ANOTHER LOOK AT EASTER

Rev. Bernt P. Tweit

The First Lesson; Acts 4:8-12
The Second Lesson; 1 John 1:1 - 2:2
Gospel Lesson; Luke 24:36-49
Sermon Text; Luke 24:36-49

Our sermon text for today is recorded for us in Luke, chapter 24, looking at verses 36 – 49

While they were still talking about this, Jesus Himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you."

They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have." When He had said this, He showed them His hands and feet. And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, He asked them, "Do you have anything here to eat?" They gave Him a piece of broiled fish, and He took it and ate it in their presence.

He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms."

Then He opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."

And now, O Lord, may the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my lips be acceptable, to you O Lord, our Strength and our Redeemer.

Amen

Our Gospel Lesson for last week and our Gospel Lesson for today are very similar, in that they show Jesus appearing to His disciples. Last week looked at things at one week after Easter, when Jesus appeared to His disciples, with Thomas. After seeing Jesus, Doubting Thomas believed that Jesus had risen from the dead. The account that we looked at last week was John's gospel. John was a disciple. He was an apostle. And he was writing things from the perspective of an eye witness. He, himself, was standing there. He knew what had happened. And he later wrote them down.

Well, this week we are looking at things from Luke's perspective, Jesus' appearance to His disciples. Luke was a physician or doctor. And being a doctor or a physician, he wanted to know the facts and he wanted to share the facts. As we look at our text for today, we see that the disciples are afraid. But, we also look at the facts of the risen Lord.

Today, I would like to take another look at Easter. Our text for today is Jesus appearing to His disciples, on Easter evening, that very first Easter night.

And, I am going to begin by using this illustration.

Back in 1996 the Green Bay Packers won the Super Bowl. They had a very good year. Let's say (hypothetically speaking) I told you that just a few days after the Green Bay Packers won the Super Bowl, in 1996, Brett Favre came here to Holy Cross! Well, there would be a few different reactions that people would have. Some people would be shocked and amazed that Brett Favre came here. Some people would believe, as they started to mill around Brett Favre, shake his hand, pat him on the back, see him with their own eyes, and touch him with their own hands. But, those that weren't here when Brett Favre came, probably wouldn't believe it, unless you showed them some pictures, or unless you showed them some video that yes, in fact, he was here.

The disciples reacted in a very similar way, when Jesus appeared to them. They had those same reactions. Some of them were in shock and amazement. Some of them began to believe. But, it was Thomas who said, "I won't believe unless I see it with my own eyes and unless I touch Jesus with my own hands."

And so, today, as we take another look at Easter, we see things from the vantage point of the disciples. The fear that they were going through, but Luke also lays out for us the facts that Jesus, indeed, has risen from the dead. When Jesus appeared to His disciples, the Bible tells us that they were behind locked doors. And, it tells us the reason that they were behind locked doors. They were behind locked doors for fear of the Jews.

Think about what had happened. After Jesus had risen from the dead, it was the Roman soldiers who went into Jerusalem, and they told everybody, "The disciples came and stole Jesus' body, while we, the soldiers, were sleeping." And so, that word was getting out to all the people of Jerusalem, "The disciples have stolen Jesus' body." And they were afraid. They were behind locked doors, because they were thinking to themselves, "If they were willing to persecute Jesus the way that they did, if they were willing to nail Jesus to the cross and see Him die, if they were willing to do that to Him, what might they do to us?"

And so, they were behind locked doors, for fear of the Jews.

But, there was also another type of fear that was running through the disciples' minds. There was a fear that they had that their eternal salvation was in doubt. Throughout the course of Jesus' ministry, (the three years the disciples were with Jesus), they had heard Jesus say some pretty profound things, all about eternal salvation being through Him, being through Jesus. They heard Jesus say things like,

"God so loved the world

that He gave His one and only Son,

that whoever believes in Him,

shall not perish

but have everlasting life."

They heard Jesus say,

"Whoever hears my Word,

and believes Him who sent me,

has eternal life."

They heard Jesus say,

"I am the resurrection and the life.

He who believes in me will live,

even though He dies.

Whoever lives and believes in me

will never die."

And, they heard Jesus say,

"I am the way, and the truth, and the life.

No one comes to the Father,

except through me."

But, now before their very eyes, Jesus died on a cross and He was buried in the ground. Jesus died and their eternal salvation was in doubt. The one that they had put their faith in, the one that they had put their trust in, was now dead.

We sin when we doubt that Jesus has risen from the dead. But Jesus comes to you and me, just like He came to Doubting Thomas and says, "Stop doubting and believe." The scriptures go on to say,

"These are written

(God's Word is written)

that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ

and that by believing

you may have life in His name."

