The Joyful Message

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14 Apr 2024

The Joyful Message

Passage Luke 24:36-53

Speaker Hugh Bourne

Service Evening

Series Easter Hope with Dr. Luke

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Passage: Luke 24:36-53

36 While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’

37 They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. 38 He said to them, ‘Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? 39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.’

40 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. 41 And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, ‘Do you have anything here to eat?’ 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate it in their presence.

44 He said to them, ‘This is what I told you while I was still with you: everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.’

45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, ‘This is what is written: the Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.’

50 When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. 51 While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. 52 Then they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. 53 And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.

New International Version - UK (NIVUK)

Holy Bible, New International Version® Anglicized, NIV® Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Transcript (Auto-generated)

This transcript has been automatically generated, and therefore may not be 100% accurate.

Liz, thank you so much for reading for us. Please do keep your bibles open in Luke, chapter 24. James, thank you so much for praying for us. You prayed that we might understand more about the ascension. That will have to be another time.

I haven't got that far. We're still on the resurrection, I'm afraid. But you see at the end of our passage, the ascension of Jesus there for another time. Come back on Ascension day. We'll do it then.

I wonder if you saw the recent interview that Richard Dawkins did on El radio. He was talking about. He was talking about religion. He was. Likes to talk about religion, doesn't he?

For someone who doesn't really like religion, he seems to talk about it an awful lot. And he said, christianity is fundamentally decent. I mean, that's a high praise indeed, isn't it? And he even called himself kind of Christian. He said, culturally, I'm a Christian.

I live in a christian world. I appreciate lots of the things that Christianity has brought over the centuries. But then he laughs at the idea of it being true. He said, I don't believe Jesus rose from the dead, and I don't believe that you do either. He says, I like some of the stuff that Christianity has brought about, but I don't believe it's true.

Compare that with the Bible writers, and especially the apostle Paul, who in one corinthians, chapter 15, he says, actually, guys, if it's not true, if it's not true, it's all a waste of time. In fact, if it's not true, you should be laughing at us, because even if you think there's any benefits to the christian story, if it's not true, it ain't worth following. It lacks any value.

And as we look at Luke chapter 24 tonight, Luke wants us to see that it really is true and it really is valuable. It really does change our lives and the course of history. In fact, Luke tells us that at the very beginning of his letter, some of these books of the Bible, they tell us really clearly what the purpose of the person writing was. In Luke chapter one, he tells us, he says, I've put together an orderly account, an account of the eyewitnesses, the people who actually saw these events. I've gone and spoken to them.

I've heard their stories. I've written it down so that you might hear their stories, too. You might be able to weigh the evidence. You might be able to see the truth. And he goes on to say, I've written it down so that you may know the certainty of the things you've been taught, the things you've heard, that you might see the truth of the resurrection, that you might be assured of its goodness, the goodness of the message for you.

And I really battle with this passage. The thing is, there's a stereotype about preachers and sermons that the preacher is desperately looking for a set of points that will begin with the same letter. And they just fell out in front of me. I couldn't help it. But it's easy to remember, isn't it?

So there's going to be four things beginning with P. I'm not going to tell you what they are now. You're going to wait and see what they are, and you might see some of them coming. Okay, so we're going to keep a little bit of suspense, but not too much. You do know there's four, and they all begin with P.

And I want to do that by way of two questions. And the first question I want to ask, which I think is what Luke is trying to help us see, is what kind of resurrection is this?

Because this is a new thing, isn't it? People don't come alive again. People don't come back from the dead. We know the word resurrection, we know what it means because of Jesus. But this is a new thing.

This is a once in history thing. Jesus risen from the dead, a resurrection. And so Luke is helping us to see, well, what kind of resurrection is it, what has actually happened? And the first thing he really wants us to see is that this is a physical resurrection. A physical resurrection.

It doesn't sound like a p, does it? But it is a p physical resurrection. Did you notice the big doubt that was raised in the disciples minds? It's there in verse 37. It says they were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost.

