Well, the incarnation was a very important day in the history of the world. But apart from the sinless life and the death as the atonement for sins, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the incarnation would have little meaning for us. It's His death and resurrection that are the reason He came. So we come to Luke 24, verse 36 this morning. Luke 24, 36. While they were telling these things, speaking of the disciples, speaking to the two men of Emmaus and to one another, While they were telling these things, Jesus himself stood in their midst and said to them, Peace be to you. But they were startled and frightened and thought that they were seeing a spirit, a ghost. And he said to them, 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. And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While they still could not believe because of their joy and amazement, he said to them, Have you anything here to eat? They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it before them. Now he said to them, These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. And then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. And he said to them, Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead on the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. Lord, thank you for raising your Son back to life. Thank you for his work of overcoming death, the wages of our sin. Thank you for sending him to be born in Bethlehem. Thank you for sending him not only to the Jews, but to all the nations. Thank you for sending this Word to all the nations. Lord, we pray as we look into this beautiful account of his appearance to his apostles gathered together and some others. We pray, Lord, that you would fill our hearts with the joy of the knowledge of his resurrection and all that it accomplished. So Luke has been unfolding his account of the resurrection of Jesus beginning at early dawn on what he called the first day of the week, what we know as Sunday, when Mary Magdalene and some other women came to Jesus' tomb with spices to anoint His body. And they found He was not there. First, Mary thought Jesus' body was stolen. Remember, she ran and found Peter and John and told them, Look, they've taken away the Lord from the tomb. We don't know where they've put Him. Well Peter and John, on hearing that, ran to the tomb and looked in. They found it empty. The linen wrappings were all that was there. Luke tells us Peter went away to his home marveling at what had happened. Didn't know what to think of it. And Luke also tells us there were angels at the tomb then who said to the women who were still there, He's not here. He is risen. John tells us that Jesus actually appeared to Mary. She didn't recognize Him at first, thought He was the gardener. This was outside the tomb. And all the women then returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven. And to all the other. There were a wider circle of disciples of Jesus beyond the eleven. But none of them would believe them. Angels had told them, He's alive. But as they told the apostles this, they wouldn't believe. After everything they'd seen. All the supernatural works Jesus had done. Jesus having raised others back to life. Jesus having told them He was going to be raised on the third day. They would not believe. We saw last Lord's Day then that Jesus had appeared to two of His followers, or disciples, as they traveled to this village of Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. And just as had been the case when He appeared to Mary Magdalene, they didn't recognize Him. Now Luke tells us that these two disciples were prevented from recognizing Jesus. God withheld many things from those who were followers of Jesus for a time, until the right time, His time. So Jesus approaches these two men. They tell him they'd hoped that this Jesus, not knowing he was Jesus, was going to be the one to redeem Israel. But now he was dead. So they were saddened, grieving. Now they said they'd heard some accounts of Mary Magdalene and the other women. That they'd come to the tomb and that they'd had a vision of two angels. And the angels told them, look, he's alive again. Well Luke tells us then that Jesus began to explain to them that all of the Old Testament Scriptures showed that the Messiah, the Christ, had to suffer. Well clearly Jesus had done that. And then He would enter into His glory. We're not told which passages the Lord used when He explained these things. But Luke does tell us Christ began with Moses and taught them through the Old Testament prophets about Himself, about the Christ. He was showing them, through the Old Testament, God's eternal purpose. God's means of accomplishing His eternal purpose. It was written there. And Jesus' death on the cross and His resurrection were central. They were absolutely necessary to God's accomplishing of His purpose in the Messiah. It had to happen. As it was written in the prophets, it had to happen. God's Word does not return to Him void. So God's eternal purpose now was what? It was to bring His people cleansed of their sin into an eternal union with His Son, and it must be accomplished. So the Messiah had to suffer on that cross in order to cleanse them. Then He would enter into His glory. Well, Jesus is telling these two men from Emmaus this, and they don't realize He's the one He's talking about. So they asked him though, they said later their hearts were burning as he was telling them these things. So they asked him to come with them to Emmaus. And he did and he sits down at the dinner table with them and he gave the blessing, the thanksgiving. He took bread and blessed it and broke it and began giving this bread to these two men from Emmaus. And at the moment he's doing that, we're told their eyes were opened and they recognized him. You're the Messiah. You're the Christ. And no sooner had they recognized Him than He had vanished from their sight. It was gone. And there they are. What was this? Well, they