Sermon Transcript:All right, we've already worship this morning and I just get the privilege of sort of shepherding us through the next few moments as we are concluding, really a week of celebration and mourning on Friday and learning new things on Thursday. And really, today, celebration day Resurrection Sunday. And so, we've had the privilege of walking those of y'all that joined us for our Monday, Thursday meal and even Good Friday service of walking us through the book of Luke, where we really started back on Thursday night talking about that feast of unleavened bread that was redefined for us as Christians and believers as the Lord's Supper, the last supper or what we now partake in, celebrate in communion, then Good Friday, it's really all about the cross and what was wrought for us there and what was bought for us there and really how God made a way that sinners that we are, to get back to him. Today, we're going to begin and end exactly where you think we would and Luke 24, talking about the resurrection. So I want to read these verses you can follow along with me, on the screen or in your own scriptures I'll be reading from the New Living Translation says this. But very early on Sunday morning, the women went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared, they found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. So they went in, they didn't find the body of the Lord Jesus. As they stood there puzzled, two men suddenly appeared to them clothed in dazzling robes. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground. Then the man asks, Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive, he isn't here He is risen from the dead. Remember what he told you back in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and that he would rise again on the third day. Then they remembered that he had said this. So they rushed back to the tomb to tell his 11 disciples and everyone else what had happened. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary, the mother of James and several other women who told the apostles what had happened. But the story sounded like nonsense to the men, so they didn't believe it. However, Peter jumped up and ran to the tomb to look, stooping. He peered in and saw the empty linen wrappings, then he went home again, wondering what had happened. We didn't have to wonder we know and it's gonna become clear later on first point this morning is that Jesus has risen. Jesus has risen. That is the good news. That's why we gather your Sunday and after Sunday, that's why we're gathered here today to celebrate that on this Easter mourn. But what does that mean? Just real practically? What does that mean? Because we hear that we understand that springtime and rising from dead, it's just new life and that things are coming for us. But what does it literally mean that Jesus was risen, or that he has risen? Well, I'm gonna throw up an image of probably something like this is what Peter saw the women first, but Peter saw when he went to look, and of course, he's still wondering, what happened is, I know, it's been very clear. And we're gonna see that later on. Jesus had talked about this, the, the angelic beings confirmed this. And the women's testimony confirms this. But this is what's going on here. So when we say that he is raised, and we're just really practically saying, as well as start here, because it's just real basic to our understanding of theology and everything else that we have in our lives moving forward, that he's not there, Jesus is out there in the grave that he is very much alive. And you cannot go to anywhere to find them that you might find these linens like Peter saw, and that the women were able to see. But that's what it means that he has risen from the dead quite practically, that he's not there anymore, that he is alive. And that means that we have hope for life. So let's continue on in our story in the book of Luke, it says this, that same day, to Jesus followers were walking to the village of Emmaus, seven miles from Jerusalem. And as they walked along, they were talking about everything that happened. And they talked and discussed these things. Jesus himself suddenly came and began walking with them, but God kept them from recognizing him. Jesus often does this in his resurrected state, he can reveal himself when he wants to. He asked them, What are you discussing so intently as you walk along? They stopped short sadness written across their faces, then one of them clear this replied, You must be the only person in Jerusalem who hasn't heard about all the things that have happened there the last few days. What things Jesus asked the things that happened to Jesus, the man from Nazareth, they said, he was a prophet who did powerful miracles and he was a mighty teacher in the eyes of God and all the people, but our leading priests and other religious leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and they crucifiedI had him, we had hoped that he was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel. All this happened three days ago. Then some women from our group of his followers read his tomb early this morning. And they came back with an amazing report, they said his body was missing. And they had seen angels who told them Jesus is alive, some of our men ran out to sea. And sure enough, his body was gone. Just as the women had said, that Jesus said to them, You foolish people, you find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures wasn't it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his glory? Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses, and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures, the things concerning himself. Second point I wants to see this morning is that all the Old Testament points to Christ. That's so key that's so important, because we now understand the Old Testament, through different lenses through different glasses. Every once in a while in Christianity, people will want to go to a to a rabbi, or to Jewish leaders in order to really understand who Jesus was and what he did. And although you can learn some historical things from Jewish teachers and Jewish rabbis, they have different ways of looking at it than we understand as Christians, Jesus was so clear now that you understand who I am, and that I'm the Messiah. Now that we look back, we can see that all the scriptures really pointed to Christ. What do I mean by this? Well, you go back to Genesis, the first five books of the Bible, historically, we understand that was written or compiled by Moses. So all the way back to Genesis, you see that? How did Genesis open up that God Himself created in six days? And what did you do on the seventh day, he rested? And that's why historically Israel would have had a Sabbath and even to this day, in the nation in the country of Israel, they have a Sabbath on Saturday, because that's the day that they recognize what God did in the Old Testament. But Jesus comes along and he says, What did I do? When did I rise from the dead? I rose on the first day of the week, behold, I'm doing something new. Yes, there was something going on in the Old Testament, for sure. But I'm there all the way through. Now you understand that? I'm the fulfillment of this. What was he talking about there? What does that mean to be fulfillment? What's going on there in Genesis in the opening five books of the Bible? Let's think about it. Genesis 315, that first what we call messianic promise, the first promise of the Messiah, that, that there would come one who would want who crushed ahead of Satan. Yes, it would bruises hill that would crush the head of Satan, that there would come one from the daughters of Eve that would do that. And so what you see there is Eve very early on when she gets pregnant has a child. She's wondering, is this the man and of course you see all throughout Genesis, you see all these crazy things that go on, to show us what to show us that the Messiah has not come. And that chaos reigns on the earth, sin really rains on the earth. And then you get to the end of Genesis and you find a, a people Israel in what they are in Egypt, by the time you get to the end of Genesis, in the opening pages of Exodus, the people of God are stuck in what bondage slavery? Why does God do this, so that we would understand what it means to be brought out of bondage and slavery. You guys understand that when we sing the songs that were understanding that, that there is a broken sinner in the room, and it's me. And that's why God had the people in bondage so long so that he could show his awesome power, amazing glory and lead them out of Egypt the same way that Christ has come to lead us out of sin, and darkness. So it all pointed to him. He said, What about other passages? Think about even still first five books in the Bible. They had set up what a tent or a tabernacle, God brought him out of Egypt to what just hang out, no to worship him. And they talked about on Mount Sinai and then went up there and he brought them out to worship, and how are they going to worship they're going to worship through a tabernacle or tent. Ultimately, they were going to build a permanent temple. We saw that with David's son, Solomon, but what goes on in this tabernacle and temple sacrifices. Why? Because there has to be a blood sacrifice for sin. Everyone knows that all cultures, all people groups, and all times realize that we do things that we know our own conscience condemns us for, and there's got to be payment or remission for that in all kinds of culture. And people groups and religions come up with all kinds of things. But God had set it up in the Old Testament in such a way to say that we're going to have the blood of turtle doves or lambs or bowls or goats, um, at least annually and sometimes more often than that to do what they your sin.My sin is so heinous, that it has to be a blood sacrifice for sin. But all those things we understand now, because Jesus is going to show us and the author of Hebrews is going to show us were mere shadows of the reality, what's a shadow me when you're a young child, we're always fascinated with a shadow, whether it's from a lamppost or by the Sun itself, we're always sort of either looking at or chasing or moving real quick, we understand that the shadow is not the real thing. I'm the real thing. If I'm standing in front of a light or, or in front of the sun in a certain way, that's the same thing that the tabernacle in the temple, they were all mere shadows of the reality to come with Jesus Christ on the cross. But he doesn't end just with Moses, what does it say? It says, it takes them through the prophets. We've already gone through two chapters in the prophets this morning. Isaiah is so clear, there's a suffering servant, there's one who will come who will bear the weight of sin, even though there's no sin in him. And we could go to other passages. Nehemiah, we do all through the Minor Prophets, Daniel, all of these things are meant to show us we need a savior to take care of our sins. That's why when Jesus comes along, he's mainly concerned about that. They're concerned about a national revolution, or they're concerned about, hey, this guy can't walk, or she can't do this. It's like, wait, they need forgiveness from their sins. Yes, they need these other things, tangible things, I get that. But first and foremost, we need that. So that's what he was doing. Somehow, he was explaining through Moses through the prophets. Hey, guys, listen, all the