When they first meet Jesus, they don't actually think it's Jesus risen from the dead. They think it's a ghost, they think it's a spirit, because they know that people don't come back from the dead. They thought it was a ghost, a spirit, a vision of Jesus, but not really physical. That doesn't happen. And of course, that's what some might say, isn't it?

Well, the resurrection didn't really happen, did it? The disciples just imagined that they wanted Jesus to come back from the dead. They kind of imagined that he had, they imagined they saw him there in the room. But here Jesus shows his disciples, and Luke explains to us that this just wasn't the case. You see, throughout this passage, Jesus is really keen to stress to them his physicality.

Verse 39. He says, look. Look at my hands and my feet. Why are his hands and feet? Well, that's where the nails that crucified him were.

Look. See my scars? He says, touch me. Touch them. It's really me.

I'm really here. I'm physical. You can see me. You can touch me. A ghost, a spirit, doesn't have flesh and bones like I do.

Touch, see? And they're in shock and amazement. They're in disbelief. You see, they weren't easily taken in by what they saw and heard. They didn't just think, oh, great, Jesus was risen from the dead.

No, they were shocked. Who is this? People don't come back from the dead. And yet he's here. He's talking to us.

We can see him, we can see the scars, we can touch him.

And so Jesus is keen to stress again his physicality, that he really is there in body. What does he do? Verse 41.

Do you have anything here to eat? They gave him a piece of broiled fish and he took it and ate it in their presence. Again, he wants to stress he's really there in body, physical. He's taking food, he's eating it. And this isn't like one of those scenes from Caspar, the friendly ghost or whatever the ghost cartoons were, where they eat and the food just falls out the bottom.

No, he's real. He's there in body. The food goes into his stomach. Jesus has really, truly, physically bought bodily, been raised from the dead. And this is really good news for at least two reasons, lots more as well, but at least two reasons.

Firstly, it's tangible evidence of the resurrection. The physical, bodily resurrection of Jesus allows his disciples and many other witnesses to see and touch for themselves. You see, the empty tomb on Easter morning is the first bit of evidence, isn't it? Where is he? The angel says he's risen.

Okay, but I haven't seen him yet. I'm going to need more proof than that. And so there he is, quite literally, the evidence fleshed out for them. But secondly, it shows us something of the substance of the christian hope. Christians are not people who are hoping purely for a spiritual resurrection, disembodied spirits floating on clouds, rather.

Our hope is for resurrection bodies. Our hope is for a renewed creation, more real, more solid, more tangible than anything we know. You see, this is the kind of resurrection that we believe in, a real, bodily, physical resurrection. Not everyone believes that. Not everyone who would call themselves a Christian believes that, but we do.

And that makes us the craziest. Kind of christians, that we actually believe that someone came back from the dead. But it also makes us the most hopeful christians because we believe there is actually something real and physical to hope for, not only now, but in the future for eternal life. You see, Jesus is really keen that we know this was a physical resurrection, and Luke wants to show us the evidence of the eyewitnesses there. But here's the second thing that marks out this resurrection.

What kind of resurrection is it? It's personal. It's personal? That's a bit more of a p, isn't it? Personal?

The resurrection is the biggest news in history. It's completely transforming for the whole human race, the whole of history. And at this point, Jesus would really benefit from a booking agent, you know, someone to get him out there, someone to get him on the talk shows, someone to get him interviewed, someone to get him in the press. This is amazing news that's going to change the whole world, the whole of history. He really should now be embarking on some kind of tour.

Jerusalem, Athens, Rome. Let's go. So people can see this is without doubt the biggest news ever. But we don't find Jesus here caught in the media or seeking the spotlight, rather. Where is he?

He's with his friends. He's come to be with his closest friends, his disciples. They're the ones who see him. They touch him, they hear him. Jesus is in their presence.

