LIVING OUT THE LIVING GOSPEL REALITY
Luke 24:36-49: LIFEWAY SPRING QUARTERLY 2021 SESSION 13
One of my favorite Peanuts Comic strips shows Lucy giving “psychiatric” help to Linus her little brother. Linus is anxious and afraid because his first day of school is approaching that Fall. Lucy tells him to “read something” and get his mind off of it. Linus report back later with a big smile and tells how he has read Look Homeward Angel and now he is surrounded by a beautiful sense of “inner peace”. Lucy says: “That’s great! You’re gonna need it because the first day of school is in 48 hours!” Linus shudders!
We all face fear of the “unknown” and we can look in some surprising places to find hope and reassurance that is bigger than those fears, and like Linus we can develop some “false” reassurances that quickly devastate us when we face the realities of life. As we come to the end of the Gospel of Luke the majority of the disciples are still in that place of fear, of not knowing what the future holds AFTER Jesus’ crucifixion and death. The disciples are in need: need of something more than rote memory of Jesus’ words, more than a dream for tomorrow, more than a promise, more but not less than their own understanding of faith and trust in Jesus’ words and commands. The disciples need The Living Gospel reality of the Risen Christ if they are ever to GO about Jesus’ Command of “Living Out the Living Gospel Reality” (see Mt 28:19-20; Mk 16:15, Lk 24:46-48; Jn 20:21-22 and Acts 1:8). And it is in Jesus’ Post-Resurrection appearances that they received just that! The disciples needed: assurance (PEACE), understanding (PRESENCE), and POWER if they were to obey Jesus’ Great Commission and we need the same today as we are called to “Go and make disciples of all nations.” Let’s take a look and be encouraged by our last passage in the Gospel of Luke!
The first thing the disciples need is assurance, take a look at verses 36-41a. The doors are locked, Jesus is “gone” and the disciples are convinced that the religious leaders are coming for them next. They had all abandoned their friend and Rabbi Jesus at His most critical time of need, except for the women, who even in the midst of their grief and confusion remained faithful, loyal, and simply honored Jesus’ death and as a result they beheld the angels and were the first to share the good news of the Resurrection and the now realized Gospel! The 11’s regret and grief over their failure, and their fear kept them from remembering Jesus’ words and kept them from being able to believe the women’s testimony. They were disheartened and it took an excited Cleopas and his companion experiencing and seeing the unseen Christ to begin a glimmer of hope in their distraught souls. That little glimmer is about to explode with the morning light of a returning faith when Jesus out of nowhere stands in their midst! The Risen Savior and King of Kings is there and in the flesh! Fear of spirits and phantoms are the initial response, but note the Risen Christ’s first recorded words to his closest friends: “Peace be with you!”
The disciples are “troubled” physically “shaken” by Jesus’ appearance (who wouldn’t be startled?) I still wonder if Jesus didn’t laugh in a knowing way at their reaction. It helps to be “good natured” and have a sense of humor as a believer. Have you ever had a fright to find out a second later there was nothing to be afraid of? Have you ever had startled shrieks of fear turn into side-splitting laughter when you realize everything is going to be alright- even better than alright? It’s going to be GRAND because of the presence of Him “who can do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine?” (Eph 3:20). Have you been startled by fear to in a moment’s time be surprised by joy?! Waves of relief wash over you, wide eyes and opened mouths, turn into relaxed grins, grins that express the joy within, and that joy brings the laughter and it brings the peace! Some of my fondest memories are laughing heartily with my friends over jokes, stories, movies, recreation, a good meal and coffee. The troubles of the world may not be gone but they are replaced with something greater and more real than the looming phantoms of fearful conjecture- the loving presence and fellowship of a friend! The peace I’m not alone the peace that as troubled as the world may be I have something greater- I have something more- I have a friend! That’s the kind of friend we have in Jesus; He assures us when we are shaken and troubled- His presence, His reality lets us know everything is going to be alright!
