Easter Sunday - Mitch Levingston

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TRANSCRIPT

 

Hey, welcome to the Centre podcast. We're a church based in Dural, Sydney, who loves Jesus. And so want to make him the center of our lives, community and world. We pray that you, blessed by this word and that it reveals God's love for you in a new way.

on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb. But. But when they entered, they did not find the body of Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that claimed like lightning stood beside them.

In their fright. The woman bowed down with their faces to the ground. But the man said, why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here. He has risen. Remember how I told you while he was still in Galilee, the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinners, but crucified on the third day, and they rise again.

Then they remembered his words. When they came back on the tomb, they were told. They told all these things. Of the 11. And to the others it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary, the mother of James, and the others with them I told the apostles, but they did not believe the woman, because their words seemed to them like a nonsense.

Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw strips of linen lying on them shelves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.

Oh, he is risen indeed. Indeed he is risen this morning we're going to do with. So on Good Friday we did the stations of the cross. We're going to do a stations of the resurrection through Luke chapter 24. And Luke 24 is, I guess, like all gospel writings, quite remarkable.

And Luke has set this up that they're going to take a look at three different events on the same day the women coming to the tomb and finding an empty Jesus appearing to the two disciples on the impious road. And lastly, he's appearance to disciples in that room, showing them his hands and his feet and the wounds that he bore.

It's really interesting that Luke mentions, first and foremost, that this day is the first day of the week. Weeks disappear like this. It feels like a Monday starts and then suddenly it's Friday. And here that the first day of the week, it's showing that this is something. A new beginning is a new day, a new dawning. That's something remarkable has happened.

And when those women come to that tomb and see it empty there, and just those two angels there gleaming in light, I know this is something remarkable, and I love the question that the angels ask why do you seek the living among the dead? Why do you seek the living among the dead? It's a fantastic question, because how many of us are seeking dead things when the risen Lord Jesus is offering life for us, he's offering wholeness.

He's offering something greater than we could ever imagine. And so this Easter Sunday, friends, ask yourself the question why do you seek the living among the dead?

Obviously, the angel's words, the fact that the tomb is empty head encourages the women to be the first witnesses to the resurrection. If you notice, says John, who brilliantly read that passage to us, you'll notice that Luke mentions all of these different women who got Mary's, you got Joanna's, and you got even other women who would just not name.

They just said with them and you perhaps wondering like, well, why does Luke make so much reference to all of these women? Why are there women? Why are there the first ones to see the empty tomb?

It's because Jesus Christ had come to flip how life operates. I read a passage from a Jewish scripture called Mission Son Hedren. This is written, around the time when Jesus was around, and it says these words women, slaves in mind is that of children. Alas, children are disqualified from giving testimony. Read that again. Women, slaves and minors are disqualified from giving testimony.

That was the prevailing Jewish culture. Women are unreliable. If you're going to put clients on McNew, you don't use women. You use men. But Jesus has come to bring in this shift to deliberately uproot cultural norms. And you see here the apostles, when they hear this testimony, what do they say? Oh, that sounds like fantastic news. We believe you.

In fact, they say, well, I think it's utter nonsense. And because I love to teach you guys little bits of, you know, interesting facts from the Bible, this word nonsense is letters and letter. Ros is only used once in the New Testament, but it's used lots and lots of times in other Greek writings. We have. And all the other times they used that.

With Greek writings, it's often used in the context of a comedy play of someone who doesn't get the joke. It just seems like nonsense to them. That's quite ironic. And hopefully today you'll see this as we explore Luke's Gospel together. A little irony in this. The men had spent so much time with Jesus man, he'd seen him do so many miracles, had heard these teachings, do not believe him.

It's the women, the women, the ones who are considered by that society to be valueless, to have no testimony, to have no say, and how things were. I guess one of the things we can learn from the women today, our culture often thinks that the resurrection is nonsense, that what we believe is nonsense. So, friends, today I encourage you to do what the women did.

Be present now. Present at the cross. Present at the burial. They're present at the tomb. Friends today be present. Don't search for the living among the dead. Search for the nonsense. Search for the nonsense of the gospel. That's the heart of the gospel message that Jesus is risen. So I encourage you today to reflect upon that as the women come to the tomb by the nonsense of the gospel, embrace the fact that Jesus come to shift how we see the world.

And friends, don't search for the living among the dead.

Reading on from Luke 24, verse 13. Now the same day, two of them were going to a village called mace, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them, but they were kept from recognizing him.

He asked them, what are you discussing together? As you walk along? They stood still, their faces downcast. One of them named Cleopas, asked him, are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days? What things? He asked about Jesus of Nazareth, they replied, he was a prophet powerful in word and deed before God and all the people, the chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him.

But we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning, but they didn't find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels who said he was still alive.

Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it, just as the woman had said. But they did not see Jesus. He said to them, how foolish you are, and how slow to believe all the prophets have spoken. Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things? And then into his glory? And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning himself.

As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going further, but they urged him strongly, stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over. So he went to stay with them. When he was at the table with them he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and began to give it to them.

The then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other, were not our hearts burning within us? While he talked with us on the road and opened the scriptures to us, they got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the 11 and those with them assembled together and saying, it is true, the Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.

Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them. When he broke the bread.

So in a biblical narrative, is the size of the narrative shows how important it is. In Luke chapter 24, the length of the amazed road shows us that for Luke, this is a really important part of his resurrection narrative, and just as there was irony in the first part, we looked at with the women understanding in the disciples, not in Peter leaving perplexed.

So it is here we have the informed two disciples walking on the road to Emmaus, telling the uninformed Jesus all about the events that had happened. And I love how Jesus doesn't mince words here. He has this quite harsh reply to them. How foolish you are, and how slow to believe that Jesus had said those words to me.

I take that as quite a personal affront at how foolish I am and how slow I am to believe. Now, the problem with our two disciples on the Imus Road is that they had these expectations of Jesus that were unrealistic. The expectation was that they were hoping that he was going to redeem Israel, i.e. this would be some sort of political messiah, someone who'd come in on a war horse, who'd get rid of the Romans and redeem Israel that way.

In their mind, dying on a cross was not part of that plan. And, it's so devastating that Luke doesn't give us this Bible study that Jesus unpacks to them on this walk. We can kind of guess maybe he talked about the suffering servant from Isaiah 52. Maybe he used Hosea six two, where the prophet tells us that the on the third day the Lord will restore us.

We don't know. But anyway, Jesus uses the Old Testament to show that, hey, this was the whole point and purpose I'm meant to suffer. And I, the Messiah, was meant to suffer and die and come back to life. Now, if you indulge me for a little bit, when we get to the part where their eyes are opened, there's some really, really cool things in here.

And maybe one day Mary and I can talk about this in our banter podcast, going to a bit more depth. But there's a lot of things happening at this moment. And so then when they're there breaking bread, Luke uses language that he's he's already alluded to two other occasions in his gospel. And can we think of some significant meals have happened in the gospel?

One of them is the feeding of the what, 5000? And the second one is the moment that Jesus institutes Holy Communion. So automatically the regional rate isn't meant to go, oh, okay, I'm meant to think about this, but this is where it gets even cooler that Luke's also riffing off some of the Old Testament. And one of these moments here is when Abraham invites Yahweh himself in human form and two angels in there, Yahweh reveals that Abraham is going to have a child.

Will Sarah going to have a child? And the second one, which is almost like a direct reference to Genesis three seven, their eyes were opened. The very first meal in Scripture wasn't a meal of joy. It's a meal of heartache. It was an illegitimate meal when the serpent tempted Adam and Eve to eat this bread bearing fruit. And Scripture tells us at that moment the eyes were opened.

They recognized that they were naked. And here, on the first day of a new week, of a new creation, when Jesus sits down with these two disciples and this little house in a mass, and he breaks bread, their eyes are also opened. Jesus is beginning to unravel the curse, the bondage that humanity has lived under. This is the first meal in the new creation.

And friends, this is why breaking bread while we celebrate communion is so important, because it's a reminder that Jesus presence, he might not be he physically. He vanishes just like those he did with those two disciples. But he's still present. It's the meal that reminds us the broken body of Jesus and his blood that was shed. Look forward to a future hope and a future promise.

So friends, today, how many of us are foolish and slow to believe? How am I ever said picture to Jesus? That's like what the road disciples had. Someone we thought was going to be different. And then when those expectations aren't met, we're left just completely and utterly disappointed. Perhaps there's times in your life where Christ is actually walking with you.

We haven't recognized him for whatever reason that might be. Perhaps there are moments within you where you feel this burning within your heart. We haven't pause to notice. Perhaps that's the Lord Jesus Christ speaking to you. Perhaps, friends, there's a face, a person that you are speaking to that might be hiding Jesus presence. Because as this story teaches us, God turns ordinary spaces and makes them holy.

That's what the resurrection is all about.

Well, I was still talking about Jesus. Jesus is still himself, still among them, and said, peace be with you. I was startled and frightened, thinking I saw a ghost. He said to them, why are you looking troubled? And why do doubts rise in your mind? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself touch my hands.

Oh, God does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have. When he said this, he showed them his hands and feet, and while they still did not believe it because of drawing the wise moment, he asked them, do you have anything here to eat? They gave him a piece of boiled fish, and he took it and died in their presence.