He's eating with them, discerning their fears, calming their worries, speaking into their doubts, explaining to them what's happened, teaching them from the Bible.

He's there with his friends. Do you remember Luke Litler, the teenage dart sensation? He shot to fame, age 16, taking on the world of darts. And he's in all the press and they say, how are you celebrating? This is.

I want to have a kebab with my friends. What? This is like you're the front page of every newspaper having kebab with my friends. Or heard last week the story of Nick Jenkins. You remember Nick Jenkins?

He was one of the dragon's den people. He founded Moonpig. Moonpig.com. That one is the cards. Yeah.

And he sold Moonpig and he made loads of money, like 120 million plus. And he was on Stephen Bartlett's, who's also dragon, his podcast the other week. And Stephen said, what did you do after that? You've just founded this amazing company. You sold it from hundreds of millions.

So what do you do? He said, well, I got on my bike, I cycled home and I made a peanut butter sandwich and told my wife about it. This is the biggest thing, the biggest news in your life ever, and you're just having a sandwich with your friends. Amazing news, celebrated in the ordinary and everyday. You see, the message of the resurrection is paradoxically the biggest news in the history of the universe.

And a message that is firstly delivered intimately to a small group of Jesus closest friends. You see, that's what makes the christian story so radical and so compelling. The God who made the universe came to die for you. The king of all creation. He knows you by name.

He loves you. The only one in history who defeated death calls you his friend. Wow.

You see, the resurrection accounts are history, their eyewitness testimonies. But they're not designed just to be read as a record of events. Rather, consider them an invitation. An invitation for you to believe. To believe that Jesus was raised for you just as much as he was for those first disciples.

So today, Luke invites us, as though by name, just like he addresses this book that he's written to his friend Theophilus.

Consider an invitation to trust this good news. What kind of resurrection? Physical, real. What kind of resurrection, personal, is for you? Here's the second question.

What difference does the resurrection make? What makes? Lots of difference. But just two things to consider tonight. Two things which bookend this encounter between Jesus and his disciples.

Here's the first one. You should know what's coming now. If you've read the passage, you'll know what's coming. What is it? What's the next piece?

Peace. Yeah, peace. That's how Jesus introduced himself at the start of the passage, isn't it? Verse 36. Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, peace be with you.

Peace be with you. And this is. It's so much more than a greeting, especially when you look at the disciples who are startled, frightened, troubled, doubting, unbelieving, overjoyed, amazed. There are so many emotions in one room, so much uncertainty. And Jesus comes in and speaks peace.

This word peace is used in lots of different ways throughout the New Testament. Sometimes it is used as a greeting. Paul often starts his letters, let that peace be with you. What is he saying? He is reminding them that you are God's friends.

Peace, friendship.

Know that God loves you. It's a greeting, but it's also a message to be believed. Luke, later on in his second book, the Book of acts, records Peter preaching acts, chapter ten. And this is the point where Peter realises that the message of Jesus, the good news of the resurrection, is good news for the whole world. And he describes it in those terms of peace, good news of peace through Jesus Christ.

There's something at the heart of this very message which speaks peace to those, even who are very distant, who've never heard of Jesus before. His life, his death, his resurrection, is a message of peace, peace with God. It's also an experience. An experience, a gift given by the Holy Spirit to be enjoyed. Towards the end of Paul's letter, the Romans, he writes, may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust him.

Peace is a gift from God which christian people can enjoy as we trust the risen Jesus.

Do you see again how the resurrection, so deeply personal, peace is good news for the whole world. It's a message for everyone, and at the same time, it's how Jesus greets his friends.

It's a gift for his followers to enjoy. Just as the disciples, amid all their mixed up emotions, found that he could bring peace, bringing joy from fears, bringing hope from uncertainty, bringing faith from their doubts, so too, Jesus brings peace to his people. Today, this room, I know, too, will be filled with all sorts of emotions, fears and worries. Bad news that's been received, good news that we're still waiting on. I don't know all your situations, but I do know some.

