Luke 23(50)–24(53)

Introduction

Last week we spent our time on the first forty-nine verses of chapter 23 where Luke recorded for us the Lord’s trial before Pilate and Herod and his crucifixion afterwards. The Jewish council brought the Lord Jesus to Pilate and accused him of leading the people astray and of claiming to be a king. And that would mean he was a rival to the Roman Emperor and a threat to the peace of the Empire. However, Pilate wasn’t convinced and said that he found no basis for the charge against the Lord Jesus. The Lord’s enemies insisted that the Lord Jesus was a trouble-maker. And when Pilate discovered that the Lord was from Galilee, he sent him to King Herod, who governed the whole of Judea, including Galilee, on behalf of the Romans. Herod too was satisfied that the Lord had done nothing to deserve the death penalty. However, instead of releasing the Lord Jesus, Pilate gave in to the demands of the Lord’s enemies and handed him over to his guards to be crucified. Meanwhile, since it was the custom in those days to release one prisoner at the time of the Passover, Pilate released Barabbas, who was guilty of insurrection and murder. And so, Barabbas, a guilty man, was set free, while the Lord Jesus, an innocent man, was condemned.

And here we have a picture of the gospel, because the gospel is the good news that we, the guilty ones — who deserve to be condemned and sent away to be punished forever for a lifetime of sin and disobedience — are pardoned and set free, because the Lord Jesus — the innocent one, who never did anything wrong — was prepared to take the blame for us and to suffer the punishment we deserve in our place. He took our place before the judgment seat of God and suffered the wrath and curse of God for us. He was condemned so that we could be set free. And so, because he took our place and suffered the penalty we deserve, we are set free like Barabbas.

The Lord was taken to Golgotha and crucified between two criminals. The Lord’s enemies mocked him as did the soldiers who crucified him. And one of the criminals who was being crucified also mocked him. But the other criminal confessed his guilt to the Saviour and asked the Lord to remember him when he comes into his heavenly kingdom. And the Lord reassured that man that he would be with the Lord in paradise. And everyone who believes in Christ the Saviour receives the same hope of everlasting life so that though we die, yet we shall live forever with God in paradise.

And after the Lord died, the centurion, who had been overseeing the crucifixions, began to praise God and said about the Lord Jesus, ‘Surely this was a righteous man.’ And the Lord is a righteous man: he never did anything wrong and he always did what was right in the sight of God. And he shares his perfect righteousness, his perfect obedience, with everyone who believes in him for salvation. Though you may have done everything wrong in your life, the moment you believe in the Saviour, God regards you as if you’ve done everything right because of Christ who shares his perfect righteousness with you. And so, though you deserve to be condemned and punished for ever for a lifetime of disobedience, God gives you what you don’t deserve, but which Christ has obtained for you, which is eternal life.

And so, we come to the last part of Luke’s gospel. In today’s passage, we have a brief account of the Lord’s burial. And then, on the third day, when the women went to the tomb, they discovered that the Lord’s body was not there; and angels told them that the Lord, who had died, had risen. When the women told the disciples, the disciples did not believe them. Luke then tells us about these two disciples who were travelling to Emmaus, when they met the Risen Lord Jesus. At first they did not recognise him. But then they did. And as soon as they realised who he was, he disappeared. When those disciples arrived back in Jerusalem to tell the others what had happened, they discovered the Lord had appeared to Peter as well. And that’s when the Lord appeared to all of them. And the gospel ends with a brief account of the Lord’s ascension to heaven.

And so, that’s today’s passage. Let’s turn to it now.

23:50–56

And the first part of today’s passage is the record of the Lord’s burial which is in verses 50 to 56 of chapter 23.

