THE PROMISE OF THE FATHER

Luke 24:36-53

The Promise of the Father

Warm-up question: Have you ever experienced a time in your life that was filled with doubt? How did you get through that time? What happened to help you through?

Jesus Appears to the Disciples

 ³⁶While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." ³⁷They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. ³⁸He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? ³⁹Look 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." ⁴⁰When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. ⁴¹And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, "Do you have anything here to eat?" ⁴²They gave him a piece of broiled fish, ⁴³and he took it and ate it in their presence. ⁴⁴He 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." ⁴⁵Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. ⁴⁶He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. ⁴⁸You are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹I 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."

The Ascension

 ⁵⁰When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them. ⁵¹While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. ⁵²Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. ⁵³And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.

It was Sunday evening, the day of the resurrection of Christ. The day had been full of arguing and controversy. For all of the disciples, their world had been turned upside down. Everything that they had believed was being challenged. In the midst of this dark and confusing time, some unusual things began to happen. In this study, let’s examine the events that led up to that wonderful encounter with the Risen Lord. It had started with Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Mary, the mother of James, claiming that they had gone to Jesus’ tomb and had found that He was alive and risen from the grave (Luke 24:4-10). Matthew also records the scene at the tomb and tells us that Jesus had talked briefly to two of them, and in sheer delight they had fallen at his feet grabbing hold of Him, not wanting to ever let Him go again. The angel also told the women that Jesus would be going ahead of them into Galilee, and that He would see them there. They were told to report this news to the others (Matthew 28:7).

The women, who were full of joy and excitement, came to find the other disciples and tell them the wonderful news. They explained what had happened to the Eleven and the other believers with them. This news was met with skepticism and some even thought it was nonsense.  Peter and John however, with hope in their hearts, ran to the tomb. They did not see Jesus; however, they did find evidence which supported what the women had told them. They found the grave clothes, strips of linen lying by themselves near the grave. It was a mystery! Now some of them must have been filled with hope, but also a mixture of confusion and unbelief. The news of Jesus’ resurrection must have seemed too good to be true. As the day had worn on, the doubts of the disciples had got the better of them. When Cleopas and his friend left for their walk to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35), they had concluded that what the women had seen was just a vision, perhaps wishful thinking. We know this from the account that we read about the encounter on the Emmaus road. Luke 24:7 tells us that Jesus had walked up alongside them and asked them questions about the recent events in Jerusalem in order to unveil the truth to them. They answered that the women had seen a vision of angels (Verse 23). Notice that when they were telling Jesus (whom they did not recognize at this point) about the women’s account, they said nothing about the fact that the women claimed to have seen or touched Jesus. They obviously did not accept the fact that the women had personally seen angels and had actually seen Jesus himself.  Instead, they said that the women had seen a “vision of angels.” They may have concluded that the women’s grief was causing them to imagine incredible things.  Unbelief and doubt had crept in and they hardly dared to hope in the wonderful news that had been brought to them.

Going back to the women’s account, imagine for a moment what the conversation may have been like after the women had brought the news to the disciples. What kind of explanations and comments do you think we would have heard if we were in that room?

  When Jesus opened the scriptures from memory to the disciples on the Emmaus Road and revealed Himself to them at the breaking of bread, they could not remain in Emmaus even one night. It was already dark when they determined to get back to Jerusalem and tell the disciples the news. Now they finally realized that it was all true. They had seen Him with their own eyes and could believe what they had been told by the women and by Peter. Their hearts had burned as Jesus had unfolded the events to them and help them put all the pieces together in the light of the scriptures. We can only imagine what their joy must have been like as they made their way to Jerusalem to share their encounter with the Lord Jesus. When they reached the disciples, they found them assembled together and speaking about the day’s events. What a day it had been! They were struggling with the facts of the days events hoping that it was really true. All of these events, as strange as they seemed, were coming together. Peter had claimed that the Lord had appeared to him also. (Luke 24:34). Then the two explained how Jesus had met them on the road to Emmaus and how they had recognized Him in the breaking of the bread. At this point, everything must have reached a climax of hope and excitement. When Jesus had been with them before His death, remarkable and supernatural things happened often. When He was taken from them, reality set in hard and caused them to doubt. Now hope surely started to come alive in their hearts. Was it too good to be true? How could so many of them be imagining things? Surely it must be true! This is the stage as it is set for Jesus to appear.