Old Testament pointed to me. And that's how you need to understand what was going on there. The religious leaders, you're right, they didn't get it. And they turned Christ over to be condemned, crucified. But you're now able to get it. I love this picture I want to throw up here, this is an artistic rendition of a modern one, by a guy named Daniel Bunnell, we'll go ahead and throw up the, the the artistic rendition there. And this is called the road to Emmaus. Now this has been painted or etched multiple times, or last 100 years, I get that, but I like this one, this one is about artists who still live in 1955 was his birthday. And he really does a lot of stuff with with color and imagery, a lot of the road to Emmaus paintings that are famous come out of Europe, and I'm gonna, I'm gonna throw up a European painting later on. But a lot of those are just a reflection of what the artists were experiencing at that time. That's what we all do, right? When we get on our phones, and we sort of manipulate something on Instagram, and then put it up on our, on our screens to be to be displayed to the world, or when we actually sit down. And when we were a child, and maybe even older, and we paint something and we draw something, there is a piece of us in that, right. And oftentimes, we'll put in our paintings, or drawings or pictures, either how we see ourselves, or how we aspire to see ourselves, right, that's what we're always doing little touch ups and angles, and all of a sudden, all that. And so in the same way, you're gonna see in a lot of like European paintings that we, that we look at, and we sort of admire from a, from a contemporary world nightmare, like contemporary art perspective anymore, but a lot of what's in our art museums, if you look at me, like I don't think that's silly. Jesus looked or walked around, you're like, you're exactly right. It's the way people looked coming out of the Renaissance in Europe, because that's what we all do. But I like this one, because it allows us to use our imagination and picture ourselves on that road to Emmaus, because again, we understand if you go to Israel today that there's there's not a lot of greenery and trees, there's some but there's not a lot of green and trees, it looks very similar to what what we see here in the border land. And so this allows us to really focus on what needs to be focused on which is these two figures, these two images, walking with Christ and hearing these things. Can you imagine what it would have been like? They talk about it here in a minute. And so we'll continue on in our passage, verse 28. But this time, they were nearing a mass, right, so the miles outside of Jerusalem, and the end of their journey, Jesus acted as if he was going on. But they begged him stay the night with us since it is getting late. So he went home with them. And as they sat down to eat, he took the bread and blessed it. Then he broke it and gave it to them. Suddenly their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And at that moment, he disappeared. They said to each other Didn't our hearts burn within us as he talked with us on the road and explain the Scriptures to us. And within the hour, they were on their way back to Jerusalem. There they found the 11 disciples, right, because Judas betrayed Jesus at this point and the others who had gathered with them, who said, The Lord has really risen, he appeared to Peter and if you want to continue reading on you can see that that Jesus has a moment there with the 11 disciples and calls him to things and he ultimately ascends back to heaven, but I want to focus on the scene.here this morning, and that is this, this breaking of the bread is breaking into bread that that's what Jesus chose to do. And, and we talked about already how we we do communion we break bread together because it's really a picture of what Christ is going to do with us in the last day. He broke bread with people while he was here on earth as what a picture of what he'll do with us in heaven. And so I told you, I would give you a European painting. That's probably one of my favorites. I've shown it here before. And that is the Supper at Emmaus. This isn't 1601. This is done by Caravaggio, if I'm not pronouncing that right, I'm sorry. He's an Italian 1601. It's in London, you can go see it today. But again, I told you that, of course, how does he How does he paint as he paints it as what people may have looked like, in that early Renaissance period. But the reason I want to show it to you is because I love the surprise on the two guys his faces. Because what he's trying to capture here is he's trying to capture that moment when we get it. It was like it was like all it took was was was eating that meal, the breaking of the bread. And all of a sudden they realize this is Jesus in front of us. Of course, he allows himself to be revealed to and it's not even about a moment that this lasts, right. That's why the artist is trying to captured here. And of course, again, he has food that would have been popular in Europe feast at the time. And all of a sudden, you see Jesus here. And he's he's teaching and even even the way that there's also religious when they kind of go like this. So that just tells you again, that he is the the religious figure with authority, something they would have thought of, again, around the Renaissance period. Now why don't why do I bring all this up? Because I want us to see our third and final point this morning. Does your heart burn within you when you hear Christ? Does your heart burn within you when you hear Christ? And I'm not just saying that you hear about Christ, or that you know the story. I assume if you're gonna come here on Easter that you're at least familiar enough to know that there was