The hope of the resurrection: what Luke 24 changes in you

A sermon drawn from Momentum's Sunday message on Luke 24, "The Hope of the Resurrection." Translated from Japanese and adapted into a pastoral tone in English.

Introduction

If Christ has not been raised, you are of all people most to be pitied. Paul says it plainly to the Corinthians who doubted the resurrection: without it, our faith is empty, our preaching is empty, and our fight against the flesh and our pursuit of righteousness lose all meaning (1 Corinthians 15). The resurrection isn't a stained glass decoration. It's the foundation. And Luke 24, which you're about to read here, shows you how that foundation was laid, in the mist of one morning, in front of an empty tomb, and on a road where two disciples walked with shattered hearts.

You'll see three scenes unfold: the women at the tomb, the two travelers on the road to Emmaus, then Jesus standing among the disciples. Three moments, one lesson: the resurrection isn't proven by what you see, it's grasped through the Word that meets you and opens your heart. Stay until the end, it will tell you why this hope changes your Monday morning.

Outline of the article

1. The women at the tomb: when the Word reignites faith (Luke 24:1-12)

"On the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared." The Sabbath has just ended. It's still dark. The women arrive carrying spices, notice this carefully: they bring spices. That means they don't believe in the resurrection. If they had believed it, they would have come with a tambourine, not with burial oils. They were weeping. They had come to "tend" to the body.

The stone rolled away wasn't there for Jesus to get out. His glorified body, as you'll see further on, passes through locked doors, appears and disappears, is not bound by the laws of physics. The stone was rolled away for you, for them, for the disciples, so they could see with their own eyes that the body wasn't there. God wanted them to connect this emptiness to an ancient word.

Two men in dazzling clothes say to them: "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee." They add nothing new. They simply recall a word already given. And right there, something reignites. They remember. They run to announce it.

When panic overtakes you, your foundation isn't your emotion. It's the word God has already given. Emotions change. Circumstances change. The Word never moves.

2. The disciples on the road to Emmaus: when Jesus walks beside you unrecognized (Luke 24:13-35)

That same day, two disciples are on the road to Emmaus. They talk, they debate, they are downcast. Jesus himself draws near and walks with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. Cleopas sums up their distress: "We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel." Notice they no longer say "Messiah" but "prophet." In their minds, the case is closed: since he died, he couldn't have been the Messiah.

Jesus questions them. He lets them tell the whole story. He wants them to hear what they're actually saying. Then he opens up: "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

When they reach the village, Jesus acts as if he's going farther. They insist: "Stay with us, for it is toward evening." He goes in. At the table, he takes the bread, blesses it, breaks it, and gives it to them. Then their eyes are opened. The gesture of the broken bread connects to the broken flesh, to the cross, to the words they had just received, to the Scriptures now opened. Everything clicks at once. "Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?"

Two things stand out here. First, it isn't their intelligence that lets them recognize Jesus, it's God who opens their eyes at just the right moment. Second, they don't recognize him because they see; they recognize him because a burning heart had already prepared them to see. The Word did its work before their eyes did.

3. Jesus among the disciples: the glorified body, the mission, the promise (Luke 24:36-53)

The two from Emmaus run back to Jerusalem. They find the eleven gathered together. And Jesus stands in their midst. "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." They were "still disbelieving for joy and marveling." Too good to be true, like Jacob learning that Joseph was alive.

Jesus eats a piece of broiled fish in front of them. He never shames their disbelief, he patiently works through it. Then he opens their minds to understand the Scriptures: the Christ was to suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. "You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high."

He leads them out as far as Bethany, lifts up his hands, blesses them, and while he is blessing them, he parts from them and is carried up into heaven. And they "returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God." Think about that for a second: Jesus has just left, and they overflow with joy. If the resurrection had only meant a temporary return of the Master, they'd be crushed all over again. If they're rejoicing instead, it's because the resurrection means so much more.

Key takeaways

1. The Word stands firm where emotion wavers. The women get back up when an angel reminds them of a word already given. Remember what God has promised you before letting your feelings carry you.
2. Seeing is not believing. The disciples had seen loaves multiplied, healings, a man walking on water. That didn't stop them from forgetting the Word and sinking into despair. It isn't experience that produces faith, it's the Word joined to faith by the Holy Spirit.
3. Jesus reveals himself first to the most fragile. Mary Magdalene, despised, marginalized, is the first to see him risen. Women who didn't even count in official records are the first witnesses. Your weakness is never an obstacle to him coming to you.
4. The resurrection is the foundation of everything you believe. Without it, forgiveness has no guarantee, eternal life has no assurance, and Christ's intercession is no longer possible. The living Christ stands today between you and the Father.
5. The same power that raised Jesus is in you. If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus dwells in you, he also brings your everyday life to life, to love, forgive, serve, and hold on. You don't change yourself through sheer willpower. It's the Spirit who transforms you.

Personal application

1. What specific word from God can you call to mind when panic sets in? Write it down and keep it in front of you this week.
2. Is there an area of your life where you're waiting to "see" before you believe? What changes if the Word reaches you before the evidence does?
3. How would your reading of the Old Testament change if you looked for Christ in every story, every prophecy, every psalm?
4. Where do you need Jesus to intercede for you right now? Name it before him.
5. In what area are you trying to "become better" through sheer willpower alone, when the Spirit wants to transform you from within?

Verses cited

• Luke 24 (ESV): The empty tomb, the disciples on the road to Emmaus, the appearance among the Eleven, the ascension.
• 1 Corinthians 15 (ESV): "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile."
• Hebrews 7:25 (ESV): "He always lives to make intercession for them."
• Romans 8:11 (ESV): "He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit."
• 2 Corinthians 3:18 (ESV): Transformed into the same image, from one degree of glory to another.
• Genesis 32 (ESV): Jacob wrestling with God and receiving the blessing through tears.
• Colossians 1:6 (ESV): The gospel bears fruit as soon as it's truly understood.

FAQ

Why did the women come with spices if they thought they'd find him alive?

They didn't think they'd find him alive. The spices were there to tend to a corpse. That's exactly the proof that not one disciple, not even the most faithful, expected the resurrection. They had heard Jesus announce it, but their hearts hadn't received it. It's the Word recalled by the angels that reignites their memory and their faith.

How do you read the Old Testament with Christ in view?

Jesus himself does this in Luke 24: beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interprets to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. Read the Old Testament looking for Christ, in the promises, the types, the prophecies, the sacrifices, the history of Israel. You'll find a common thread that makes the reading come alive instead of feeling dull.

What real difference does the resurrection make in my week?

Three things. One: it guarantees that your sins are genuinely forgiven, because Christ lives and intercedes for you before the Father. Two: it guarantees that your own resurrection is coming, because Christ is the firstfruits. Three: it makes available today the very power that raised him, to transform the way you love, serve, and hold on. The resurrection isn't a liturgical memory, it's an engine for your Monday morning.