Imagine you are one of those disciples waiting in this room, hearing the two talk about the Emmaus road experience. What would your response be? What would you expect to happen next?  

Luke tells us that the eleven and others were in the room (Verse 33). Mark further adds the fact that they were eating at the time (Mark 16:14). We are not told where the disciples were gathered that Sunday evening but it is quite likely that it was the same upper room where they had eaten the Passover meal. If this is the same Upper room, it would be a very poignant picture. The last time they had shared a meal together, He had told them that He would be taken from them and that He would be betrayed by one of them. They had shared the last meal together, not really believing that it would be their last Passover meal and not wanting to believe the things that He was saying. Now here they are, discussing the possibility that He is alive again. John adds the fact that the doors were “locked for fear of the Jews” (20:19). The news from Cleopas and his friend caused a stir in the room, and they were still discussing these things when we are told that Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you” (Luke 24:36).

Why were they startled and frightened?

It sounds as if they were in the middle of discussing all the evidence when the Lord Jesus materialized in the center of the discussion. It must have been a scary experience, to have somebody materialize out of nothing in the middle of the room. It sounds like something out of “Star Trek” or some other sci-fi series! Their first thought was that He was a ghost, perhaps due to the way He arrived in the midst of them. One of the first things He says to them is:

“Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds?” (Verse 38).

How did He know they were troubled and had doubts about His being raised from the dead?

He was listening, of course! Where two or three are gathered together in His name, there He is, in the middle of them (Matthew 18:20). God listens in to our conversations. He knows exactly where each of us is at in our faith walk. He knows our needs even before we ask.

Does he who implanted the ear not hear? Does he who formed the eye not see? (Psalm 94:9).

Although we cannot see Him, He sees and listens to all that we say and all that we do. Nothing escapes His attention. He knows the pain and the heartache we may be going through right now. He knows our loneliness; he sees how you are being treated at work or at home. He’s never left us when we are having doubts and questions arise in our hearts, just as He showed up in the midst of the disciples when they were having doubts, He longs to do the same for us. He is a good listener.

The Lord had listened to the conversation recorded in Luke 24, verse 34. He had heard them say to the two disciples who had just returned from Emmaus that Jesus had appeared to Peter during the afternoon, yet they were still having doubts.

When one considers all of the evidence that the disciples had heard that day, why would they still doubt? Was it the lack of evidence; was it a lack of faith or something else that was hindering them from believing?

Many people do not make an attempt to find answers to the doubts that they have. For some it is not just doubts, it is unbelief, which rests more in the will than the mind. They will not believe. They have made a choice concerning any evidence for faith in Christ. Unbelief is a sin when it is a choice that one makes in their heart. The enemy is quick to sow his doubtful thoughts into the freshly tilled soil of our minds. There is often a choice that is before us as to what we listen to and believe. Will we listen to God’s word or satan’s doubts? Don’t be scared to check out the facts concerning the faith that we believe in. There is evidence at every step for the Christian faith, but still there is a point where one must cast themselves into the hands of God and choose to believe. Martin Luther said: “The art of doubting is easy, for it is an ability that is born with us.” Be honest with God, who listens not only to your every conversation but every thought of your mind too.

 ¹ O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. ² You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. ³ You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. ⁴ Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD (Psalm 139:1-4).

God doesn’t have a problem with your doubts, but I think He does have a problem with willful unbelief that shuns making a decision about the evidence. Henry Drummond once said: “Christ distinguished between doubt and unbelief. Doubt says, ‘I can’t believe.’ Unbelief says, ‘I won’t believe.’ Doubt is honest. Unbelief is obstinate.” If you lack evidence as to your faith, be sure that Jesus is near and ready to confirm you in your faith, if you are willing. If in the deepest place of your heart there is openness to the truth, the evidence will come, if you seek Him with all your heart (Jeremiah 29:13).