Luke tells us about this man, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a member of the Jewish council. Luke is careful to tell us that Joseph was a good and upright man who did not agree to the council’s decision and action. In other words, he did not agree with the others on the council who decided that the Lord deserved to die and who accused him before Pilate. And Luke also tells us in verse 51 that he was waiting for the kingdom of God. That is to say, he was a believer: he trusted God to do everything he had promised to do about sending his Spirit-Anointed and Conquering King to deliver his people from their enemies and to bring them into his everlasting kingdom. And Luke tells us that Joseph went to Pilate to ask for the Lord’s body. The Romans normally did not allow the bodies of criminals to be buried and they were left to rot or to be eaten by wild animals. But Joseph wanted to give the Lord’s body a proper resting place. And so he asked for his body. Pilate presumably agreed and Joseph took it, wrapped it in linen cloth, and placed it in a tomb which had not been used before. In those days, several bodies could be buried in the same tomb. But this one was new.

And as you can see from verse 54, it was Preparation Day. That is, it was the day for preparing for the Sabbath. The Sabbath would soon be on them, when they were not allowed to do any work. And so, Joseph had to act quickly and there was no time to prepare the Lord’s body with spices and perfumes, which was normally done in those days.

Luke tells us that the women who had followed the Lord saw the tomb and saw how his body was laid in it. That might mean that they saw that the Lord’s body had not been prepared properly and they decided that they would return to do it. And so, they went home and prepared the spices and perfumes, but rested on the Sabbath Day in obedience to God’s command.

And so, our Saviour was killed and buried. Though he is the Eternal Son of God and immortal, he became one of us. And as one of us, he suffered and died and was buried and remained under the power of death for a time. And yet, as we’ll see, he did not remain under the power of death for ever, because he was raised from the dead on the third day. And whoever believes in him will likewise live, even though we die. Though we die, and our bodies are buried in the ground, we too will be raised from the dead when Christ comes again in glory and with power. And we will live for ever in the new and better world to come, where we will see the glory of God in the face of Christ our Saviour and there we’ll be happy for ever.

23:1–12

And so, we come to the account of the Lord’s resurrection. And Luke tells us that on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took their spices and headed for the tomb. When they got there, they found that the large stone over the entrance had already been rolled away so that the entrance was open. Since they had come to put spices and perfume on the Lord’s body, they went into the tomb to do what they had come for. But when they went in, the tomb was empty. There was no sign of the Lord’s body.

Luke says they were wondering about this. That is to say, they were puzzled. Perplexed. They didn’t know what to make of it. They were expecting to find the Lord’s remains. But they were not there. What could have happened to his body? And that’s when these angels appeared. Angels appeared to announce the Lord’s birth; now angels appear to announce his resurrection. They asked the women why they’re looking for the living among the dead. Then they said, ‘He is not here; he has risen!’ And so, it’s not that someone has removed his dead body, because he’s no longer dead, but he’s alive! And since he’s alive, then there’s no point looking for him among the dead.

And then the angels told the women to remember! Remember how he told you, while he was with you in Galilee, that he, the Son of Man, must be delivered into the hands of sinful men; and that he must be crucified; and that he must then be raised on the third day. Remember? He told you that this would happen. He predicted that this would take place. He said he would be arrested and crucified. So, those things happened just as he said they would. And he also said that he would be raised. And that has happened too.

And the Lord did say these things to them. For instance, in Luke 9:22 the Lord said: ‘The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.’ He said the same thing in Luke 18:32+33 where he said he will be turned over to the Gentiles who will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him. And on the third day, he will rise again. So, he told them to expect these things. And now that the angels had jogged their memories, the women remembered.

And after remembering, they went to the disciples and told them what they had seen and heard at the tomb. More literally, it says they kept telling the disciples. One after another, they told the disciples what had happened. But look at verse 11: they did not believe the women, because it seemed to them that the women were talking nonsense. Peter, however, got up and went to the tomb to see for himself. And when he arrived, he saw the strips of linen which had been left behind. The strips of linen were there, but not the Lord’s body, because the Lord was alive.