But what I can be sure of is that there is no fear, no worry, no doubt that isn't somehow transformed by the resurrection of Jesus, no situation that Jesus isn't able to speak peace into. That's not to say he magics it away. He makes it disappear.

But the hope of the resurrection, the peace of the Lord, Jesus is able to bring some kind of comfort to every situation. No matter how hard you see, Jesus still speaks peace because he's still at work today. He's promised to be with his people forever, and he never breaks his promise. That's the fourth p. Promises.

What difference does the resurrection make? Well, it demonstrates, it proves beyond any doubt that God really is able to keep his promises, even the really big ones. Jesus reminds his disciples of the promises that he made and the promises made about him throughout the Old Testament. Did you see some of those? Like in verse 44, it says, this is what I told you while I was with you.

Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets and the psalms. That's kind of shorthand for the Old Testament, really. Everything written about me, it's been fulfilled. Or verse 46, it says, he told them, this is what is written. The messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day.

Promise made promise kept.

See, Jesus is here, and he is fulfilling, in front of their eyes, the biggest promise of them all raised from the dead. So how should we then feel about the promises that he goes on to make? Verse 47. He promises that repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations. That's a promise.

So this is going to happen next. Or verse 49, he says, I'm going to send you what my father has promised. He's talking about the Holy Spirit, but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high. He promises it. And we're going to read in Luke's next book, the Book of acts, that it really does happen.

On the day of Pentecost. He promises that this good news is going global as the disciples are empowered by the Holy Spirit. And sure enough, it happens. At Pentecost. His disciples are transformed and the gospel, this good news of Jesus, becomes unstoppable.

If God can keep these promises, how much more, as Luke wants us to be assured, can we be sure that he is able to keep his other promises? I just come back from a week in Scotland, and everyone in Scotland says to you, they say this phrase, they say, nay bother. Nay bother. It's nay bother that means not a bother, no worries. And that is what God says about his promises.

No bother, nay bother resurrection, nay bother the gospel going to the nation. No, nay bother. It's not a bother. It's not a bother for God to keep his promises. That's what he does.

He always does it. He never doesn't keep his promise. Now, there's all sorts of things he doesn't promise. He doesn't promise us amazing wealth, perfect health, doesn't promise us comfort, doesn't promise us all the relationships we desire, doesn't promise us an easy life. There's lots he does promise to his followers.

He promises that you will never be separated from him in life or death. He promises that he'll give you eternal life.

He promises he'll love you as a father and provide for your needs. He promises to carry your burdens and give you true rest.

Promises the most amazing inheritance that nothing or no one can take away.

This little Easter book. There's a few copies still left at the back. That closes with another promise of Jesus. Promise from John, chapter five. Jesus says, very truly, I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged, but has crossed over from death to life.

What an amazing promise. Life, eternal life. If you'd like to explore that more. Please do. Take a copy of this book.

There's some in the porch, some at the back. You see, the resurrection, more than anything else, proves to me that in history, in the flesh, in his body, that you could see and touch, that God kept his promises. He did then, and he will today. And these promises, they're profoundly personal. They're for me and they're for you.

They're for all who would trust the Lord Jesus. And that's why Luke writes. He wants us to be sure. He wants us to have a quiet, humble confidence that because he did it then, he'll do it for you now. And, friends, if you're here tonight, and you wouldn't call yourself a follower of the Lord Jesus, can I encourage you to consider Luke's appeal afresh?

This doctor Luke, as he gets together the evidence, lays out the eyewitness accounts, he knows this is the best news ever. He knows it's true news, and he wants you to know it and believe it, too, because he knows that it's the best news ever. Not just news out there, it is global news for the whole universe, but news here, news for each one of us that we can know Jesus and his life now and forever. Amen.

36 While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’

37 They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. 38 He said to them, ‘Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? 39 Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.’