He came and manifested Himself in their midst and twice we are told that He showed them His hands and feet. Verse 40 sounds like He went around the room showing them the open wounds in His hands and feet. I wish I could have watched from a secret place in the room as He had them look on His wounds. Luke notes the joy and amazement on the faces of the disciples as they took in all the evidence of the visible bodily presence of Christ. The only human things that will be in heaven are the nail prints in the body of Christ. The marks of love remain for all to see. Note that Jesus eats a piece of fish with them.

Why does Luke make a point about Jesus asking for food? (Verse 41).

The testimony of the two just returned from Emmaus was that Jesus disappeared just as He broke the bread. It is possible that one of those in the room had asked the two if Jesus had actually eaten with them, concluding that Jesus had to be just a ghost because He did not eat. He deliberately eats with them now, just to prove that He was not a vision or a ghost.

Christ then goes to the scriptures with them, reminding them that faith in God must be based on the word of God (Romans 10:17). You cannot grow in your faith apart from reading and meditating on the word of God. He reminds them of the things that He had taught them while He was with them—that all things that had been prophesied in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms had to be fulfilled by Christ. Having mentioned that He was written about all through the books of the Bible, we are then told that He:

“…opened their minds so they could understand the scriptures?” (Verse 45).

What does it mean to have your mind opened to the scriptures?

Twice in one day (Luke 24:27; 45) He takes time to help them understand the scriptures. Why is that so important to Him?

In my younger days I used to be a commercial fisherman, working with my father on his boat out of Harwich, the busiest harbor on the east coast of England. My dad taught me all the intricacies of finding where the Dover Soles congregated so that we could scoop them into our net. It was a dangerous job due to the fact that we had fought two world wars off of our coast and the Germans had laid many different kinds of mines outside the harbor. We would usually catch one or two unexploded mines a year, pulling them out of the mud with the chains that were fixed to our nets. One of the most dangerous things was the thick fog that would fall where we could not even see our mast from the wheelhouse, a distance of about 20 feet. Of course, in those early days we did not have any radar to see other boats, so we did not know where we were in relation to home, yet we had to cross the shipping channel where huge ships would be going in and out, usually only minutes apart. We could hear ships blowing their horns from all directions around us as we made our way home. The only thing we had going for us to find our way home was the compass. Thank God for the compass, for when it is just complete fog and you don’t know where home is, you depend on the compass. The compass would always show us the direction we were going as it related to north. We also had an echo sounder which would tell us how much water we had under us. My dad would steer while I would stand on the bow of the boat listening for the sounds of the harbor. The scriptures are our compass, they will show us which direction we are going in life. The word of God is our moral guide always pointing to perfection, the Lord Jesus Christ, who alone can bring us home. The scriptures point to the One who alone is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Regular reading and meditation on the scriptures will give us depth on the journey so that we don’t run aground on the way home. We can be tossed around on stormy seas by every wind of doctrine, but if our minds have been opened by the Lord Jesus to what is written concerning Christ, we will not lose our way.

It is a work of the Spirit to illuminate the mind to the scriptures. Even before we come to Christ the Spirit of God is calling us and applying the message of Jesus and His saving work on the cross to our hearts and minds. Jesus said that no man could come to Him unless the Father draws him (John 6:44). God has worked in each of our lives bringing situations to bear that will bring us to our knees in abandonment to the cross of Christ. The Spirit of God makes the message of Christ real and applicable to a broken and prepared heart.

The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians 2:14).

Judas had been with them for around three years but he had not accepted the things that Jesus had taught under the Spirit’s power and anointing. The things of God only come to the spiritually thirsty. God will give us as much of Himself as we are thirsty for.

He reminds them of the task that is before them and us, to preach repentance and forgiveness of sin to all nations beginning at home (Verse 47). To them it was Jerusalem. To us it is our home city or town. Do not make the mistake of thinking that you can go elsewhere to communicate the gospel if you can’t do it at home. Luke tells us in the Book of Acts that they were to be witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8). The strategy is not to go to the world before going to our home town. You need to be willing to start where you are! If opportunities come to sow seed in fields that are beyond our home town, then by all means take them and expand your own heart as you go bearing the precious seed of the word of God, which is living and active. It is sharper than any double edged sword to penetrate the inner thoughts and motives of men and women (Hebrews 4:12).

