Jesus died and then he came back! That’s what we talked about last week; how everyone really thought he was dead—that this was the end—and then unexpectedly he came back. But at the end of last week’s lesson there was only one person who knew Jesus was alive again, and that was Mary Magdalene.
The disciples knew the tomb was empty, but they didn’t know he was back. Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene and told to her to go tell the others—he empowered her to be the first person to speak the good news that Jesus was alive! So she ran to the disciples to tell them, but they did not believe her.
No one did.
It was too impossible to believe. How could Jesus be alive?
Someone read Luke 24:13-18.
13 Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, 14 and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, 16 but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad. 18 Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?”
Two men, who were followers of Jesus, but not two of the twelve disciples, were walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus, probably going home after all the festivities and chaos of Passover and Jesus’s death. They were talking about it all—probably amazed that they were there to witness it, when another man walks up.
It’s Jesus, but they don’t know it, they don’t recognize him. But they don’t mind that he joins their group, to talk. It’s a long walk from Jerusalem to Emmaus. And so Jesus asks them what they are talking about.
And they stop walking, sad—they think Jesus is dead—they watched the man they followed die. But one of them—Cleopas—is like, “Were you not in Jerusalem just not? You couldn’t have possibly been there and not know what had happened.”
Jesus’s death would have been big time news in the entire area, it’s unbelievable that anyone could have been in Jerusalem and not heard it.
Someone read Luke 24:19-27.
19 He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. 22 Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, 23 and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.” 25 Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! 26 Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” 27 Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.
Jesus asks them to tell them about the things that have been going on, and they’re like, “The things about Jesus, obviously, the guy who was a mighty prophet, but he was killed!” They tell him they thought Jesus would be the one who redeemed all of Israel, that he would save them. And then today, on the third day since he died, some women in the group are claiming Jesus is body is gone and that angels told them he was alive.
But of course the men went to check it out, and they did not see Jesus, so those women were just foolish and hysterical, but yes, the body was gone.
And Jesus is like, “You don’t understand anything. You don’t understand how the Messiah was meant to redeem Israel, let me explain it to you.” And Jesus goes back to the Old Testament to explain it all—to interpret the scriptures from a new perspective, from the perspective of Jesus the Messiah.
This is how we as Christians read the Old Testament, which we discussed when we were studying the Old Testament. Sometimes stories in the Old Testament might be hard or difficult for us to understand, but when we look at it from the perspective of Jesus, sometimes we see it in a different light.
But these men on the road don’t know it’s Jesus explaining these things to them, they think he’s just a random dude. Someone read Luke 24:28-35.
28 As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. 29 But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. 32 They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us[a] while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?” 33 That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. 34 They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.
They reach Emmaus, and Jesus keeps walking as if he’s not stopping there, but they’re like, “No dude, we just had this great conversation with you, and it’s almost evening! You must stop here and stay with us!” And so he does. He goes home with them, eats dinner with them, and after he blessed the bread and gives it to them, they suddenly recognize them. And they’re like “JESUS!” And then he just disappears.
They are amazed. They’re like “This is why his words meant so much, why they made us see so much, he was opening the whole scripture to us.” And they can’t sit on this news, the news that Jesus is alive. So they immediately turn around and go back to Jerusalem, even though it’s late, and they find the disciples. They’re like, “We saw Jesus! He is alive! He appeared to us!” And they tell them everything.
I’d have to say, if I was a disciple, at this point I would probably be believing all these people and also feelings like a little awkward. The twelve disciples were supposed to be Jesus’s closest friends. Why didn’t they appear to him first? Why Mary first? And then these two random other followers? Why wouldn’t he appear to his closest friends first?
I don’t know. They don’t know. And they’re probably wondering about it. And some of them are probably going deeper into denial because of it. Because how could Jesus be back, and not come to them first? So therefore, Jesus cannot possible be back.
But he is.
Someone read Luke 24:36-43.
36 While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 37 They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. 38 He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate in their presence.
They’re debating all this Jesus being back business, debating how it could possibly be real, when BOOM. Jesus appears in the middle of them and says “peace be with you.”
They immediately recognized him, and are terrified out of their minds, because they think he’s a ghost. This is probably what most of us would think if someone we thought was dead suddenly appeared before us. But Jesus is like, “I’m not a ghost. I’m real. Touch and see for yourself. Ghosts don’t have bodies and skin, but I do.”
He then shoes him his hands and feet—why? Well because they still show the marks of his injuries, of the nails in his hand. This is Jesus. This is his body, which was abused and broken. Jesus is back, bodily resurrected. He was not a ghost, or a spirit. He came back fully, walking and talking, fully alive, in his actual body, not a new one.
And to prove it, that he is still a human who came back as a human, he basically tells them he is hungry and asks to eat. And they give him fish and he eats it.