Before moving on, notice again what the angels said. They told the women that the Lord has said these things must happen. They had to happen. It was necessary for these things to happen: he must be delivered into the hands of sinful men; he must be crucified; and he must be raised on the third day. These things must happen. And these things must happen because this was all part of God’s plan for our salvation which he had announced in the pages of the Old Testament and which the Lord Jesus also announced while he was with them. We’re going to see in a moment how the Lord Jesus took his disciples through the Old Testament to explain how it’s all about him. In the pages of the Old Testament God announced his great salvation plan for us and how he was going to send the Saviour into the world who would give up his life to pay for what we have done wrong before rising from the dead. And so, what happened to the Lord Jesus had to happen, because it was all part of God’s plan to save us from the condemnation we deserve and to give us eternal life in his presence. And God was determined to carry out his plan for our salvation in full.

And it had to happen because there was no other way for God to save us. There was no other way, because the only way to save us from the condemnation we deserve was for God to become one of us and to give up his life to pay for what we have done wrong before rising again to give us life. He took the blame for us when he died on the cross. He bore the punishment we deserve. And now that he’s alive again, he gives salvation to his people by sending his Spirit to them to enable them to repent and believe. There was no other way to save us; and therefore these things had to happen.

And not only did they have to happen, but they did happen. And so, we should give thanks to God for doing what he said he would do and for coming to earth in the person of his Son to save us from condemnation and to give us eternal life.

24:13–35

Let’s move on now to the next part of the passage and the story of what happened on the road to Emmaus.

Verse 13 tells us that on the same day two of them were going to Emmaus. When it says ‘two of them’, Luke is referring not to two of the eleven disciples, but to two of those who were with the eleven disciples. We don’t know why they were going to Emmaus, but on the way they were talking about what had happened that weekend when the Lord was arrested and condemned and crucified and buried. And they also knew from the women about the empty tomb.

And as they walked along, the Lord himself came up and walked with them. But they were kept from recognising him. In other words, God kept them from recognising the Lord Jesus. And so, it seemed to the two disciples that their new companion is just an ordinary man. But he seems to be a very strange man, because he doesn’t appear to know anything about what had happened that weekend in Jerusalem. Their new companion asked them: ‘What are you talking about?’ And in verse 18, one of them, named Cleopas, seems to be saying to him: ‘What do you think we’re talking about? We’re talking about what everyone else is talking about.’

‘What things?’ their new companion asks. And so, they summarise what they know about the Lord Jesus and how he was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. But he was sentenced to death and crucified. We had hoped that he would be the one to redeem Israel. They mean they hoped he would deliver Israel from the Romans who were their enemies. They were hoping the Lord Jesus would raise an army as David had done in the past to lead them to victory over the Romans. That’s what we were hoping, but our hopes were dashed when he was condemned and crucified. What’s more, they said, it’s now the third day since this happened and some of our women went to the tomb, but they didn’t find his body. They said they saw a vision of angels who said Jesus was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb. They found it empty, but they didn’t find him.

And so, they summarised all that had taken place. And it appears they don’t know what to make of all these things. which is why they were discussing it among themselves. But the Lord rebukes them. He rebukes them because there was no reason for them to be puzzled about what had taken place. There’s no reason for them to be puzzled, because everything that happened that weekend was announced beforehand by the prophets. Do you see that in verse 25? The Lord is saying to them that if only you believed what you heard the prophets say in the Scriptures, then you wouldn’t be puzzled at all by what has happened. You would have been ready for it. If you believed what you heard the prophets say then you would know that the Christ had to suffer these things before entering his glory.

And after rebuking them, the Lord began to take them through the Old Testament Scriptures, beginning with the books of Moses and the prophets. He took them through the Scriptures to show them what the Scriptures say about him.

And if you want to know the kinds of things he said to them, all you need to do is take a look at the preaching of the apostles in the book of Acts. For instance, in Acts 2 we have Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost. And he quotes from Joel 2 and from Psalm 16 and from Psalm 110 and he applies each of the quotations to the Lord Jesus. He quotes from Joel 2 to make clear that the Lord Jesus is the one who has poured out his Spirit on his people. He quotes from Psalm 16 to make clear that the Lord Jesus is God’s Holy One and that God has not abandoned him to the grave, but has raised him from the dead. And he quotes from Psalm 110 to make clear that the Lord Jesus has now sat down at God’s right hand in heaven.