Hold on, there is a “but” to the going. They must not get ahead of Him. They were told to wait until they received the promise of the Father (Verse 49). The promise of the Father is the Holy Spirit. They received the Spirit of God, we are told by John in his gospel, at the same time as Luke tells us that He opened their minds so that they could understand the scriptures.

On the evening of the first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:19-22).

The Day of Pentecost, when the Spirit came and filled them, was 50 days after Passover. The Resurrection of Christ came three days after Passover. I estimate that means that they had to wait another 47 days before they could go and preach the kingdom of God.

If they already were given the Spirit when He breathed on them, why did they have to wait 47 days until the Day of Pentecost? What happened at Pentecost?

The period of waiting was crucial to their empowerment, their being clothed with the Spirit. Often we seek to go in our own strength and do not wait for God’s power and leading.

A.B Simpson, founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, has something to say about this passage from Luke about waiting until we are clothed or filled with the Spirit. He said:

"These waiting days were necessary to enable the disciples to realize their need, their nothingness, their failure and their dependence upon the Master. They had to get emptied first before they would get filled."

Luke tells us in the Book of Acts that Jesus hung around appearing to them over a period of forty days after His suffering (Acts 1:3). What was He doing in those forty days? He was strengthening them in their faith and teaching them about the kingdom of God. We must be emptied of self before we can be filled with Him. I see the Day of Pentecost as a day when the Spirit came and filled or baptized (dipped until they were soaked and saturated) them because they were completely ready and abandoned to God’s work. The time of waiting had created a thirst that could only be quenched by God the Holy Spirit Himself. They were in a place of dependence on the Spirit because Jesus had left them 7 days before the Day of Pentecost (Acts 1:3). The 11 disciples were not supermen, they were just like you and I, and they needed God’s Spirit to accomplish the task of taking the message to others. Dedication and dependence on God to work through them by His Spirit enabled them to complete their mission. It is no different for us.

In Acts 1:4, Luke recalls Jesus saying “wait for the gift my father promised, which you have heard me speak about.” What do the words gift and promise communicate to you?

If the promised Holy Spirit is sent as a gift, why would we not want to receive Him and all that He wants to do in us and through us? Some doubt that God will give them the Holy Spirit. Why would God not give the One that he has promised? Does God ever hold back on His giving? “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things” (Romans 8:32). One thing I am sure of; when God is giving a gift and He binds Himself with a promise to give it, the least I should do is to receive what He wants to give! I received Christ by faith and when I received Him the Spirit took up residence in my life, as He does in every life that is given over to the Shepherd’s care. If you are a Christian you have the Spirit. The most important thing is does the Spirit have you? Have you abandoned your life to Christ? Does He have ownership of your life? God can do more in five minutes through His Spirit in your life than you trying to do for years under your own power. When the children of Israel were wandering in the wilderness, they were hungry for meat. If they had searched for meat for the two million people they had, how much would they have found? God brought so much quail down in five minutes than what they could have found in 40 years (Numbers 11:31-34).

Sometimes people are not filled with the Spirit because of bitterness or unforgiveness to others, perhaps for them the time of waiting and introspection helped them to focus their mind and hearts on extending forgiveness to those who had hurt them.

The disciples used the time while they waited for the Spirits filling by meeting together in the Temple courts praising God (Luke 24: 53). Have you ever held your hands up to Him in quiet surrender in Church and asked Him to fill you? Are you thirsty for more of Christ? That is the major qualification to receive the Spirit’s filling.

On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” By this he meant the Spirit whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given since Jesus had not been glorified (John 7:37-39).

Why don’t you come to Him today and abandon your life into the Good Shepherds hands? He wants to take away your doubts and fill you with His Spirit if you will let Him.

Prayer:  Father, come by your Spirit to every heart that is thirsty for you. Let all doubts dissipate through the truth of your word. Come and touch each life reading these words.  Amen.