The Scriptures Speak of Christ

March 31, 2013

Lesson: Luke 24:13–27

Key Verse: Luke 24:27

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Introduction

It was early morning on the first day of the week when the women from Galilee returned to the tomb where they had laid the body of Jesus. They had prepared spices and ointments for the burial, which they had not been able to do because of the Sabbath. When they got to the tomb, they found it empty, the stone rolled away from the sepulcher (Luke 23:55–24:3).

The angels of the Lord comforted the women by telling them why Jesus was not in the tomb: “The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again” (Luke 24:6–7). These two facts about Christ must always be remembered as we think about our salvation, that our Lord and Savior was crucified and resurrected, claiming victory over death. In his crucifixion, we understand that it was he who died for our sins. In his resurrection we remember that he only has the power to give us life. In the first case, we know that we are forgiven by our heavenly Father for our transgression against him. In the latter, we know that the victory over death is ours because of the victory displayed by Christ.

Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16). When this word, “living” is used of Go,d it reveals the life which God has in and of himself, from whom all other life is derived. We have life because of the life-giving Spirit of God. Jesus uses this word when he says, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (John 6:51). When we believe that Christ is the living Lord, we are saying that we have life in no other Savior but Christ. When we placed our faith in Christ as our Savior and Lord, we understood that we were delivered from death to life, and we turned “from idols to serve the living and true God” (1 Thess. 1:9).

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Jesus Drew Near—Luke 24:13-16

On the same day that the women and Peter found the tomb empty, two of the Lord’s disciples were walking the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus. They had a lot to talk about. For there was the death of the Master on the cross, and then the tomb was empty. What would all this mean, and where was the body of their Lord?

Conversation between two or more Christians on the things of our Lord should be sought after with much enthusiasm. When the thoughts of our minds are converted into words with those of like mind, both looking to Scriptures for the truth, then our faith is strengthened and our outward expressions of what we believe are made surer. Our conversation with each other should be such as to allow the Word of God and the teaching of the Spirit to guide us. Our belief and our practice are blessed in this kind of conversation. Paul’s admonition is, that we “speak of the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment” (1 Cor. 1:10).

When Jesus had left these two disciples, after breaking bread with them and revealing himself, the disciples said to each other, “Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the Scriptures.” The Lord had revealed to them the truth of his death and resurrection through what was written in his Word. Our conversations about our Lord should be with the desire that they be tested and nourished by the Word of God. We pray that the Holy Spirit would lead us into all truth until our hearts burn within us.

The disciples continued their journey to Emmaus. The living Lord joined them on the way, but their eyes were held back from recognizing Him.

Discussion: What time can we take to talk with each other about Christ, beside those of worship and Bible study?

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The Third Day—Luke 24:17–24

Jesus asked these disciples, “What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad?” The disciples were sad in spirit for the Lord whom they had come to love was dead. The body of the one whom they expected to be their King was missing.

One of the disciples, whose name was Cleopas, answered, “Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things, which are come to pass there in these days?” All of Jerusalem buzzed with the death of Jesus. And now the rumor of the missing body or the resurrection of Jesus was spreading through the town. There seem to be no strangers to the Gospel today. In some way, the message of the Christ is getting around. The Christian needs to know how this Gospel is being twisted by the world. The Christian needs to know the truth as God revealed in His Holy Word.

The Lord asked, “What things?” The disciples answered, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him.” These disciples revealed their knowledge of Christ as a prophet. They were most likely remembering his mighty deeds of healing and raising the dead. Both his teaching and deeds are written upon the hearts of his people. Their sadness was revealed in the knowledge that the rulers took hold of their Master and crucified him.

They continued to tell this ‘stranger’ about how they trusted that this Jesus would be the redeemer of Israel. It was the third day since Christ was crucified. The disciples continued their discussion, saying, “Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre; And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive.” They had heard that others also saw the empty tomb.

The facts were before them. The condemnation of their Master, the crucifixion, the empty tomb, and the witness of others that angels had declared that Jesus was risen. What were they to think about these things? They expected Christ to be the Redeemer of Israel. What did this all mean? When we talk about Christ, what all of this means to us, do we reason with our own minds, wanting an answer to come from our own expectations? These disciples could not understand these things, for their hearts were sad because they felt a great disappointment.

Discussion: What things did these disciples know about Jesus?

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Believe the Prophets—Luke 24:25–27

Disappointment does not come from God. It comes to the Christian who puts his or her faith in the writings of another, or from one’s own interpretation of the facts. There are those who set times and dates of the coming of Christ. Christians express their disappointment when the time passes, and the Lord does not come in accordance with what they have read. They have listened to the wrong voice. The disappointment and sadness do not come from God. He and his Word are faithful, and can be trusted to never disappoint. The one who cried, “He is coming,” needs to, at best, repent of the lie, and at least, to apologize to those who found disappointment.

That which the disciples had witnessed was not the cause of their sadness or disappointment. It was their interpretation of the facts and their expectation of Jesus as Redeemer of Israel.

Jesus opened the eyes of his disciples that they might know the truth. He began by calling them “fools.” Our Lord was not putting them down, but was placing them in the position of being empty of being able to intelligently see the truth. The fool, in the eyes of the Lord, is the one who is incapable of discerning truth from error. Such is the fool who says in his heart, “There is no God.” Our Lord empties us in order to fill us to overflowing. The fool is “slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.”

Therefore, the opposite of the fool is the wise man who believes with the whole heart what the prophets have spoken. True wisdom comes from God. The Scripture of the Old and New Testaments is the only rule which directs us how we may glory and enjoy God, teaching us what we are to “believe concerning God, and what duty God requires” of us (Shorter Catechism question numbers 2 and 3).

Jesus asks this question, “Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?” Since the prophets are to be listened to because they bring, by the Spirit, the Word of truth, then how are we to understand the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ?

Jesus proceeded to teach them the truth of his crucifixion and resurrection, “beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” Speaking to those who opposed him, Jesus said, “Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me” (John 5:39). There is no other way to come to the saving knowledge of Christ except by the written Word of God. And there is no other teacher than the Holy Spirit who leads us to all truth.

Discussion: What is the difference between the fool and the wise man?

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Lessons are based on the International Sunday School Lessons for Christian Teaching, copyright © 2013 by the Committee on the Uniform Series.