The disciples’ confidence had been stolen; the joy of the triumphal entry was replaced with a Roman Cross, hateful crowds, and murderous leaders. These were the things that were at the front of the disciples’ minds filling them with fear instead of Jesus’ fulfillment of scripture. It is no wonder doubts surfaced instead of faith out of their hearts. You will have one or the other as a believer (fear or faith)… Which you will cling to is determined by where and what you are looking at in the trouble. Jesus gives them a set of imperative commands beginning in verse 39 to help them in the shakiness of their faith and the trouble of their souls. He says, “LOOK AT ME!” REACH OUT AND TOUCH THE REALITY; MY REALITY OF THE LIVING GOSPEL- CHRIST JESUS YOUR RISEN SAVIOR AND LORD. Faith (belief in what we cannot see- Heb 11) is essential for the Christian Life (Heb 11:6) but our as of yet unrealized faith is possible because the disciples turned Apostles (those sent) had their faith realized- they were “eye witnesses” to Christ’s physical reality and so will we one day! Jesus was physically raised. He is alive and complete in the fullest sense of the word and more real than anything around us. We can be satisfied with the Gospel, and we can be confident in sharing it because Jesus is real, alive and reigns. He physically defeated death and because of your belief in Him death is defeated for you as well! There is nothing in all this earth for us to be afraid of when we know the reality of the Gospel, when we know Jesus as our personal LORD and Savior (John 16:33). Then why are we afraid? Why do we act in fear instead of submit by faith?
We’ve answered with the first provision in this passage: The Peace of God which is left for us in the presence of Christ Himself grants us assurance and confidence; when we aren’t looking for and at Jesus, when we aren’t reaching and touching the tangible reality of the Gospel in Him we will be crippled by our fears and doubts. And now there is the second the presence of heavenly understanding placed in our minds and our hearts. Cleopas and partner had that understanding placed in their hearts on the road to Emmaus by Jesus’ words and walking with them. Here Jesus opens the disciples’ minds to understand the scriptures (v.45) and show how He has fulfilled them. This is a supernatural intervention and the Bible tells us that we cannot understand the scriptures apart from the help of God and trusting and submitting ourselves to Him (Prov. 3:5-6).
We can read scripture all day long and not understand a word of it- it can be senseless to us if we don’t have the Holy Spirit’s help. The Spirit had not yet come in this passage (that occurs in Acts 2 on Pentecost) so the disciples were dependent upon Jesus to reveal the Truth to them, but in the same way we must have the Truth revealed to us by the Spirit. Jesus reminds them again that He had to suffer and die and on the third day rise again, but now it makes sense when previously it did not. When the Bible or a scripture passage does not make sense to us what should we do? We should ask God to help us (1 Cor 1:18-31, Jas 3:17-18, Jn 3:31-35). We should continue to study and examine the scriptures (Acts 17:11) and we should wait upon the LORD (Ps 33) and not throw up our hands in frustration or act rashly or foolishly (Cleopas and company were rebuked by Jesus for foolishness expressed in leaving Jerusalem instead of staying and waiting for the Risen LORD). The point Luke is making in this passage is not as much that the disciples didn’t understand the scriptures before Jesus came but more that they understood it after He came- the presence of Jesus made all the difference just as the presence of the Spirit makes the difference for us today. The task of sharing and proclaiming the Gospel cannot be accomplished without first being assured and having peace in the reality of the Gospel through Jesus Christ Our LORD. We must be looking at Jesus. Secondly we must have the presence of heavenly knowledge we must have heavenly understanding of God’s Word the Bible and that only comes from God and to those who humbly WAIT upon His Spirit (see Acts 1 and 2).
