Having just finished Luke and about to study Acts, what would you expect?
Look on line and/or use a study Bible to find the following:
At the end of the book of Luke Jesus’ appearances become more frequent before he ascends. At this point it is clear that the task of spreading news about God is handed over to the disciples. This begs the question of how to witness. Witnessing goes beyond retelling the true story of how Jesus came and lived 2,000 years ago. Jesus is alive today and so we should tell others about a current relationship.
Luke 24:36-53
36 While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
37 They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. 38 He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? 39 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.”
40 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. 41 And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate it in their presence.
44 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.”
45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 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.”
50 When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. 51 While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. 52 Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. 53 And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.
Questions
Going through a long line of prophets, God has been addressing our ancestors in different ways for centuries. Recently he spoke directly to us through his Son. By his Son, God created the world in the beginning, and it will all belong to the Son in the end. This Son perfectly mirrors God, and s stamped with God’s nature. He holds everything together with what he says – powerful words!
After his finished the sacrifice for sins, the son took his honoured place high in the heavens right alongside God, far higher than any angel in rank and rule. ( The Message Hebrews 1:1-4)
Luke 24:13-35
13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles[a] from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him.
17 He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?”
They stood still, their faces downcast. 18 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?”
19 “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. 20 The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21 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. 22 In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23 but didn’t find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24 Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus.”
25 He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
28 As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. 29 But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.
30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32 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?”
33 They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34 and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” 35 Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.
Questions
The first skeptics were not enlightened 17th and 18th century philosophers. The first skeptics about the resurrection were the (male) disciples.
Luke 24:1-12
1 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. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” 8 Then they remembered his words.
9 When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. 11 But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. 12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.
Questions
My wife and I went to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre http://www.sacred-destinations.com/israel/jerusalem-church-of-holy-sepulchre in Jerusalem. I even wriggled into the chamber where Jesus’ body might have been buried. I also went to the Garden of the Tomb http://www.gardentomb.com/ . The idea is that Jesus was buried and there are at least two spots where he might have been laid to rest. The women from Galilee were preparing spices and Joseph of Arimathea gave Jesus a dignified rock-hewn tomb.
Any idea that Jesus did not really die does not fit the evidence. He was dead and buried. But of course, the account moves on from there.
Luke 23: 50-56
50 Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, 51 who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea, and he himself was waiting for the kingdom of God. 52 Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body. 53 Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. 54 It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.
55 The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. 56 Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.
Questions
The New Testament uses many images to describe what the cross is and how we should see it. It is a ransom(Mark 10:45; 1 Tim. 2:6), a payment for the debt of sin. It is a substitution – Jesus offers himself in our place (cf. the meaning of Barabbas in the previous section; see also Luke 22:18-12; John 6:51-52; Rom. 8:3; 2 Cor. 5:21; cf. Isa. 53:10) It is a propitiation, satisfying the justice of God by dealing with sin (Rom. 3:25). It presents the “lifting up of Jesus,” and through it Satan is overthrown (John 3:14-15; 8:28; 12:31-32; 18:32). It is the means y which the church is purchased (Acts 20:28). It is the sacrifice that ends all other sacrifices for sin (Heb. 8-10). It is the precursor to the Lord’s being lifted up and seated at God’s side (Acts 2:16-39; Heb. 1:3). It is the basis on which God sets apart his children as a holy community (1 Peter 1:2, 18-25; 2:1-11). On the cross Jesus became a curse for us, a mediator of our guilt before God (Gal. 3:13, 19-20). there reconciliation takes place between God and humanity, as well as between Jew and gentile (Rom. 5:8-11; 2 Cor. 5:20-21; Eph 2:11-22; Col. 1:21-22; 2:11-15). So God can now justify us, that is, declare us righteous before him (Rom. 3:21-31). (Taken from the NIV Application Commentary)
Luke 23:26-49
26 As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. 27 A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. 28 Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ 30 Then
“‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”
and to the hills, “Cover us!”’[b]
31 For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
32 Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. 33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”[c] And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.
35 The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.”
36 The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar 37 and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”
38 There was a written notice above him, which read: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”
40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.[d]”
43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
44 It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon, 45 for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”[e] When he had said this, he breathed his last.
47 The centurion, seeing what had happened, praised God and said, “Surely this was a righteous man.” 48 When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away. 49 But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.
Questions
Going Deeper
How does Prince’s song The Cross capture the pervasive nature of The Cross? What does it miss?
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x62ivq_11-the-cross-lovesexy-tour-dortmund_music
http://www.justsomelyrics.com/114444/Prince-The-Cross-Lyrics
The passage below from Luke was designed by the author to show how everyone is responsible for Jesus’ death. The actively hostile are represented by the leaders of Israel, the passive politically correct types are represented by Pilate, and the people are represented by … the people. We all fall into one of these categories. Then there is Barabbas. He is a murderous insurrectionist. I don’t know many of them. However, he represents all of us. His sin is on the surface. Our sin is equally horrific. Sin is our common condition. Jesus is substituted for Barabbas and Barabbas goes free. Jesus was substituted for us that we may go free. The effect of Jesus’ death is whether we accept what it has brought to us.