40 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. 41 And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, ‘Do you have anything here to eat?’ 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate it in their presence.

44 He said to them, ‘This is what I told you while I was still with you: everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.’

45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, ‘This is what is written: the Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.’

50 When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. 51 While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. 52 Then they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. 53 And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.

New International Version – UK (NIVUK)

Holy Bible, New International Version® Anglicized, NIV® Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

This transcript has been automatically generated and therefore may not be 100% accurate

Liz, thank you so much for reading for us. Please do keep your bibles open in Luke, chapter 24. James, thank you so much for praying for us. You prayed that we might understand more about the ascension. That will have to be another time.

I haven’t got that far. We’re still on the resurrection, I’m afraid. But you see at the end of our passage, the ascension of Jesus there for another time. Come back on Ascension day. We’ll do it then.

I wonder if you saw the recent interview that Richard Dawkins did on El radio. He was talking about. He was talking about religion. He was. Likes to talk about religion, doesn’t he?

For someone who doesn’t really like religion, he seems to talk about it an awful lot. And he said, christianity is fundamentally decent. I mean, that’s a high praise indeed, isn’t it? And he even called himself kind of Christian. He said, culturally, I’m a Christian.

I live in a christian world. I appreciate lots of the things that Christianity has brought over the centuries. But then he laughs at the idea of it being true. He said, I don’t believe Jesus rose from the dead, and I don’t believe that you do either. He says, I like some of the stuff that Christianity has brought about, but I don’t believe it’s true.

Compare that with the Bible writers, and especially the apostle Paul, who in one corinthians, chapter 15, he says, actually, guys, if it’s not true, if it’s not true, it’s all a waste of time. In fact, if it’s not true, you should be laughing at us, because even if you think there’s any benefits to the christian story, if it’s not true, it ain’t worth following. It lacks any value.

And as we look at Luke chapter 24 tonight, Luke wants us to see that it really is true and it really is valuable. It really does change our lives and the course of history. In fact, Luke tells us that at the very beginning of his letter, some of these books of the Bible, they tell us really clearly what the purpose of the person writing was. In Luke chapter one, he tells us, he says, I’ve put together an orderly account, an account of the eyewitnesses, the people who actually saw these events. I’ve gone and spoken to them.

I’ve heard their stories. I’ve written it down so that you might hear their stories, too. You might be able to weigh the evidence. You might be able to see the truth. And he goes on to say, I’ve written it down so that you may know the certainty of the things you’ve been taught, the things you’ve heard, that you might see the truth of the resurrection, that you might be assured of its goodness, the goodness of the message for you.

And I really battle with this passage. The thing is, there’s a stereotype about preachers and sermons that the preacher is desperately looking for a set of points that will begin with the same letter. And they just fell out in front of me. I couldn’t help it. But it’s easy to remember, isn’t it?

So there’s going to be four things beginning with P. I’m not going to tell you what they are now. You’re going to wait and see what they are, and you might see some of them coming. Okay, so we’re going to keep a little bit of suspense, but not too much. You do know there’s four, and they all begin with P.

And I want to do that by way of two questions. And the first question I want to ask, which I think is what Luke is trying to help us see, is what kind of resurrection is this?

Because this is a new thing, isn’t it? People don’t come alive again. People don’t come back from the dead. We know the word resurrection, we know what it means because of Jesus. But this is a new thing.

This is a once in history thing. Jesus risen from the dead, a resurrection. And so Luke is helping us to see, well, what kind of resurrection is it, what has actually happened? And the first thing he really wants us to see is that this is a physical resurrection. A physical resurrection.

It doesn’t sound like a p, does it? But it is a p physical resurrection. Did you notice the big doubt that was raised in the disciples minds? It’s there in verse 37. It says they were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost.

