Lucas 24

Lucas 24

Sproul - The Exaltation of Jesus Christ “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!” [Luke 24:5–6] When we consider the exaltation of Jesus our mind usually jumps immediately to the resurrection, but actually the exaltation of Jesus begins earlier. According to Isaiah 53:9, after Jesus’ death, he was assigned a grave with the wealthy. Normally, the body of a crucified criminal would be taken down and dumped into Gehenna, the garbage trench outside Jerusalem where a fire was kept burning to reduce the waste of the city. Instead, however, the disciples interceded with Pilate and obtained permission to bury Jesus in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, a man of wealth and high social status. Not only that, but Jesus’ body was ministered to with costly oils and spices and carefully wrapped for the tomb. These events were the beginning of his exaltation. But important as these events are, they pale before the glory of the resurrection. I say that the resurrection was “radical” because the word radical comes from the Latin radix, meaning “root,” and the resurrection gets down to the very root of what the Christian faith is all about. It is radical because it means that the work of redemption is finished. It is radical because it means that a new world has begun. How is this so? Isaiah 53:9 states, concerning Jesus, that “he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.” Jesus had committed no sins, and thus it was impossible for the grave to hold him. God publicly vindicated Jesus in raising him from the grave. It meant that Jesus had committed no sins and thus did not deserve to die. Why then did he die? It could only have been for the sins of others. Why was he raised? It could only have been because his work was finished. The resurrection, therefore, publicly proclaims that God has been completely satisfied, and redemption has been fully accomplished. Coram Deo - The supreme exaltation of Jesus Christ was accomplished by God raising him from the grave. But as we have seen, others were also credited with exalting him. Paul tells us that we will all exalt him at the last days (Phil. 2:9–12). Take time now to think back over this past week and recount how you have exalted Christ in your words and actions. (Before the Face of God) R C Sproul - Jesus’ Resurrection “He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be … crucified and on the third day be raised again.’” [Luke 24:6] The earliest creed of the church was simple: “He is risen.” The entire impact of Christianity stands or falls with this truth. The Bible insists that the resurrection was an historical event, not a psychological wish-projection. Christ literally arose. As a result, two aspects of Jesus’ resurrection are stressed in the Gospels. One is the empty tomb, and the second is Jesus’ appearances during the forty days between his resurrection and ascension. (See map) By itself, an empty tomb is an empty message. Perhaps the disciples stole the body. Perhaps the Romans or the Jews removed it. Perhaps the women were insane with grief and did not see the body. Appearances by Jesus after his crucifixion do not prove a resurrection. Perhaps he was a ghost and his body was still in the tomb. The Gospels stress both truths to demonstrate the historical fact that Jesus’ physical body was raised from the dead, and that it was in that resurrected body that he appeared. Early Sunday morning the women took spices to finish anointing Jesus’ body for burial. When they arrived they discovered the tomb wide open and the body missing. They were perplexed. “Who has done this?” they wondered. Suddenly, two angels appeared and told them that Jesus had risen, according to his promise. Throughout his Gospel, Luke calls attention to women. Here we see that it was women who first heard the glad tidings from the angels. It was these women who had stood by Jesus at his crucifixion, after all the men had fled. Their devotion to Christ was uniquely honored. The women returned to tell the disciples what had happened, but the disciples thought they were crazy. Peter, however, ran to the tomb and saw the strips of linen in which Jesus had been wrapped, lying by themselves. Clearly the body had not been moved. Rather, the body had simply departed and left the grave clothes behind. Coram Deo - For many Christians a full heart is the only apologetic for the truthfulness of Christianity and the belief that Christ is risen. A subjective feeling of hope and joy as expressed in a full heart, however, is not sufficient testimony. Many explanations can account for full hearts, but only one can adequately account for an empty tomb and the resurrection appearances. Ground your faith in the objectivity of history, and your heart will be both sure and full. Robert