Witnesses of Glory Pt. 2 | Luke 24:32-35
Read Luke 24:32-35
Imagine going to Passover, travelling to Jerusalem on your way to be apart of the atonement sacrifice which covers your sins. You see some peculiar events, maybe distantly meet a man who was doing fantastic miracles and making bold claims about being the fulfillment of OT prophecy. Maybe you even started to believe that He was the savior who would save Israel from captors. You see this man die on a cross and that is it!
However, you start to walk home, you walk to Emmaus and something miraculous happens—you meet that man who you saw die on that cross. He is alive, His body is completely healed (other than the crucifixion wounds) and you start to realize that this man is different—He’s not just a regular guy.
Imagine seeing this! Meeting Jesus and then seeing Him vanish. Jesus is doing something very intentional here; He is creating a group of witnesses who can give a credible report of seeing the risen God/man Himself Jesus Christ. There was another time where Jesus appeared to another man on his way to Damascus bringing him into God’s glory—This man was Saul who would later become Paul.
- Jesus is revealing Himself to different people to build a group of credible witnesses that will then build God’s church and share His gospel around the world.
Merriam Webster Definition of “Witness:” Attestation of a face or event, Testimony, one that gives evidence, testifies in a cause, or goes before a judicial tribunal
Jesus is now going to go around the land and build His ministry that will propel the church around the world. These two disciples (one being Cleopas) will become missionaries, witnesses for the gospel.
“And they got up that hour and returned to Jerusalem and found gathered together the eleven and those who were with them, saying, ‘The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon. The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon.’”
--Luke 24:33
These two disciples are now convinced they met Jesus-they met God in the flesh. The eleven disciples they saw Jesus! They saw their Lord and He has really risen. He is no longer a prophet or a man who didn’t redeem Israel (Lk. 24:19). They now call Him their Lord and recognize that He has risen back from the dead.
There is a heart change, a life transformation and now these two disciples know that Christ has risen—they share their testimony to the eleven disciples to encourage them and tell them that Jesus’ body wasn’t stolen but those angels and the women were telling the truth; Christ is Alive!
Another time Christ reveals Himself to someone else on a road is found in Acts 9:1-19.
Read Acts 9:1-9
God takes His biggest enemy in the New Testament time; Jewish, an educated pharisee who was a fierce persecutor of Christians, jailing them, raiding their homes and even imprisoning female Christians (Acts 8:3). Saul was an enemy of God and His church. God takes this man and brings him into His family by revealing Himself to Saul on the road to Damascus.
“As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?”
--Acts 9:3-5
But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints at Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.”
--Acts 9:13-16
God heals Paul’s blindness; Paul is filled with the Holy Spirit and Ananias baptizes him in water and He becomes a Christian through this incredible witness miracle of Jesus finding Him on the road to Damascus. God takes His biggest enemy on earth and turns Him into history’s most important and prominent missionary/ builder of God’s church. God uses Paul to instruct the early church on worshiping Jesus and going out to share the gospel with others. God continues to create witnesses for His gospel and builds credibility for His resurrection.
“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also. For I am the least of the apostles,”
--1 Corinthians 5:3-9
“Then he dramatically meets the risen Jesus on the road, and that changes everything. But he doesn’t just say, Oh, now I believe Jesus is resurrected. Now I believe he’s the Messiah. This conversion means an embracing of Jesus’ whole agenda. That he goes from a narrow-minded chauvinistic misanthropist to a man called Paul who loves all of humanity. The vision of Jesus so changes him that he writes these words in Galatians 3:28: “With Christ . . . there is neither Jew nor Greek.”
--Jeremiah Johnstone (The Body of Proof).
Jesus is revealing Himself to a lot of people! To these two disciples, then to the rest of the disciples in Luke 24:36-43.
- Jesus really did resurrect from the dead. Many people saw Him, talked to Him and shared the news of this amazing Miracle.
“…saying, ‘the Lord ahs really risen and has appeared to Simon. They began to relate their experiences on the road and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.”
--Luke 24:34-35
“It was in no sense a sacramental meal, as we use that word sacrament in our theology. It was a frugal supper in a village home of two tired travellers, and another. Yet it was then – in the breaking of bread, and not in any vision of resurrection splendor – that they knew that their companion was the Lord.”
--Stephen D. Morrison
As Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15—a lot of people saw Jesus AFTER His resurrection! This is either the greatest conspiracy theory of all time, or many people hallucinated a specific person over different locations as one shared group at similar times, OR they actually saw and met Jesus Christ.
“The term recognized is the same term used in 1:4 with respect to “knowing (epignos) the certainty of the things” taught (Stein, Luke, 613).
The impact of this encounter on the two was profound—from “foolish” hearts of unbelief (cf. 24:25) to burning hearts of understanding and faith (24:32).”
--The Moody Bible Commentary
The recognition of Jesus created a certainty within these two disciples—they knew what they saw. They knew that it was the risen Christ, and they can’t wait to run back to Jerusalem to share the news with the disciples. What an amazing discovery! Jesus is building His church; He is continuing to change lives as He changed Paul’s life and building a group of witnesses that will stand for Christ’s truth in the world.
Many of these men will eventually risk their lives for Christ and/OR they will die a martyr’s death for the proclamation of Jesus’ good news.
James, the brother of Jesus, did not believe in His brother’s claims / divinity (who was NOT on of these disciples):
“ Therefore His brothers said to Him, “Leave here and go into Judea, so that Your disciples also may see Your works which You are doing. For no one does anything in secret when he himself seeks to be known publicly. If You do these things, show Yourself to the world.” For not even His brothers were believing in Him.”
--John 7:3-5
“When His own people heard of this, they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, “He has lost His senses.”
--Mark 3:21
“…then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.”
--1 Corinthians 15:7-8
The earliest evidence for the death of James comes from Josephus in his Antiquities 20.197-203 (AD 93/94). This passage is largely undisputed by scholars. Josephus places James’ death (AD 62 ) between two Roman curators, Festus and Albinus. According to this account, the high priest Ananias had James stoned to death. But his death is also reported by Hegesippus and Clement of Alexandria. The case for the martyrdom of James is strengthened by the fact that both Christian and gnostic sources affirm that it happened. These suggest an early, widespread, and consistent tradition regarding the fate of James.
Many of us are here today because Christ has transformed our lives; Christ has revealed Himself to us just as He revealed Himself to these two disciples and later Paul the apostles. God is calling His children back to Him; He is building His church, empowering His followers with the gifts of the Spirit to go out and proclaim the good news of Christ to the world which is lost. We are to gather to encourage each other, to build each other up and to urge each other on to share the good news of Christ with those around us.
Go out! Share the gospel of Jesus!