He said to them, this is what I told you while I was still with you. Everything you must be fulfilled. That is what an abomination. And what is this? The prophets and the Psalms, that he opened their minds so they could understand the scriptures. He told them, this is what was written. The Messiah will suffer from the dead.

And on the third day he he'll write, and hook repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Well, we preached in his name to all the nations beginning. I show you some. You are witness of all 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 the high.

When he had led them out to the city of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. While he was blessing them, he left and was taken up to heaven. Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.

For so much great work. Hey, on our final reflection through Luke 24, there is this implied question that Luke is asking when are the disciples going to believe? And, in the Old Testament, their, testimony was held valid if you had 2 or 3 witnesses. Now, so far, this is what Luke has been building up.

We've had the two women at the tomb. They have seen it there. Hey, she's not there. Peter himself has seen the the the grave clothes lying there. The disciples on the road have encountered the risen Lord Jesus. Now, will the apostles themselves actually believe? What will it take? Yes, be more irony. Luke is kind of tapping into a takes an encounter by the risen Lord Jesus for them to believe.

And it's quite interesting when they think that Jesus is a ghost. Now, in our mind that seems a bit silly. We don't really believe in things like that. But in the ancient world, if someone died particularly horrific deaths such as crucifixion, there was this sort of underlying belief that the ghost of that person could come back and haunt you.

And so that's probably what's going in their mind right now, like, oh my goodness, it's a ghost set. A Jesus is come back to haunt us. This is why Jesus makes such a concerted effort to go, hey man, look at, look at, look at my hands, look at my feet. I'm a sight I want some food to eat because I'm hungry.

Flesh and blood need food to eat.

Luke caps off this most important day of the week here. Jesus, appearing to his disciples. And if you remember back to Palm Sunday, spoke about how Jerusalem is the center of Luke's gospel. Jerusalem disappears so much. In fact, that's that's what Luke sets up as Jesus traveling to Jerusalem to fulfill his destiny. Now, at this moment of his resurrection, that's where his disciples end up going back to Jerusalem, worshiping and praising God.

As we finish this morning. Well, just focus a bit on cross wounds. The great church, Father August, Saint Augustine of Hippo, he said from the tomb he arose with his wounds healed. He scars kept. For this he judged expedient for his disciples that his scars should be kept, whereby the wounds of their heart might be healed. Well, how about Jesus still bearing those scars?

It's this powerful, tangible reminder. I love it there in the video, these kind of hands I got like, how long? And you can see through them, but how about those scars look like they're there as this powerful reminder that suffering has now been transformed into a symbol of healing and of faith, and a victory, the resurrected Christ with his wounds.

It shows us that the resurrection doesn't bypass the realities of our suffering and evil in this life. Instead, they somehow bring this transformation and those scars that Christ bears for all eternity. They're reminders of what it took to unify God and humans.

In Christ's suffering, that redemption is found, as the prophet Isaiah said so long before Jesus walked on this earth. From Isaiah chapter 53, from verse five he says, but he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. And friends, today, if you are carrying.

You're carrying scars. You're carrying doubts, whatever it might be. Today is the perfect day to do it. As we remember the resurrection of our Lord, we remember that he still bears the scars for eternity as a reminder of the cost of our sin, but also as a reminder that these wounds bring healing. As the prophet said by his wounds we are healed.

That's the invitation Jesus wants us to have today. That's the invitation he's offering to us. It's not here in Luke's gospel, but we're doubting Thomas. And there he you know, he said, I'm not going to believe unless I see his wounds and his side. And Jesus is happy to show them. Show them to him. And Thomas acknowledges that, my Lord and God, that same Jesus today wants you to reach out with him.

So look at his wounds and find healing. And if you wish to do that today, I give you an opportunity. We have our prayer corner here. We pray for people here who love to pray for you. I would love to pray for you. I'd love to pray with you. Any one of the pastors here love to pray for you and find healings here.

The wounds of Jesus. Friends, he is risen. He is risen indeed. Let me pray for us, Lord and Lord God, we give you thanks for this day, as if just it quickly journeyed through Luke's Gospel. That powerful first day of the week, reminder of the new heavens and the new earth that you're going to bring one day when this earth is restored and made whole.

And Lord, I pray for us, in particular, those of us that are carrying wounds that need to find healing, to find the healing through the wounds of Jesus. For those of us that need our eyes open, I pray that you open our eyes. And for those of us that need to leave behind the dead things, because why we are searching for living things amongst the dead.

So, Lord, I pray your blessing upon us on this Easter Sunday and we thank you for the new life that we have in Jesus. We pray this now in the precious name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.

Thanks so much for joining us. Don't forget to write and subscribe to help others discover this channel. Check out the description if you want to find out more or get in touch with us at the center. Gerald. But in the meantime, praying for God's hand over you as you continue to step into everything Jesus has in store for your life.

Be blessed.