Jesus Is Alive l Luke 24:33-53 l Chapel Hill Church Gig Harbor
When I was about five-years old, my mom came into our living room at home to find me watching TV and the entire curtain rod and curtains having been ripped off the wall. She pointed at it and exclaimed, “Ellis! What happened?” I turned and said, with as much sincerity as I could muster, “Oh wow! I don’t know. I hadn’t noticed. I guess it was like that when I got here.” Then she looked at the TV and saw what I was watching: Tarzan. It didn’t take much to put two and two together and figure out that I’d tried swinging from the curtains like Tarzan did from the vines.
You don’t have to be physically present when an event takes place to know what happened with a high degree of certainty. Even if you aren’t an eyewitness, it is possible to investigate the evidence for an event having occurred. This morning, we’re going to look at three pieces of evidence that Jesus really, truly, rose from the dead, and, if that’s true, what that might mean for our lives.
Welcome to Chapel Hill, my name is Ellis and I’m one of the pastors here. Thank you for worshipping with us today, and greetings to those of you joining us online. We’re continuing in our series through Luke’s gospel—one of the four biographical accounts we have of the life of Jesus. This week we’re going to finish Luke’s gospel; well, kind of. We’re going to look at the last few verses of Luke’s gospel so that we can finish off his account of Jesus’ resurrection, and then next week, we will return to where we left off before Easter, back in chapter 10.
Today, Luke is going to make his final case for what is the central fact of the Christian faith: Jesus is alive. And in this case, Luke is going to give us three reasons and three responses. Three reasons or pieces of evidence that Jesus is alive, and three ways we should respond to this reality. Turn with me to Luke 24, beginning in verse 33. We’re going to read a few verses at a time, and although it will appear on the screens, you may wish to have a Bible open in front of you so you can refer to each of the verses in context. You’ll find it on page 885 of your pew Bibles. Or you can pull it up on your phone. Luke chapter 24 verse 33.
While you are turning there, I wanted to just highlight something Pastor Mark wrote in his blog a week ago. Beginning next week, we will be moving our kids check in to the HeBrews coffee shop area, so we can increase security along our nursery hallway. This will have an impact on those of you who normally enter the church through door C, as we will now be closing that door. If you are a blue badge holder, and you need to have access on Sundays through door C, we have a way to make that possible. Call the front desk early this week and following a brief conversation we will be pleased to get you a key card. There’s more information in this week’s guide. Thanks for helping us to protect our kids’ safety.
So, we’re in Luke 24, beginning in verse 33. And we’re picking up where Pastor Mark left off last week. We’re still on that very first Easter Sunday, after the women found the tomb empty that morning. We’ve seen that Jesus has just appeared to two people on the road to Emmaus, although they didn’t recognize him. They invited Jesus into their home, and there, as they broke bread together, their eyes were opened, and Jesus vanished. Here’s what happened next, verse 33-36:
“And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread. As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!”” Luke 24:33–36
This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.