When they first meet Jesus, they don’t actually think it’s Jesus risen from the dead. They think it’s a ghost, they think it’s a spirit, because they know that people don’t come back from the dead. They thought it was a ghost, a spirit, a vision of Jesus, but not really physical. That doesn’t happen. And of course, that’s what some might say, isn’t it?

Well, the resurrection didn’t really happen, did it? The disciples just imagined that they wanted Jesus to come back from the dead. They kind of imagined that he had, they imagined they saw him there in the room. But here Jesus shows his disciples, and Luke explains to us that this just wasn’t the case. You see, throughout this passage, Jesus is really keen to stress to them his physicality.

Verse 39. He says, look. Look at my hands and my feet. Why are his hands and feet? Well, that’s where the nails that crucified him were.

Look. See my scars? He says, touch me. Touch them. It’s really me.

I’m really here. I’m physical. You can see me. You can touch me. A ghost, a spirit, doesn’t have flesh and bones like I do.

Touch, see? And they’re in shock and amazement. They’re in disbelief. You see, they weren’t easily taken in by what they saw and heard. They didn’t just think, oh, great, Jesus was risen from the dead.

No, they were shocked. Who is this? People don’t come back from the dead. And yet he’s here. He’s talking to us.

We can see him, we can see the scars, we can touch him.

And so Jesus is keen to stress again his physicality, that he really is there in body. What does he do? Verse 41.

Do you have anything here to eat? They gave him a piece of broiled fish and he took it and ate it in their presence. Again, he wants to stress he’s really there in body, physical. He’s taking food, he’s eating it. And this isn’t like one of those scenes from Caspar, the friendly ghost or whatever the ghost cartoons were, where they eat and the food just falls out the bottom.

No, he’s real. He’s there in body. The food goes into his stomach. Jesus has really, truly, physically bought bodily, been raised from the dead. And this is really good news for at least two reasons, lots more as well, but at least two reasons.

Firstly, it’s tangible evidence of the resurrection. The physical, bodily resurrection of Jesus allows his disciples and many other witnesses to see and touch for themselves. You see, the empty tomb on Easter morning is the first bit of evidence, isn’t it? Where is he? The angel says he’s risen.

Okay, but I haven’t seen him yet. I’m going to need more proof than that. And so there he is, quite literally, the evidence fleshed out for them. But secondly, it shows us something of the substance of the christian hope. Christians are not people who are hoping purely for a spiritual resurrection, disembodied spirits floating on clouds, rather.

Our hope is for resurrection bodies. Our hope is for a renewed creation, more real, more solid, more tangible than anything we know. You see, this is the kind of resurrection that we believe in, a real, bodily, physical resurrection. Not everyone believes that. Not everyone who would call themselves a Christian believes that, but we do.

And that makes us the craziest. Kind of christians, that we actually believe that someone came back from the dead. But it also makes us the most hopeful christians because we believe there is actually something real and physical to hope for, not only now, but in the future for eternal life. You see, Jesus is really keen that we know this was a physical resurrection, and Luke wants to show us the evidence of the eyewitnesses there. But here’s the second thing that marks out this resurrection.

What kind of resurrection is it? It’s personal. It’s personal? That’s a bit more of a p, isn’t it? Personal?

The resurrection is the biggest news in history. It’s completely transforming for the whole human race, the whole of history. And at this point, Jesus would really benefit from a booking agent, you know, someone to get him out there, someone to get him on the talk shows, someone to get him interviewed, someone to get him in the press. This is amazing news that’s going to change the whole world, the whole of history. He really should now be embarking on some kind of tour.

Jerusalem, Athens, Rome. Let’s go. So people can see this is without doubt the biggest news ever. But we don’t find Jesus here caught in the media or seeking the spotlight, rather. Where is he?

He’s with his friends. He’s come to be with his closest friends, his disciples. They’re the ones who see him. They touch him, they hear him. Jesus is in their presence.

He’s eating with them, discerning their fears, calming their worries, speaking into their doubts, explaining to them what’s happened, teaching them from the Bible.