Luke 23:13-25
13 Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, 14 and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. 15 Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. 16 Therefore, I will punish him and then release him.” [17] [a]
18 But the whole crowd shouted, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!” 19 (Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.)
20 Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. 21 But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
22 For the third time he spoke to them: “Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him.”
23 But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. 24 So Pilate decided to grant their demand. 25 He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.
Questions
Rowan Atkinson did a sketch where he pretended to be reading from the Bible and made fun of Jesus’ ability to perform miracles. The attitude he portrays http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KN-8G0HCD5U as he pretends to be a minister is an attitude many display today. It is not a new attitude. Herod was only interested in Jesus if he could perform party tricks and when he was disappointed by the real man, he let his soldiers beat Jesus up. Do you know those that are cynical or even comedic about Jesus? Can we laugh about Jesus? When would it be inappropriate to laugh about him? When is it appropriate?
Luke 23:1-12
1Then the whole body of them got up and (A)brought Him before Pilate.
2(B)And they began to accuse Him, saying, “We found this man (C)misleading our nation and (D)forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying that He Himself is Christ, a King.”
3So Pilate asked Him, saying, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And He answered him and said, “(E)It is as you say.”
4Then Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowds, “(F)I find no guilt in this man.”
5But they kept on insisting, saying, “He stirs up the people, teaching all over Judea, (G)starting from Galilee even as far as this place.”
6When Pilate heard it, he asked whether the man was a Galilean.
7And when he learned that He belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent Him to (H)Herod, who himself also was in Jerusalem at that time.
8Now Herod was very glad when he saw Jesus; for (I)he had wanted to see Him for a long time, because he had been hearing about Him and was hoping to see some sign performed by Him.
9And he questioned Him at some length; but (J)He answered him nothing.
10And the chief priests and the scribes were standing there, accusing Him vehemently.
11And Herod with his soldiers, after treating Him with contempt and mocking Him, (K)dressed Him in a gorgeous robe and sent Him back to Pilate.
12Now (L)Herod and Pilate became friends with one another that very day; for before they had been enemies with each other.
Questions
Jesus stands alone and is deserted by his closest human friends. The last to deny him is Peter, but Peter’s denial of Jesus is emphatic. Oe of the most harrowing scenes in the gospels is the scene when a persecuted Jesus looks through some opening from the trial and sees Peter as he has denied him. We all endure pressures to deny Jesus. For some the denial can be silent. Like the majority of the disciples our faith dissipates silently in public. However, one or two of us find ourselves disassociating from the faith very publicly. Let’s hope that when talk of Jesus and the faith comes up in public we will own it and own Him.
Luke 22:54-71
54 Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. 55 And when some there had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. 56 A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, “This man was with him.”
57 But he denied it. “Woman, I don’t know him,” he said.
58 A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.”
“Man, I am not!” Peter replied.
59 About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.”
60 Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. 61 The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” 62 And he went outside and wept bitterly.
63 The men who were guarding Jesus began mocking and beating him. 64 They blindfolded him and demanded, “Prophesy! Who hit you?” 65 And they said many other insulting things to him.
66 At daybreak the council of the elders of the people, both the chief priests and the teachers of the law, met together, and Jesus was led before them. 67 “If you are the Messiah,” they said, “tell us.”
Jesus answered, “If I tell you, you will not believe me, 68 and if I asked you, you would not answer. 69 But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God.”
70 They all asked, “Are you then the Son of God?”
He replied, “You say that I am.”
71 Then they said, “Why do we need any more testimony? We have heard it from his own lips.”
Questions
The irony of Jesus’ betrayal really stood out to me as I read through the account today. The juxtaposition of the betrayal with the kiss. A kiss seems so sweet from a child, a lover, a friend, a parent. An embrace seems so reassuring and warm. Yet here at Jesus’ end it is a most cruel irony. It clearly shows the twisted nature of the sin that has grasped Judas.
The irony continues as incompetent revolutionaries, at the forefront Peter, are forbidden to fight with the swords that they have with them. Jesus asks what kind of leader the people think that he is because they come for him brandishing weapons. Christ was submitting with non-violence to what he knew would be a violent end.
So it is with us. We watch loved ones who have been so strong struggle despite their lives being marked by a faithfulness to God. We see the cruel effects of sin as spouses divorce each other and act with more venom and hurtful action than if they had been strangers. We fight, we hurt, we don’t understand. It’s not what we expected. It’s ironic.
Luke 22: 47-53
47 While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, 48 but Jesus asked him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”
49 When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?” 50 And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.
51 But Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.
52 Then Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders, who had come for him, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come with swords and clubs? 53 Every day I was with you in the temple courts, and you did not lay a hand on me. But this is your hour—when darkness reigns.”
Questions
Plymothian 