Easter 22 Putting the Pieces Together---Luke 24

[HKHaugan]

Easter 22 Putting The Pieces Together--- Luke 24

One thing stands out about the Resurrection appearances. They are like pieces in a puzzle. When put together they make a picture. Here at the end of Luke’s Gospel we see that very thing through the eyes of two disciples completing and revealing the picture.

The Resurrection experience will take time to absorb. For the everyday man and woman absorbed in the world’s routine Resurrection is beyond their comprehension, startling, unbelievable and yet there it is. So, for the disciples, Jesus provides time, a period of over a month, presenting people who have followed Him, with four realities----the idea, the fact, the meaning of the Resurrection and Himself, the Person of the Resurrection.

First, the idea of the Resurrection. There is the disappearance from the tomb leaving the grave clothes undisturbed. It will take time for the minds of the disciples to grasp it. Though there is belief by some it still has to sink in. Sure, Mary said she saw Him. It’s hard to believe. The idea is still too overwhelming. Sure, Jesus miraculously raised Lazarus but that was then and this is now. Jesus alive? It’s too much to take in.

Second, the fact of the Resurrection. It will take a number of appearances to different people at different times and occasions to assure the disciples of its truth. There will have to be verification. The mind has to be able to comprehend it. If anything their fear of the authorities coming to arrest them because of association with Jesus still overwhelms them.

Third, the meaning of the Resurrection. When Jesus appears to two disciples on the road to Emmaus they don’t realize who it is. He asked them what they were talking about and in their sadness they rehearse the events of Jesus’ impact on the people, His death, their dashed hopes about Him and what the women and disciples found when they went to His tomb. At this point Jesus breaks through their emotional state. He confronts their slowness to believe. Hadn’t Scripture predicted these things? “Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself.”

Fourth, the Person of the Resurrection. Now, here He is, literally larger than life, a personal spiritual explosion in an impersonal denying world, shattering all previous speculations about life, death and beyond. But Jesus will not let it rest there. More lies ahead, God’s plan to further His Kingdom in the world through believers. The plan is all about Jesus, centered in Jesus, His presence and the personal relationship He will have with believers. It is about presenting Him as a loving King who desires only the restoration and fulfillment of all hearts.

Two elements are central in His plan, the Lord's Supper and Scripture.

First, the Lord’s Supper is previewed in the breakfast narrative and in the meal with the Emmaus disciples. This will dramatically and frequently emphasize the remembrance and purpose of His death and Resurrection. Because it was nearly evening the disciples urged Jesus to come and have supper with them. At the table He takes bread, gives thanks, breaks the bread and gives it to them. (This is the fourfold action of the Lord’s Supper guaranteeing His presence “whenever two or three are gathered together in His name.” And, it is the daily pattern for living in the world.) Immediately they recognize Him and He disappears, the point being that in the future, when they break bread together in faith, He will be with them.

Second, Scripture is lifted before the Emmaus disciples as the ultimate authority for all believers to know God and His mission for them. It is through Scripture Jesus will guide the establishment of His Kingdom which will be a spiritual community of hearts loved personally and interpersonally. When Jesus disappears at supper it is then the two disciples openly admit “Were not our hearts burning within us while He talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”

Five very important points are made here.
First, Jesus is why Scripture was written. It authenticates everything about Him. It is given that hearts will continue to burn when Jesus is mentioned.
Second, Jesus impacts the mind through Scripture. It challenges and rearranges how we order our view of the world and behave within it.
Third, Jesus designated Scripture as the means by which He personally converses with each of us.
Fourth, the fact of His momentary appearances and disappearances is to get the disciples to search Him in Scripture so that they walk by faith and not by sight. If He stays they won’t use their minds to grow as they ponder Him, search His Word for Him, in order to experience what He has for them. Remember, He tells Mary Magdalene not to hold on to Him.
Fifth and most important, Jesus desires our hearts. It was the presence of Jesus while they were on the road hearing the Word about Him that caused their hearts to burn.
((( The Word, His presence, on our way today. )))

So when each of these pieces of the puzzle come together the picture we see is Jesus, alive, real, touching deep within, restoring each lonely heart.

One more thing, the Resurrection is laced with expectation. Jesus tells the disciples there is more to come. Shortly, the picture all the appearances have made of Him will find a permanent home in their hearts and in the hearts of all believers. The disciples are to stay in Jerusalem. The Father’s promise that they will be clothed from on high is soon to come. Stay tuned.