Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Prayer Meeting Lesson Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/pm/pm19990526.htm

LUKE: GOSPEL OF CERTIFYING THE CHRISTIAN FAITH
Part LXXXII: The Risen Lord's Focus On Prophecy To Show The Ageless Biblical Continuity Of Christianity
(Luke 24:36-53)
  1. Introduction
    1. Were the true GOD to introduce a new program on earth, the people of GOD would need to see the Biblical continuity of such a program so as to distinguish it from a false cult! Showing God's people such valid evidence would persuade those outside the commonwealth of God the validity of the new program!
    2. Luke's Gospel uniquely exposes both the miraculous demonstrations of Christ's resurrection and the way that event repeatedly finds its origins in established, accepted Old Testament Scriptures. In doing so, Luke reveals the divine continuity of the faith so that Theophilus, a non-Jew, could trust in Jesus!
  2. The Risen Lord's Focus On Prophecy To Show The Ageless Biblical Continuity Of Christianity.
    1. Luke's Gospel was written to give a non-Jew in Theophilus insight into accepting Christ as true, Lk. 1:3-4.
    2. As such, Luke records the risen Christ's emphasis on His faith's ageless Biblical continuity via prophetic fulfillment so that the Jewish people of God could trust in Christ; in so doing, he reveals to a non-Jew, Theophilus, that Chris tianity is not some new, false cult, but part of the ageless plan of Israel's Creator:
      1. Luke reported to Theophilus that, according to the Jewish eyewitnesses, Jesus revealed His risen body to the disciples, giving clear empirical evidence (testable by the senses) of that fact, Lk. 1:2; 24:36-43:
        1. According to eyewitnesses (Luke 1:2), Luke wrote that Jesus appeared in the presence of the twelve, 24:33-36. This used the empirical data available to the sense of sight to show Jesus had risen.
        2. The disciples were reportedly at first terrified, thinking they were seeing a spirit. Jesus claimed He was bodily risen, not a spirit as they were thinking; this showed that this Jesus could read their minds, revealing the data available to the sense of hearing to show Jesus had risen, Lk. 24:37-38.
        3. Then Jesus reportedly urged the disciples to handle His body to see that it was flesh and bone, and to note the crucifixion scars in His hands and feet, Luke 24:39-40. Jesus thus inc orporated the empirical data of the sense of touch to show He had risen
        4. As the disciples still did not believe, Jesus reportedly asked them for food. When some broiled fish was given, He ate it, 24:42-43. Well, the fish would have come from the dish tasted by the twelve before they gave the fish to Him, so Jesus thus used the sense of taste to prove He had risen.
      2. However, Jesus then supported this empirical presentation of His resurrection with the way the event fulfilled Old Testament prophecies: He reminded the twelve how His resurrection fulfilled His former predictions to them, and how they fulfilled numerous Old Testament prophecies, Luke 24:44-46.
      3. Yet, going beyond just verifying the resurrection, Jesus used the Old Testament to reveal the Church's mission that was to follow that resurrection event, Luke 24:47-49:
        1. Jesus revealed that the Old Testament predicted the proclamation of His Gospel beginning at Jerusalem and proceeding out to all the nations, Luke 24:47 in light of Joel 2:28, 32.
        2. He then noted that the twelve were witnesses of such fulfilled prophecies, Luke 24:48.
        3. Then, in accord with the Old Testament, Jesus ordered the twelve to tarry in Jerusalem until endowed with the Holy Spirit so they could fulfill this prophesied mission, Luke 24:49.
        4. When Jesus led the twelve out to Bethany and ascended into heaven, the twelve were so persuaded that what they were experiencing was fulfillment of their inerrant Hebrew Scriptures that they returned to Israel's Jewish Temple and continually worshipped Israel's GOD, Luke 24:52-53.
Lesson: Though the risen Lord used empirical data to show He had risen, He SUPPORTED that evidence by showing His resurrection fulfilled trusted, ancient Hebrew Scripture prophecy. Thus, the Christian faith is not an upstart cult, but a continuation of the Creator's plan to save man from sin!

Application: Even the Orthodox Jewish eyewitnesses of Jesus' resurrection responded to His revealing the Old Testament verification of His resurrection so that they dared to worship ISRAEL'S God in the TEMPLE because of that event. Thus, we NON-Je ws can feel assured that Christianity was not an upstart cult, but a CONTINUATION of the Creator's work on earth to save man from sin!