The Lord Jesus took these two men through the Old Testament to show them what it says about him. And since the Scriptures tell us these things, then they shouldn’t have been puzzled about what had happened to the Lord Jesus. They shouldn’t have been puzzled or confused or disappointed or disillusioned, because God had revealed to them in the pages of their Bibles that these things were going to happen.

And this point is so important that it’s repeated again in verses 44 and 45, where the Lord is speaking to all the disciples and he tells them that everything must be fulfilled that is written about him in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the psalms. And he opened their minds so that they could understand the Scriptures.

The whole of the Bible is about the Lord Jesus. The Old Testament announces his coming and what he would do when he comes; and the New Testament announces that he has come and it tells us what he did when he was here; and it also tells us that he is coming again one day. And so, when we’re reading the Bible, we need to remember that the Bible is ultimately about the Lord Jesus. And so, in whatever passage we’re reading, we’re to ask ourselves how it connects to him. And until we have done that, then we haven’t really understood the Bible, because the whole of the Bible from start to finish is about him.

But that’s not the only thing we’re to do when we read or hear the Bible. That’s not the only thing we’re to do. We’re to do something else. What are we to do? We’re to believe what we read about him. The Lord rebuked those two disciples on the road to Emmaus because they were slow to believe what the Scriptures say about him. And so, we’re not to be like them. Instead of being slow to believe, we’re to be quick to believe. We’re to believe everything we read about him in the Bible. We’re to believe it because it’s God’s word; and God’s word is always true.

But we’re also to believe what we read about him, because what we read about him in the Bible will put our minds at rest. It will put our minds at rest about our relationship with God and about the day of judgment, because all of us know deep down inside us that we’re not right and that we’ve fallen short and that we’re guilty. And the Bible makes clear that we’re guilty before God, because all of us have sinned and fallen short of his glory. It teaches us that we are sinners by birth and every day we do what is wrong and we break God’s laws and commandments and that we deserve God’s wrath and curse for what we have done. And so, before we believe in Christ for salvation, we dread God and we dread the day of judgment when we will be condemned and sent away to be punished.

But the Bible also tells us that it was always God’s plan to send his Suffering Servant into the world to save his people from his wrath and curse by taking the punishment we deserve in our place so that all who believe in him are pardoned and have peace with God for ever and the hope of everlasting life.

And so, we’ve to believe what we read about him, because what we read about him in the Bible puts our minds at rest about our relationship with God and about the day of judgment. It tells us that all who believe in Christ are reconciled to God and will never ever be condemned.

In the passage before us, the disciples and the Lord Jesus arrive at the village. And the disciples urged the Lord Jesus to stay with them that night. And when they sat down to eat, their eyes were opened and they finally recognised him. And as soon as they recognised him, he vanished from their sight. And the two of them looked at each other and said to one another: ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us and opened the Scriptures to us?’ There’s something for us to pray for when we come to church on Sundays or whenever we open the Bible to read it. We should pray for the Holy Spirit to come and to cause our hearts to burn within us as we hear about the Saviour who loved us and gave up his life for us. And we should pray for the Spirit to come and work in our hearts so that we’re transfixed by the message and transformed by the message of Jesus Christ our Saviour.

And these two disciples got up and returned to Jerusalem to let the others know that they had seen the Lord. And when they got there they discovered that Peter had also seen the Lord.

24:36–49

And that’s when the Lord appeared to all of them. So, while they were talking to one another, Jesus himself stood among them. And really he had come to do three things.