This is the second time in these series of stories it mentions Jesus eating, and that’s because its important. It’s important to know that Jesus came back bodily, his whole body was resurrected. He was not a ghost or spirit. He was fully resurrected, and that means being hungry! And eating! Ghosts don’t eat!
But not everyone is there when Jesus appears to them. Someone read John 20:24-29.
24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
Thomas, who is one of the twelve disciples, was not there when Jesus came back. When the other disciples tell him, he’s like, “You guys are insane. I have to see for myself. Unless I can touch his hands for myself, I will not believe.”
And then a week goes by, a whole week and Thomas has still not seen them. But then he’s hanging out with the other disciples, and the door is shut and locked, and suddenly Jesus is among them again, saying, “Peace be with you.”
I imagine at this point Thomas is completely gobsmacked and can’t even speak. Jesus turns to him and is like, “Touch my hands, see the nails for yourself. Don’t doubt any longer Thomas, believe.”
And Thomas calls Jesus his Lord and his God, recognizing the truth.
Jesus doesn’t condemn Thomas for doubting. He doesn’t call him out. He shows him his hands and let him touch him, but he does make it a point to say that those who believe without seeing will be more blessed.
The lesson in this is that it’s okay to doubt, it’s okay to question, like Thomas. But we live in a time where Jesus does not walk the earth, so we have to believe without seeing. And we are more blessed because of it.
Thomas is not the only disciple Jesus needs to have a conversation with, there is still Peter—Peter who a few short days before, denied any knowledge of Jesus, denied being friends with him, denied being his follower. That Peter, is still here, and still a follower of Jesus.
Someone read John 21:15-19.
15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. 18 Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” 19 (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”
Jesus is having breakfast with the disciples and he turns to Peter. And he’s like, “Peter, do you love me.” And Peter is like, “Yes, Lord, I love you.” And Jesus says, “Then feed my sheep.” Who are the sheep? Everyone is Jesus’s sheep—Jesus’s followers, every follower from a kid to an old person is Jesus’s sheep. We are his followers, he is our shepherd and we are his sheep. Jesus is commanding Peter to take care of his sheep, of his flock.
And then Jesus asks him again, “Simon, do you love me?” And Peter is like, “Yes, Jesus I love you.” And Jesus says then tend my sheep.
And then Jesus asks again, “Simon do you love me?” At this point Peter feels hurt, that Jesus is questioning him so much, that Jesus seems to think Peter doesn’t love him. And Jesus is like, “Lord, you know everything, you have to know I love you.” And then Jesus says again, “Then feed my sheep.”
What does this all mean? Why does he do this three times?
Well, you’ll remember Peter denied Jesus three times—denied even knowing Jesus, let alone being a follower. Jesus is giving Peter a chance to fix that, to re-affirm his devotion to Jesus three times.
There is a lot to come in life going forward for Peter. He is going to be a leader of the early church, tending Jesus’s flock as Jesus asked him. But this is going to lead to a hard life for Peter. Peter will be persecuted, and in the end he too will be crucified. Jesus needs to know his devotion—but more importantly Peter needs to know his own devotion, that he means it. Peter needs to hear himself affirm his love of Jesus, and know that he can move past his denial, and that Jesus forgives him for his denial, so that Peter can do everything that must be done going forward.
We’ll study more of Peter’s story when we study the early church in Acts.
But Jesus isn’t meant to stay on earth. His time with the disciples is coming to an end. Someone read Matthew 28:16-20.
16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Jesus calls the eleven disciples back to Galilee and when he gets there, he tells them that all authority on earth has been granted to him, and with that authority he has a commission for them. They are to go forth and make disciples of people of all nations—not just Jewish people—and they are to baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and they are too teach them to obey everything that Jesus told them.
We call this the Great Commission, and we view it as something we to obey even today, that we are called to go forth in Jesus’s name and make disciples, to bring people to him. We must spread the Gospel, the good news that Jesus is alive, and his teachings.
And then Jesus ends his statement for us to remember that he is with us always, even to the end of the age. Even though we don’t see him, and he’s not physically here, he is still with us, and still part of us.
But Jesus cannot stay on earth walking amongst the disciples, he must go back to heaven. Someone read Luke 24:50-53.
50 Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. 51 While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. 52 And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; 53 and they were continually in the temple blessing God.
Jesus is carried to heaven. After his resurrection, Jesus walked the earth for 40 days. He appeared to more people than we studied here—there are many people in the Bible who saw him. From Mary Magdalene to the disciples to two random followers on the road. He appeared to too many people for it to be a conspiracy, or a hidden secret. Too many people saw him and were all talking about it.
And then Jesus had to go back, had to go to heaven to be at the right hand of God. We call this the ascension. Jesus died, and he rose from the dead, and now it’s time for the disciples to spread the word of that.
And that is the end of Jesus’s time on earth.
Next week we’ll take a step back and look at the bigger picture, and what it all means, but for now this is where we end the lesson.