He’s there with his friends. Do you remember Luke Litler, the teenage dart sensation? He shot to fame, age 16, taking on the world of darts. And he’s in all the press and they say, how are you celebrating? This is.

I want to have a kebab with my friends. What? This is like you’re the front page of every newspaper having kebab with my friends. Or heard last week the story of Nick Jenkins. You remember Nick Jenkins?

He was one of the dragon’s den people. He founded Moonpig. Moonpig.com. That one is the cards. Yeah.

And he sold Moonpig and he made loads of money, like 120 million plus. And he was on Stephen Bartlett’s, who’s also dragon, his podcast the other week. And Stephen said, what did you do after that? You’ve just founded this amazing company. You sold it from hundreds of millions.

So what do you do? He said, well, I got on my bike, I cycled home and I made a peanut butter sandwich and told my wife about it. This is the biggest thing, the biggest news in your life ever, and you’re just having a sandwich with your friends. Amazing news, celebrated in the ordinary and everyday. You see, the message of the resurrection is paradoxically the biggest news in the history of the universe.

And a message that is firstly delivered intimately to a small group of Jesus closest friends. You see, that’s what makes the christian story so radical and so compelling. The God who made the universe came to die for you. The king of all creation. He knows you by name.

He loves you. The only one in history who defeated death calls you his friend. Wow.

You see, the resurrection accounts are history, their eyewitness testimonies. But they’re not designed just to be read as a record of events. Rather, consider them an invitation. An invitation for you to believe. To believe that Jesus was raised for you just as much as he was for those first disciples.

So today, Luke invites us, as though by name, just like he addresses this book that he’s written to his friend Theophilus.

Consider an invitation to trust this good news. What kind of resurrection? Physical, real. What kind of resurrection, personal, is for you? Here’s the second question.

What difference does the resurrection make? What makes? Lots of difference. But just two things to consider tonight. Two things which bookend this encounter between Jesus and his disciples.

Here’s the first one. You should know what’s coming now. If you’ve read the passage, you’ll know what’s coming. What is it? What’s the next piece?

Peace. Yeah, peace. That’s how Jesus introduced himself at the start of the passage, isn’t it? Verse 36. Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, peace be with you.

Peace be with you. And this is. It’s so much more than a greeting, especially when you look at the disciples who are startled, frightened, troubled, doubting, unbelieving, overjoyed, amazed. There are so many emotions in one room, so much uncertainty. And Jesus comes in and speaks peace.

This word peace is used in lots of different ways throughout the New Testament. Sometimes it is used as a greeting. Paul often starts his letters, let that peace be with you. What is he saying? He is reminding them that you are God’s friends.

Peace, friendship.

Know that God loves you. It’s a greeting, but it’s also a message to be believed. Luke, later on in his second book, the Book of acts, records Peter preaching acts, chapter ten. And this is the point where Peter realises that the message of Jesus, the good news of the resurrection, is good news for the whole world. And he describes it in those terms of peace, good news of peace through Jesus Christ.

There’s something at the heart of this very message which speaks peace to those, even who are very distant, who’ve never heard of Jesus before. His life, his death, his resurrection, is a message of peace, peace with God. It’s also an experience. An experience, a gift given by the Holy Spirit to be enjoyed. Towards the end of Paul’s letter, the Romans, he writes, may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust him.

Peace is a gift from God which christian people can enjoy as we trust the risen Jesus.

Do you see again how the resurrection, so deeply personal, peace is good news for the whole world. It’s a message for everyone, and at the same time, it’s how Jesus greets his friends.

It’s a gift for his followers to enjoy. Just as the disciples, amid all their mixed up emotions, found that he could bring peace, bringing joy from fears, bringing hope from uncertainty, bringing faith from their doubts, so too, Jesus brings peace to his people. Today, this room, I know, too, will be filled with all sorts of emotions, fears and worries. Bad news that’s been received, good news that we’re still waiting on. I don’t know all your situations, but I do know some.