The first thing he had come to do was to convince them that he was real. At first, you see, they were startled and frighted and they thought they were seeing a ghost. And so, he showed them his hands and feet. And he invited them to touch him and see that he is real and not a ghost, because ghosts do not have flesh and bones as he does. And then he asked for something to eat to make it even clearer to them that he was not a ghost or spirit, but that he has been raised physically or bodily from the grave.

And the reason he wanted to show them he was real is because those disciples were to be his official eye-witnesses. And as his eye-witnesses — as those who had seen him with their own eyes — they were to declare to all what they had heard and seen. And they were to testify to the world that the Saviour who died had risen and was alive forevermore. And so, the Lord Jesus demonstrated to them that he was alive and real. That’s the first thing he had come to do.

The second thing he had come to do was to make clear to them that what had happened to him had been announced beforehand in the pages of the Old Testament Scriptures. And so, he did with them what he had done with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, which was to open their minds to understand the Scriptures and to see that it was all about him. He showed them that the Old Testament Scriptures foretold his suffering and his resurrection. Furthermore, he showed them that the Old Testament Scriptures foretold that repentance and forgiveness was to be preached to all the nations. It wasn’t for the Jews only; it was for everyone.

And so, the Lord had come to convince them that he was real to that they could be his eye-witnesses. And he had come to explain the Scriptures to them and how the gospel was for everyone. And the third thing he had come to do was to promise them something. He promised to send them what the Father had promised. What had the Father promised? The Father had promised to give them his Spirit so that they would be clothed with power from on high to bear witness to what they had heard and seen and to preach the good news of the gospel with boldness and power. And so, wait in the city until the promised Spirit comes.

And, of course, when you read Luke’s second book, the book of Acts, you see how this took place. On the Day of Pentecost, the Risen Lord Jesus poured his Spirit upon his church; and Peter was enabled by the Spirit to preach like never before about what it all meant. And afterwards three thousand people were converted and added to the church. And then, Peter and John were enabled by the Spirit to heal the crippled beggar at the temple gate. And when a crowd gathered to see what had happened, Peter was again enabled to preach to them about Christ. The Jewish authorities didn’t like it and arrested Peter and John. Peter and John were then beaten and ordered not to preach about Christ again. And then they were released. And the believers gathered together afterwards and prayed for help. And the place where they were meeting was shaken and they were filled with the Holy Spirit and they spoke the word of God boldly.

Here at the end of Luke’s gospel, the Lord promised that his disciples would receive the Spirit from God to help them bear witness about him. And in the book of Acts we see how they received the Spirit, who enabled them to proclaim the good news of Christ with power and authority from on high.

And Christ continues to call and to equip preachers to proclaim the good news in his name throughout the world and to call on men and women and boys and girls everywhere to turn from their sins in repentance and to turn in faith to the Saviour for forgiveness and eternal life. And what the Lord began to do in the days of the apostles, he continues to do today, because this is how he builds his kingdom on the earth. He is God’s Spirit-Anointed and Conquering King. But he builds his kingdom, not through force as King David did. He does not use force or coercion. He does not build his kingdom with weapons of war. He builds his kingdom through the preaching of his word in the power of the Spirit, who works secretly in the hearts of sinners to convince them and to convert them to faith in Christ the Saviour.

23:50–53

In verse 50, Luke refers to the time when the Lord led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, which was on the Mount of Olives and there he ascended to heaven. We know from the book of Acts that this took place 40 days after his resurrection. At that time, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. And while he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. And so, the little baby who was born in obscurity in Bethlehem has now ascended to heaven to sit at God’s right hand as king over all. As Paul says in Ephesians, he has been seated in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age, but in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church. He is indeed God’s Spirit-Anointed and Conquering King and he now reigns as king from heaven.

And Luke tells us that they worshipped him. And they were right to worship him, because he is God. So, Jesus Christ, the one who was born as a little baby in Bethlehem and who lived among us for a time as God’s Spirit-Anointed and Conquering King is also the Eternal Son of God, the second person of the Blessed Trinity, and he deserves our worship and adoration both now and forevermore.