because he says, Hey, can you give me something to eat? Can you imagine giving Jesus some of the food that you're eating? Okay. Jesus was really there. Jesus rose. And if he didn't then everything, everything we do as Christians and to think as Christians is pointless. I was thinking about this term which I've never really heard. Easter's Eve. Christmas Eve. But have you ever thought about Easter's Eve? You think of Monday Thursday. You think of Holy Week. You think of Good Friday but Easter's Eve. I never once remember as a child being unable to sleep on Easter's Eve. The thought of running around with my four siblings collecting hard-boiled eggs which I don't like anyway or collecting the plastic ones that open up and there's something inside. Maybe jelly beans. Maybe a nickel. Maybe a dollar if you're the one who gets the lucky egg. Never cause me to say, Mom, Dad, I can't sleep. The thought of my mother's hymn and potato salad and all the different dishes my extended family would bring. Never cause me to lose a wink. Not like Christmas Eve. Christmas Eve, I never slept. Not once. It's still hard for me as an adult because there's something under the tree. There is some form of paradise that's waiting a child. Depending on when you set the gifts out, if it's weeks before, you pick it up, you shake it, you consider what is it that I will open tomorrow that's going to bring me incredible joy. But not Easter's Eve. When I was a youth pastor in Oklahoma City, one of the things I did around Christmas was I encouraged students to give their parents a gift. Sacrifice something. Get them something. Don't re-give. Don't find something in your dad's closet and wrap it up and give it to them again. Be generous. But this one Christmas, I encourage everyone, hundreds of students, bring a box. I'll give you the gift. I'll give you the gift to give your parents. You bring a box. And so all these kids came in with these boxes. I provided wrapping paper and ribbon. I gave them each a box and they were all in different shapes and sizes. So pick the one you want. I said, now wrap it. And they said, but Mark, there's nothing in it. I said, I don't care, wrap it. Just wrap the empty box. And so they did. The girls made beautiful, beautiful packages. And the boys who delegated the responsible to the girls also had beautiful packages. To those other boys, most of them in my discipleship group, there's really didn't look that appealing. Nonetheless, they had a gift, but nothing was in it. I said to the kids, when you go home, set this under your tree, put to mom and dad. And on Christmas morning, when they open it and they see that it's empty, they're going to think you played a joke. But what I want you to do, if you're a Christian, and there were non-Christians that came, they were seeking. They said, but why won't you do if you're a Christian? Because I want you to say, no, mom and dad, there is, there is some meaning to this gift. It's empty, just like the tomb. And that's why Jesus came. That's why he was born as a baby. That he would grow to a man, live a perfect life, and then would die in a horrific, horrific sin, full death on the cross. Our sin, not his own, poured out on him was the Father's wrath. But he beat it. He conquered it. On the third day, he rose, and the tomb was opened and empty. Tell your parents, Mary Christmas, and that's the meaning of Christmas. How would you feel, moms and dads, if that's the gift your children gave you? Pretty powerful, huh? But really and truly it is. Christmas creates an adoring wonder of the gifts that are there. But there is no greater gift than God gave us in this empty tomb. His son raised from the dead. In the passage that Peaches read, it's the end of the gospel of Luke. And if you look at it carefully, far more was opened than the tomb. But if the tomb hadn't been opened, none of it would matter. But so much more was opened. I want to show you a few things. I'm glad you're here. I really am. I'm glad that every one of you are here. And I know some of you have to be here just because you feel like it'll make somebody else happy. And I'm really glad you're here. And I pray all of us will listen. Listen to the wonder of what Christianity really is. Jesus in this Texas, he's walking on the earth, opens more than the tomb. Look with me at verse 44. As Luke records this, he speaks of Jesus, here present with them. He's eating with them. He's talking with them. But in verse 44, he says something so significant. He says, 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 and the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. Here's what that means. Many people look at this Bible. This is the one that's right in front of you and the P right. And they think of it as simply a list of rules. The Christianity is a guidebook, an idea about how to live life. But really that's not accurate. It includes that. But from the beginning of Genesis to the end, this book is the history of redemption. It's an historical book. It records real events that took place from the beginning of creation to the end. And in it, we have the law, Old Testament books, prophets, Old Testament books, the Psalms. And in those books, there are prophecies specific to Jesus, the one who is to come. And every prophecy that was ever made about Jesus is fulfilled perfectly. And so as Jesus is there having fish with his friends, he's saying, remember the many words I spoke to you. These had to be fulfilled. Well, what word specifically? He lays it out. Look with me. He says in verse 46, Thosad is written, that Christ should suffer. And on the third day, rise from the dead. And that repentance and forgiveness of sin should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. So Christ is telling them. Remember what I said. Everything I said has to be fulfilled. And so it is. It was prophesied that I must suffer and die for the sins of the world. I will rise from the dead. I will conquer death. He then speaks of repentance and forgiveness, which is the history of redemption. From the beginning of Genesis to