a man named Jesus and he was born and we celebrate that at Christmas. And then we recognize that His death, burial resurrection on Easter, okay, that those are the facts. But where do you find yourself in your heart when it comes to hearing Christ, again, not hearing about him, but actually hearing from him. That's what we have to ask ourselves. And that's why we have things on the calendar. And that's why he has seasons like Lent. And Easter comes around every year just to again, allow us to evaluate our hearts to say, God, what do you want to do in my life? And if my hearts grown cold, or it's gone, lukewarm, and that this is a time for us to evaluate that that's a problem, right? If you and I are hearing the scriptures read if we're trying to sing the songs or we're just seeing the lyrics of the songs or we find ourselves hearing from the Word of God from a communicator or reading the Bible on your own and you got nothing like you feel nothing. That's okay confess that to God, we all have seasons of, of dryness or coldness. But but in this moment, when they were with Jesus, something changed, something changed in their hearts and, and they talk about it, they talk about how their hearts are, are warmed or, or burning when they start to understand who Jesus is and what he's done for them. So I just have to ask you, does your heart burn within you when you hear Christ? He said, No. What do you mean by that? Pastor? Do you mean like literal audible, like God talking to me? And I often say no, it's louder than that. Remember, that's the way Jesus communicate things like, listen, it was all clear. In the Old Testament, you have all those scriptures, you can go back and read them or listen to them. And that God has already clearly communicated with you and with me what now? It's not just the Old Testament we have now we have the New Testament. And so when you and I hear from Christ, what do we do is that earlier at the 9am service, we had two baptisms. We had two baptisms. Here. I am telling you, anybody who is walking with Christ is no more special than you or me. It's just that they said yes. They said yes. They said, Yes, I'm gonna walk in that I'm gonna walk through that, no matter how difficult it be, no matter how many troubles I may have, that God has spoken to me and I want to be obedient in that. That's what it means to hear Christ is that he has already spoken clearly through His Word, obviously. Then he uses community friends, prayer, church, all those things together for us to want hear God and then we know how to walk then we can say, Okay, I want to walk in him. But if our hearts are indifferent, or cold or dry, we need to this is a time where we need to check ourselves to be like, man,God do something because I don't want it to stay that way. I want to be like these, these men on the road to Emmaus, whotheir hearts burned within them when they heard from Christ.So when you hear, see believe, this Easter story, once again, we've talked about it, if you're in the room, you've probably got the facts down. But does your heart do anything? Are you moved to do anything, or we change in any way to walk in obedience to the degree that God has revealed Himself to you, we haven't talked about that in here around the room. And when we're listening later on different stages and parts of our journey, spiritual life, that is fine, perfect, God can handle all that. Don't worry about to the left and the right, or the front and behind. But just what is God showing you in whatever he's talking to you about whatever he's clearly showing you through His Word, or through his prayer through friends or community or whatever, let's walk in that let's be that kind of church, because 11 people who were scared and doubted and had problems, but eventually made themselves up to the upper room when they got on fire for Christ. I know that term was overused maybe in the last 20 or 30 years. But I think biblically what we're talking about here, when your hearts are warm to move forward on what God has for you, what did they ultimately do? They turn the world upside down, post resurrection. Why? Because he's risen. He's risen. In the end, all the Old Testament Scriptures point to him. That's why we read the Old Testament and find such encouragement and hope. And what does this now mean for us? What does it mean for us, I want to pray for you. And the band's going to come, we're nowhere near done. We've kind of split up the service in an interesting format today, we have more scripture, more song, you'll be blessed. So please, just hang tight. I want to pray for you. And then we'll continue on in our service. Father, we thank You for Your word. I thank you for how you're moving in the hearts and the people of Life Church. I pray right now for any of our hearts around the room that are cold in different dry, just struggling season. God encouraged us this day. Help us to see who you are in your word. Help us to receive it. Help us to believe it. Help us to walk in it. Help us to, to know what you have for us individually. What you have for us corporately as a body of believers here at Life, church, love, we love you. We thank you that you did not leave us that you you got through. You got through to Taylor and Alexander and so many others in this room and in the sound of my voice and we thank you for that God that we're not left floundering flailing about wondering who you are what you're up to in the universe, and if you exist, what are we supposed to do God you have shown us clearly in your word. So Father, I pray for all of our hearts, all of our hearts myself included, that you would warm our hearts so that they would burn for you. Were asked us in Christ's name and for your glory. Amen.

Ver todos los episodios