(This is a sermon written 3 years ago by Pastor Redfield, based on Luke 24:36-49)
Do you like conflict? Do you like having people angry with you? I think that most of us would answer no to these questions. And yet, that is often what happens when we speak to others about Jesus. They don’t want to hear that they are a sinner. They get angry with us when we try to tell them the truth of Scripture. Because of these conflicts, there are plenty of times that we don’t want to speak about our faith. Rather than living in the joy of the resurrection, we keep to ourselves and don’t speak about Jesus. Throughout this sermon I want to explore these ideas a little more. Today we ask the question, “Do we live like Jesus rose for us?”
Easter Sunday was a hectic day for the disciples. Various reports were coming in throughout the day that Jesus was alive. Early in the morning, the women had discovered the empty tomb. The women reported to the disciples. Peter and John had gone to inspect that tomb. Jesus had also appeared to those two disciples on the road to Emmaus. They didn’t recognize him even while he was explaining the Scriptures to them. Finally, when he broke bread with them, they saw that it was Jesus. Those two disciples went back to the other disciples and reported what had happened. In spite of the mounting evidence, there was still a lot of confusion and doubt among the disciples.
There was confusion because they were not yet mature enough in their faith to understand what was happening. Even though they had been thoroughly trained by Jesus for 3 years, they still needed more growth. They were just starting to recognize the resurrection but they didn’t know why Jesus would rise from the dead. When they finally figured it out through the help of the Holy Spirit, their joy overflowed in many ways. On Easter Sunday they were still plagued with doubts. They were hearing reports that Jesus was alive but that was hard to believe. They had witnessed his crucifixion. They had seen that gruesome event. They needed some assistance if they were going to fully trust that Jesus was alive again.
Jesus helped their faith to grow. He helped to remove their doubt and confusion. He appeared to them. The very first thing he said was an attempt to comfort them. He said, “Peace be with you.” Rather than being at peace, the disciples were startled and frightened. They thought that they had seen a ghost. So Jesus said, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? 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.” Once the disciples saw that Jesus was really among them, some of their doubts and fears started to subside.
They trusted that the resurrection had taken place but we know that they had much more maturing to do before they could be the ones to share the gospel message with the world. After all, these were the same men who had all run away when Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. Every last one of them was too afraid to stick by Jesus side. It is true that Jesus directed events so that they could all leave and not be arrested. However, there was certainly a lapse of faith on the part of the disciples. The biggest fall came from Peter who even denied knowing Jesus. Peter was so upset by his sin that he wept bitterly.
These men had their doubts. They certainly had questions that would be answered shortly. Perhaps they wondered if Jesus would truly forgive them for running away in the Garden. They were curious about what all these events meant for the future. Before the ascension, they asked Jesus if he was going to restore the kingdom of Israel. They were still confused. They still didn’t understand the true mission of the Messiah. They were still wondering if he was an earthly king. They did not yet understand the true meaning of the death on the cross. They needed to grow in their knowledge of the forgiveness of sins. The devil was certainly trying to use those doubts and questions to drive them farther away from God.
We too have questions, confusion, and doubts which plague us in our life of faith. Our questions are not exactly the same as those of the disciples but we still need to be cautious. The devil likes to use our questions to lead to doubt. When our rational mind can’t understand the truths of Scripture, the devil likes to make us doubt Scripture. He wants us to think that it can’t possibly be a true book if we can’t understand the mysteries that we see described there. The devil likes to use the same tactic he used on Eve in the Garden of Eden, “Did God really say …” and you can fill in the blank with many possibilities.
“Did God really say that he is three persons and yet one God? After all, we don’t see the word Triune in the Bible. Did God really say that he created the world in 6 24 hour days? Couldn’t he have used the process of evolution to create this universe? Did God really tell us to baptize infants? I thought that they were innocent until around age 12.” I could go on and on with more examples. The devil uses these situations and others to try to make us doubt God and turn away from him. Even if we don’t question teachings like this, other people in our lives might ask us about these things. How do we answer their questions?
Often, we are tempted to just avoid those questions. We keep our mouth shut. We don’t speak up for the truth. The devil tempts us to avoid seeking Biblical answers for those questions. He tempts us to be complacent in our faith. Rather than seeking out someone, perhaps a pastor, who can help us with those questions, we just ignore them and go about our daily lives. We fail to seek out ways to get our questions answered and we fail to help others get their questions answered. God wants us to witness for him but we think of reasons that we are too busy to share the gospel. We even come up with reasons that we are too busy to spend time studying the Bible so that we can grow in our faith.
Jesus plainly told the disciples that it was their responsibility to witness to others about the gospel of forgiveness. Jesus opened up the Scriptures to them so that they understood more. They had heard many of these truths before but now they were hearing it in a new way. We read again verses 46-49, “He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. 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.”
Jesus plainly tells them what has just happened and what is about to happen. The suffering and death were all about repentance and forgiveness of sins. This message needs to be proclaimed to all nations beginning at Jerusalem. The disciples who had witnessed these events were going to be the first to share this message. In order to help them with their doubts and fears, they were going to receive power from on high. The Holy Spirit was going to come upon them at Pentecost. On that day they would be blessed with understanding and confidence so that they could take the message of forgiveness to the world.
When you look at the disciples before and after Pentecost you see a dramatic change. Before Pentecost, they were foolish and confused. They didn’t understand the truth and they did not want to speak up in front of crowds that might be hostile toward them. But then the Holy Spirit came upon them. We see a drastic change. After Pentecost, the disciples stand up for the truth no matter what might happen to them. They would plainly tell anyone who would listen that Christ died for their sins. They would point out to Jewish audience that there was much blame to be placed on the Jews for the crucifixion.
Unbelievers didn’t like to hear the message that the disciples were sharing. The disciples were arrested many times because they were talking about Jesus. That is how bold they were to speak up for Jesus. They didn’t care that they might be thrown in prison. They knew that their message was too important to not be shared. There was even a time when the rulers ordered them to stop teaching about Jesus. Peter declared that they must obey God rather than men. This is quite the change from those disciples on Easter Sunday that were locked in the upper room because they were afraid. The disciples continued to grow in their faith and they continued to witness for Christ.
How do we witness for Christ in our lives? First of all we need to be strengthened in our own faith. We need that time in the word so that we can answer question of those around us and we need strength from the Word so that we can share the good news with many people. When we have doubts and questions about our faith, we go back to the Bible to learn. We talk to our pastors because they have been trained in the Scriptures and will be able to give us direction that will help us mature in our faith. Christians make use of the resources that God has given us for the strengthening of our faith.
We also speak to others about their Savior. We all encounter people in our lives who are stuck in sins. Honestly, all unbelievers are stuck in sin. We look for opportunities to share Christ. This doesn’t mean that the first thing we do is to come down super hard with the law. We don’t want to give the impression that we Christians are only morality police. A person can live according to the law but still not believe in Jesus. Rather we build relationships so that we can share the gospel. We start with simple law so that they see themselves as sinners who need a Savior. Then we share Jesus. We are witnesses for Christ.
As I mentioned earlier, we do like to avoid conflict. And yet, speaking law and gospel can very naturally create conflict. It is important that as we witness for Christ we do so in a face to face manner. I say this because it is much easier to show love to others in person. We can have a back and forth dialogue that shows our concern for the person and it helps to prevent misunderstandings. I think that face to face communication is an important way of living like we know that Jesus rose for us. We first of all have our own doubts removed by the gospel and then we are built up so that we can witness for Christ. Help us to speak for you O Lord, Amen.