the end, God's pursuit of His people to redeem them. And so here, Jesus is telling them to remember what He said. But in doing so, He opens up something more than the tomb. Look with me at verse 45, then He opened their minds to understand the scriptures. That's so powerful. So easy to miss if you're rushing through this gospel close to the finish line. He opened their minds that they might understand. I want to make a point here. There is not a person here this morning or anywhere in the world who's a Christian that did not need or does not need God to open their mind to see. It's called illumination. None of us would believe this stuff unless God himself would open our minds to see it and to understand it. It's a profound truth. So if you've been seeking Christianity or wondering if you believe it or not, and you've never asked God's help, pray that prayer. Lord show me shine light on this. Imagine this. The disciples walked with Jesus and yet they have a difficult time understanding things. And so Jesus does that work. He opens it up. He doesn't just open up their minds, but He also opens up their eyes that they may see. And then He calls them witnesses. This is profound. If you turn to the book of Mark chapter 8, in fact, why don't you grab the blue Bible in front of you just for fun. Open it up to the book of mark. It's a great book with a great name. Chapter 8 is one of the most incredible stories to make you interested in listening. I'm going to say it this way. It looks as if Jesus failed. It really does. It looks like Jesus failed like He lacked the power to do something that He had already done many times. But why? Well, let me read this story. Mark 8, beginning in verse 22, and they came to Bessata and some people brought to Jesus a blind man and begged him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand and let him out of the village. And when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him a question. Do you see anything? Now listen, Jesus often had people brought to him. He had blind men shout out to him. Jesus son of David have mercy on me. So the blind were often brought to Christ. And in every occasion, recorded in scripture, except this one, Jesus heals them. He touches them where he spits and that gross kids, he spits and then touches their eyes and they see. But this time, Jesus doesn't heal him. He spits, touches his eyes, and then he says to the man, what do you see? Do you see anything? Verse 24, the man responds, he looked up and said, I see men, but they look like trees walking. Think about that. It didn't work. Jesus wasn't in the business of helping people see just a little bit better. He didn't say that'll do. You can walk around now. You were blind, but you're not as blind. Now, you can see trees at least and you either look like people walking. I know that's weird, but be thankful. Jesus did not heal him. And so it looks as if he failed. So what does he do? Verse 25, then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again and he opened his eyes. His sight was restored and he saw everything clearly. Well, if that was Jesus's goal, then why didn't he do that the first time? Is that a worthy question? Jesus didn't fail, but he was seeking to use the powerful illustration of healing a man's sight to show people who were close to him that they see, but they don't yet see. Who are those people? His disciples. Just before this partial miracle took place, Jesus was in the midst of a group of people twice the size. Like he had done once before and probably done more times in Scripture, he had compassion on the crowd that they might be hungry. So he asked for fish. He asked for bread. They brought them to him. He broke them and blessed them in everyone. Groups twice almost three times the size of this crowd. And they ate. The disciples were the very ones who got to go and hand it out and then pick it up. Basketfuls in the feeding of the 5,000, 12 basketfuls were left over and collected. But now, after feeding the 4,000, the disciples find themselves in the boat. They're going to the other side and they're having a discussion. You guys are talking about Mike? Did you bring bread? Did you bring something to eat? No, did you eat? Bring something to eat? No. Nobody brought any food. Whose responsibility was it to bring food? You failed and they have an argument. Yet the whole time, Jesus, the bread of life is in the boat with them. The one they had just witnessed feeding 4,000 people. And so Jesus says, do you have ears but not here? Do you have eyes but not see? And then he takes a blind man who has eyes that don't see and he touches them and they see but they don't see. So what does he do? He touches them again and he sees clearly. If that is his lesson to the disciples who were walking with him on the earth, it must be a lesson for us as well. If you see any truth in Scripture, if you see anything at all that you believe, then thank God that he has done a work and illumination that you might see. Maybe you don't see as well as you thought. Even though you have professed faith for a long time, you can see incorrectly. Pray, God, give me illumination. Now it's interesting in this story, at the end of Luke, Jesus is the one who gives them his understanding. But near the very end of the gospel, verse 48 and 49, Jesus has behold, I'm sending the promise of my Father upon you. The promise of the Father was the Holy Spirit and one of the main roles of the Holy Spirit is to illuminate God's word for us. That's why I always pray before I preach because my words have no power. It's the Holy Spirit moving through his written word and the preached word in your hearts that will let you see. So always pray that prayer. God, illuminate, please. I said earlier that children often give their fathers somewhat meaningless gifts that lack a lot of sacrifice. I gave my dad many ties. I confess sometimes those ties were regifts, ties I've given him years before, maybe he hadn't worn in a while. I also gave him tools, tools that he would never use. The ones that were really cheap. But my dad, I love tools. But a Saturday morning, my dad would use me as his tool. Often. And whenever I heard my dad say, Mark, come here for a minute. I knew it was the beginning of a really bad weekend. I wanted to hold this for me. What was it he wanted me to hold? Flashlight. Fathers, you've done this to your children and you probably had it done to you. Hold this flashlight. There my father pretending to be a mechanic would open the hood of his Ford Falcon for whatever reason that was. And there he would work on it. And I would hold the light. 