The third and final provision for accomplishing our ordained task of proclaiming the Gospel is closely tied to the Second. The Holy Spirit not only brings understanding and guides us into all Truth, but He also brings heavenly power and boldness to complete the task (you could reference every single story in the Book of Acts here- as scared disciples in Luke’s Gospel are now fearless Apostles spreading the Kingdom!) These disciples were radically transformed by Jesus and by His Gospel. Did they have troubles? YES. Did they end up suffering as Jesus suffered? YES. Did they carry their crosses? YES. Even with great revivals did they still experience the world’s brokenness? YES. BUT what made the difference was they were living out the living reality of the Gospel found in the Risen Savior and LORD Jesus Christ and we live that same reality today! Their sins were washed away, they knew their future was secure, they had the Spirit in them and guiding them and they had confidence in the Kingdom coming to work and expand Christ’s Kingdom already established. No step or action they took in life from that moment on would they not from somewhere in the depths of their soul know and be reminded of the Risen LORD. Fear, apathy, cowardliness, paranoia, cynicism, faithlessness, despair were replaced with joy, confidence, enthusiasm, hope, love, and faithfulness (the very fruits of the Spirit- Gal 5:22-23)! The old was gone and the new had come (2 Cor 5:17). We too live a NEW LIFE in Christ! It is incredulous to me how often the Church in America separates the Command of the Great Commission in the Gospels from its necessary provision of Christians knowing, using and being empowered by their NEW LIFE IN CHRIST and the presence of the Risen LORD before they start discipling others! It is reminiscent of Jesus’ words about the blind leading the blind and ending up in a pit (Lk 6:39-40).
Seminars, evangelism conferences, organizations, agencies, church planters, and some of the “smartest people in the room” spend huge amounts of time and resources telling us how to evangelize, how to think strategically and strategize while planning tactically. They help us measure “success and failure” with new measuring sticks and we are told unintentionally and with good motives but devastating effects how horrible a job we are doing in proclaiming the Gospel. How do we know we are doing terribly? “Look at the worsening mess of this broken world and the decline of the Church in America” they say… Yet, when are the results of our proclaiming ever up to us? Yes, it is true the Church is declining in America, and yes things are “bad” out there- at least they seem that way. Yet how does that affect/effect YOUR heart believer? Does confidence, courage, strong testimony and joy in the proclaiming come from being reminded of our failures and regrets in upholding the Commission or from the Victory already won in the REAL and Risen Christ? The quality and strength of the discipleship through the Gospel we teach, train, and proclaim is reflected often by the quality and condition of our hearts and the personal confidence we possess IN what we preach. Our confidence is in Jesus. We can’t tell people they are “lost” and need a Savior when we can’t express, realize or grasp the joy we have experienced in being found ourselves and knowing intimately the real and risen LORD. We must start daily with the Amazing Love of God and the tender patience by which He forgives us, cleanses us, teaches us and leads us to the victory we have in Him by grace through faith in spite of our failures and regrets just like we see here at the end of Luke. It is the RISEN LORD who tenderly and patiently finishes the Apostles discipleship just as the Spirit does ours (Phil 1:3-11).
The strength of the Apostles’ testimony and proclamation did not come from their “sufferings for Christ” or even from their places of pain but from the joy of the LORD from touching the Real and Risen Savior in their midst! Do you want to proclaim the Gospel? Do you want to make disciples of all nations? Then EVERY day as you go, pause and be surprised by joy. Stop wallowing in your failures and instead relish in Christ’s victory and know everything’s gonna be alright as you depend on Him and go proclaiming the Name that makes it right! Turn that frown upside down. Stop listening to those who are derailing your vigor while enhancing your anxiety and fear by reminding us constantly of what’s wrong. While that might win elections, make careers and sadly even build some decrepit churches it won’t save souls! Listen instead to the WORD of God and follow the Spirit so that your faith may be strengthened, your joy and peace be made complete and your testimony be made compelling!
As we bring our written studies to a close (at least for awhile) I pray you have seen how much God loves you! I pray that you have seen this last year and a half differently than from the turmoil around us. I hope you have been reminded that God is still very much in control and it is He that grows His Kingdom simply through us making ourselves available to Him- pausing, learning, being encouraged at His feet. I pray you know His risen presence is with us and that HE is greater than our sorrow, and pain. That it is He who fills us with joy, faith, hope, love and confidence! Let others see Jesus at work in you and remember we are apt to forget that if we don’t take that pause before we go! Love to you all. Remember Jesus’ best is all for you so that you can give Him the best of all you are! Thank you for sharing this time with me every week since March of 2020 and I pray that all the best will shine out of us as His Church in the days ahead as we Go! It is joy to walk this road together with you! Darrin.
