Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Prayer Meeting Lesson Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/pm/pm20101006.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
Luke: Jesus, The Son Of Man For All Mankind
Part LXXXVIII: Christ's Identity As God's Savior Seen In His Resurrection
F. Christ's Identity As God's Savior Seen In His Resurrection Guidance By Scripture
(Luke 24:44-53)
  1. Introduction
    1. We who did not see Christ die or see His resurrection can still benefit from evidences in the Gospel records of Christ's death and resurrection that we can verify outside our five senses.
    2. Luke, himself not an eyewitness of Christ (Luke 1:1-4), provides various such evidences in his Gospel, and one of them is the guidance the Risen Lord gave to His disciples after His resurrection (as follows):
  2. <+@>Christ's Identity As God's Savior Seen In His Resurrection Guidance by Scripture, Luke 24:44-53.
    1. After revealing His risen body to the disciples with the two men from Emmaus (Luke 24:33-36, 37-43), Jesus gave guidance to them, guidance we non-eyewitnesses can use to verify Christ's resurrection.
    2. We view that guidance for edification of our faith in Christ (as follows), Luke 24:44-53:
      1. First, Jesus explained how His death and resurrection fulfilled His former predictions on these events, predictions given in His earthly life, Luke 24:44a with 9:22, 44. Only a true Messenger from God would have such prophecies be fulfilled in accord with the test of a prophet in Deuteronomy 18:20-22!
      2. Second, Jesus referred to the Old Testament as being comprised of "the law of Moses, the prophets and the psalms," an expression that was "(a) common Jewish division of the O. T." in which "The prophets included most of the historical books, and the psalms included the 'writings,'" Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, ftn. to Luke 24:44. This means the One who was speaking to the disciples was innately familiar with Hebrew phrasing, what we would expect of the risen, Jewish Lord Jesus! (cf. Luke 1:32).
      3. Third, Jesus explained how He had fulfilled the Old Testament Scriptures regarding His death and resurrection on the third day, Luke 24:45-46. We today can verify this fulfillment from Isaiah 53:10 and Lev. 23:5 (on His death) and Lev. 23:5-11 (cf. 1 Cor. 15:22-23) (on His resurrection the third day).
      4. Fourth, Jesus also added that repentance and remission of sins was to be proclaimed in His name beginning at Jerusalem, a clarification of Joel 2:32, that the disciples were thus to wait in Jerusalem for power from heaven to testify of these things to the world, a new direction fitting with Scripture as well, Luke 24:47-49 with Acts 2:16-21. Only a Messenger from God with a knowledge of Scripture that far exceeded the Hebrew theologians of that era could give such new but entirely Biblical insight to the disciples and cause them to believe it, and this indicates that Jesus Himself gave this information.
      5. Fifth, Jesus led the disciples out toward Bethany, and from Luke's record in Acts 1:6-12 we know this was the Mount of Olives, where Jesus blessed His disciples, and was then parted from them and carried up into heaven in a cloud, Luke 24:50-51 with Acts 1:9. We know this event would have been typical of the Messiah since Daniel 7:13-14 predicts Messiah's ascension in a cloud to God the Father, the Ancient of Days, helping to certify that the Risen Lord Jesus as Messiah thus ascended to heaven.
      6. Sixth, the final response of the disciples, that of worshipping Jesus as God, and returning to Jerusalem with great joy continually to praise and bless God in the temple shows they fully believed that the Lord Who had guided them in His earthly ministry was now risen, ascended and glorified at the Father's right hand! Otherwise, they should have remained sad as they had been back in Luke 24:17.
      7. Seventh, Luke's Gospel of Christ's life ends after His ascension at the Jewish temple where the Gospel record had begun with the appearance of the angel Gabriel to Zecharias before Jesus' conception, Luke 24:53; 1:5-13. This focus on the temple certifies the work of God in the entire presentation of Jesus' earthly life -- it firmly fixes Jesus' earthly life in the roots of God's Scriptural work with Israel in line with Old Testament prophecies that we can readily verify (such as in Malachi 3:1 and Daniel 9:25-26).
Lesson: The entirely Scriptural, but advanced post-resurrection guidance the risen Jesus gave to His disciples itself indicates the same Lord Who had been with them to disciple them in His earthly life was now risen, and was guiding them into the future in complete harmony with the written Word of God.

Application: (1) May we trust in Christ by the evidence of His post-resurrection guidance through Scripture. (2) May we follow our Risen Lord's guidance today that comes by His ministry of Scripture!