But what I can be sure of is that there is no fear, no worry, no doubt that isn’t somehow transformed by the resurrection of Jesus, no situation that Jesus isn’t able to speak peace into. That’s not to say he magics it away. He makes it disappear.

But the hope of the resurrection, the peace of the Lord, Jesus is able to bring some kind of comfort to every situation. No matter how hard you see, Jesus still speaks peace because he’s still at work today. He’s promised to be with his people forever, and he never breaks his promise. That’s the fourth p. Promises.

What difference does the resurrection make? Well, it demonstrates, it proves beyond any doubt that God really is able to keep his promises, even the really big ones. Jesus reminds his disciples of the promises that he made and the promises made about him throughout the Old Testament. Did you see some of those? Like in verse 44, it says, this is what I told you while I was with you.

Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets and the psalms. That’s kind of shorthand for the Old Testament, really. Everything written about me, it’s been fulfilled. Or verse 46, it says, he told them, this is what is written. The messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day.

Promise made promise kept.

See, Jesus is here, and he is fulfilling, in front of their eyes, the biggest promise of them all raised from the dead. So how should we then feel about the promises that he goes on to make? Verse 47. He promises that repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations. That’s a promise.

So this is going to happen next. Or verse 49, he says, I’m going to send you what my father has promised. He’s talking about the Holy Spirit, but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high. He promises it. And we’re going to read in Luke’s next book, the Book of acts, that it really does happen.

On the day of Pentecost. He promises that this good news is going global as the disciples are empowered by the Holy Spirit. And sure enough, it happens. At Pentecost. His disciples are transformed and the gospel, this good news of Jesus, becomes unstoppable.

If God can keep these promises, how much more, as Luke wants us to be assured, can we be sure that he is able to keep his other promises? I just come back from a week in Scotland, and everyone in Scotland says to you, they say this phrase, they say, nay bother. Nay bother. It’s nay bother that means not a bother, no worries. And that is what God says about his promises.

No bother, nay bother resurrection, nay bother the gospel going to the nation. No, nay bother. It’s not a bother. It’s not a bother for God to keep his promises. That’s what he does.

He always does it. He never doesn’t keep his promise. Now, there’s all sorts of things he doesn’t promise. He doesn’t promise us amazing wealth, perfect health, doesn’t promise us comfort, doesn’t promise us all the relationships we desire, doesn’t promise us an easy life. There’s lots he does promise to his followers.

He promises that you will never be separated from him in life or death. He promises that he’ll give you eternal life.

He promises he’ll love you as a father and provide for your needs. He promises to carry your burdens and give you true rest.

Promises the most amazing inheritance that nothing or no one can take away.

This little Easter book. There’s a few copies still left at the back. That closes with another promise of Jesus. Promise from John, chapter five. Jesus says, very truly, I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged, but has crossed over from death to life.

What an amazing promise. Life, eternal life. If you’d like to explore that more. Please do. Take a copy of this book.

There’s some in the porch, some at the back. You see, the resurrection, more than anything else, proves to me that in history, in the flesh, in his body, that you could see and touch, that God kept his promises. He did then, and he will today. And these promises, they’re profoundly personal. They’re for me and they’re for you.

They’re for all who would trust the Lord Jesus. And that’s why Luke writes. He wants us to be sure. He wants us to have a quiet, humble confidence that because he did it then, he’ll do it for you now. And, friends, if you’re here tonight, and you wouldn’t call yourself a follower of the Lord Jesus, can I encourage you to consider Luke’s appeal afresh?

This doctor Luke, as he gets together the evidence, lays out the eyewitness accounts, he knows this is the best news ever. He knows it’s true news, and he wants you to know it and believe it, too, because he knows that it’s the best news ever. Not just news out there, it is global news for the whole universe, but news here, news for each one of us that we can know Jesus and his life now and forever. Amen.

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