10 minutes, 15 minutes. The hand begins to shake straight in the eye. Let me see. I got to see. We would get the fight. Often I would drop the light and run away. You laugh because you've done it too. I hated it. That's why when Black and Decker revealed the snake. I was eager to buy one for my dad. Not a worthless gift, a gift that he could use to wrap around some part of the car that could shed light on it perfectly. And I wouldn't have to do it anymore. He loved that gift. Still in his shed. But years later, a grown man in seminary. My dad had a heart condition that required the mitral valve of his heart to be replaced. Facing a serious surgery, the major organ, my dad began to do some business with his maker, so to speak. I wonder what it means if things don't go well with my heart. What does eternity all about? And so where did he turn to his favorite tool? Me, a young man of God, a man he trusted, and he said, would you shed light on what the holy scriptures mean? And so there with this tool in my hands, I read it to my dad and spoke to him about what it means to have eternal life. And he surrendered his life to Christ. It wasn't my words. It was the illumination of the spirit in God's word, causing him to see. He opened his heart. He opened his eyes. He opened his mind and his ears that he might see, hear, think and feel correctly. And so when my dad died just a few years ago and I did the memorial service, I delighted in sharing the story. I just shared with you knowing that he is in the presence of Christ forever. Paradise opened up for him. Jesus and the story that Luke records not only opened up their minds and their eyes, but he also opened up before them the very mission that he was going to give them. He says in verse 48, you are witnesses of these things. Luke writes his entire gospel to give an orderly account by eyewitnesses of who Jesus was. And now the disciples are there. He's very witnesses. And they are to go and make known the message. He's opened up the mission for him. And that continues to be the mission of his church. It's our mission. We are to go and make known the gospel. But two other things were opened up. The very end, the sky opens. Verse 51, 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. They, these men, the people following Christ had the privilege of watching the sky now open up. And here their Savior is ascending. Now what's so significant of that about that is the blessing that he gave them and the promise that one day at a time in which none of us know the sky is going to open again. And Christ will descend in much the same way as he ascended. Listen, maybe even close your eyes as I read this. This comes from Paul in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. Just listen. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with the cry of command and with the voice of an archangel and with the sound of the trumpet of God and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive who are left will be caught up together with them and the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord. Oh, brothers and sisters, hear that. We will always be with the Lord. Therefore, encourage one another with these words. The book of Hebrews says, let us not give up meeting as some are in the habit of doing. That's why you need to come regularly. Let us not give up meeting as some are in the habit of doing but let us encourage one another. And all the more as you see that day approaching, that day is coming. I don't know when it will be. No one knows. So if someone tells you in a prediction, they don't know. Don't listen. All we know is he's coming like a thief in the night and we should be ready. Are you?
You're only ready. If your heart's been opened. You're only ready. If your mind has been opened. You're only ready. If your eyes see rightly and your ears hear rightly and I believe God's grace, he does it and it's powerful and it changes everything. Thomas was a follower of Jesus but he doubted. When news broke that Jesus had risen from the dead, this is what Thomas said. Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails. Unless I place my finger into the mark of the nails and place my hand into his side, all things that were opened. I will never believe doubting Thomas. Eight days later, his disciples were inside again and Thomas was with them. Listen to this. Although the door was locked, Jesus came and stood among them. There was more locked than those doors. Thomas's mind and eyes and ears and heart. Jesus said to Thomas, put your finger here. See my hands and put out your hand and place it in my side. Do you do not disbelieve, Thomas? But believe. Thomas said, my Lord and my God, Jesus said, have you believed because you've seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. Do you believe? If you do, he's blessed you. He's blessed you with eyes that see and ears that hear and a heart that fills and a mind that thinks correctly. If you don't then pray this simple prayer, open me, Lord to you. My heart, my mind, my eyes, my ears. The history of redemption ends in revelation. The third chapter of that book it says, Jesus's words, here I am, I stand at the door and knock. It's closed. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him and he with me. That's Christianity. It's personal. It's God's presence. Forever.
He opens the eyes and the ears and the hearts and the minds of his people that they might believe in the open tomb, the empty open tomb, the greatest gift ever given. Hallelujah. Amen.