But, there was also fear on behalf of the disciples, as they were shocked and surprised, as Jesus now appears to them in that room that was locked. Now, through physics we know a couple of things. We know that a solid can pass through a liquid. About eight days ago, I saw a number of you at the YMCA for Family Fun Night. I saw some of you jump into the pool. You are a solid. You jumped into a liquid. Physics tells us that that can be done. We know that liquid can pass through solid. Some of you walked into church this morning and I saw you soaking wet. The rain that was coming down in liquid form was going through your clothes and some of you were soaked to the bone. A liquid can pass through a solid. But, it is not normal for solid to pass through solid. That is not normal. And so, how was it that Jesus appeared to His disciples in that room that was locked? Well, one of the things that we need to remember is that Jesus is omnipresent. That is one of His attributes. And, it was not that Jesus was absent from that room before He physically appeared to His disciples. But, Jesus having risen from the dead, now shows that He is God. He is able to appear in that room, with His disciples, however it is that He wants to do so. And, Jesus, to calm their fears, speaks a Hebrew greeting. He says to them, "Shalom." Which in English is, "Peace be with you."

The disciples were afraid. But now Luke reports to us the facts, as the physician that he is, that Jesus had risen from the dead. Jesus asked the disciples to come to Him. He says, "I want you to look at my hands. I want you to look at the nail marks in my hands. I want you to look at the nail marks in my feet. Even the spear that poked me in the side. I want you to see them with your own eyes. And, I want you to touch them with your own hands."

It was a fact that the same person who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, the same person who was born of the virgin Mary, who suffered under Pontius Pilate, who was crucified, died, and was buried, was now standing before them, because He had risen from the dead. He wanted the disciples to see that and He wanted them to feel it.

I now am going to ask you to do something that is maybe very uncomfortable for Lutherans to do. I want you to turn your shoulders and look at the person who is sitting next to you. I want you to do that right now. I also want you to take your hand and to extend it. Shake hands with the person who is sitting next you. Look them in the eye and then, I want you to touch them and shake their hand. (And, Pastor Bartels, so that you are not left out, I am going to look you in the eye, and shake your hand.)

I see you. I feel you. You looked at somebody in the eye. You touched them. You felt them. You saw, with your own eyes, that they are alive. You touched with your own hands, that they are alive. That is what Jesus wanted His disciples to know. "I am not a figment of your imagination. I am not a ghost. Touch me. See me. Believe and live."

But, if that did not convince the disciples, Jesus asked for a piece of fish. Ghosts don't eat fish, but real people do. Jesus asked for, He received, and He consumed a piece of fish. Again, it was a fact, a fact that Jesus, Himself, though He was dead, yet, He rose from the dead, just as He said, three days later, to show that He did what He said He was going to do. He was going to die on the cross, and pay for your sin. He was going to rise gloriously on Easter morning, to show that He has power over our sin, over death, and over the power of the devil.

John wrote what he did in our Epistle Lesson for today to show that he was an eyewitness. As he wrote the letter or the book of 1 John, he begins his letter this way. He said, "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched - this we proclaim concerning the Word of life." He wanted people to know that he was an eye witness. He saw Jesus risen from the dead, with his own eyes. And, he felt Jesus risen from the dead with his own hands.

Why is it then that people today, some people today doubt that Jesus rose from the dead? Why do they doubt that? Well, it goes against nature, doesn't it. When a person dies, they die. And, we might ask ourselves, today, "Why doesn't Jesus appear to us, the same way that He appeared to His disciples, so that we can see Him with our own eyes, so that we can touch Him with our own hands?" The answer is simple. And, the answer is this. That is the way Jesus wants it. We may not see, physically, Jesus with our eyes. We may not physically touch Him with our hands, but with the eyes of faith, and with the hands of faith, through the Word of Scripture, we do. The Words of Scripture, which are true, come to us each and every week, and if we have devotions at home, each and every day. And, we see with the eyes of faith, and we touch with the hands of faith, that Jesus did die on the cross to pay for our sins. Jesus also rose from the grave and He conquered our sin. He conquered death. And He conquered the power of the devil.

Today, as we took another look at Easter, we looked at Easter with the eyes of faith. And, we also took another look at Easter with the hands of faith. We realized the sacrifice that Jesus made, to take away all of our sin, and to rescue us from death.

May we be witnesses that our Lord and Savior has indeed risen from the dead, gives you the forgiveness of sin, and has purchased for you the gift of everlasting life, with Him, in Heaven.

Amen.

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