get up. It's night. And go the seven miles into Jerusalem. They found there the eleven gathered together. And now there were others with them. And in our passage this morning, Luke relates what took place that Sunday night as the eleven and these other disciples and the two men from Emmaus all gathered together, having by now heard that the risen Jesus had appeared to both Mary Magdalene and to Peter. And so now, beginning in verse 36, Luke describes the appearance of the risen Lord to the entire group. So now, when the two men from Emmaus arrived, remember verse 34, we read, the disciples who were gathered were telling them, look, the Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon. Cleopas and his friend then began to relate their meeting with Jesus on the road. How he had revealed himself to them and then immediately vanished. So now we come to the amazing occurrence that Luke relates beginning in verse 36. It's late Sunday evening. Ten of the apostles are there. We know from John that Thomas was not there. Jesus returned a week later and Thomas was there. And Thomas, as we know, wouldn't believe because he wasn't there. So we got ten of the apostles, two men from Emmaus, and some others gathered together in a house somewhere in Jerusalem. John tells us, chapter 20, verse 19, the doors were locked. Now why were the doors locked? Because they were afraid of the Jews. They were afraid the Jews were coming for them next. And so here they are talking, the two men from Emmaus and the apostles gathered together. And while they're talking, Jesus Himself stood in their midst. Didn't walk in, just was there in their midst. And He said, Peace be to you. Suddenly he's standing right there. How he entered, we're not told. There's no indication, by the way, that he walked through any walls or through the door. He just appeared in their midst. So from this alone, we know that the resurrection body that we read about in 1 Corinthians 15, at least his resurrection body must have had different properties than the body he had before he had been crucified. In his risen state, in his glorified state, he was not subject to limitations of time or space. Neither walls nor doors presented any obstacle to His movements. This was a supernatural body. Unlike our natural bodies that we have right now. Unlike His previous body. And He says, Peace be to you. Now this might be just mere words of greeting. That's possible. But some believe Jesus was speaking, was relating to them the truth of the peace with God that He had now won. for all his people by his death and resurrection. Remember Romans 5.1, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2.14, he himself is our peace. So he may be just greeting them or he may be speaking of this peace. In either event, though he spoke words of peace, they were startled and frightened. Would you be startled and frightened if the Lord Jesus just simply appeared in this room right now? Pretty good chance. They thought they were seeing a ghost, a spirit. Thought they were seeing an apparition, not something that was a body. So, his suddenly appearing this way, as though he had materialized out of thin air, which he kind of did, it's not surprising that they were wondering. One, that they were frightened, and they were wondering whether he was still human, or whether he was appearing to them as a spirit, or whether some other spirit was appearing to them. But let's remember, as all this is happening, and by the way, this is all the same day. He had just been crucified two days earlier. Now we've got the appearances to Mary and to Peter and to the two men on their way to Emmaus, and now here He is again. They'd come to believe He'd risen from the dead. But when the living Christ now appeared suddenly in the room before them, they were terrified. I suspect we would all be more than terrified if he suddenly appeared here. One thing to hear somebody tell us, yeah, he's risen and I saw him. It's a whole other thing when the resurrected one suddenly appears in the room, despite the doors being locked, without actually walking into the room. This wasn't the first time they had this kind of reaction to Jesus. It wasn't entirely unlike their reaction when they were out in a boat in a violent storm. Winds, contrary winds, we were told in Matthew 14. And they're out there in the boat and terrified, and suddenly Jesus came walking to them on the sea. Matthew 14, 22. Immediately, He made the disciples get into a boat. and go ahead of him to the other side. And he sent the crowds, whom he'd fed of just a few loaves and a few fish, he sent the crowds away, told them, Get in the boat and go to the other side. And after he sent them away on the boat, he went up in the mountain by himself to pray. And when it was evening, he was there alone. Now the boat, Matthew tells us, was already a long distance from the land, and it was battered by the waves. Winds were contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night, very late in the night, He came to them, walking on the sea. What do you think the disciples thought when they saw Him? Well, Matthew, who was there, tells us, they were terrified and said, It's a ghost. They cried out in fear. Jesus told them, Take courage, it is I. Don't be afraid. But their reaction on the night of his resurrection was not entirely at all unlike their reaction when he came to them on the boat. Similar reaction occurred here. Jesus can evoke that in people. Now we don't know in precisely what ways or by how much his glorified body differed from his appearance before his death. We just don't know. We're told almost nothing about it. But Luke does tell us they thought they were seeing a spirit, a ghost. And their fear was actually a very natural reaction to something that was supernatural. He wasn't a spirit, he wasn't a ghost, but this was supernatural. When fear sets in, you know how when one person in a group starts to get fearful of something? That fear can quickly spread. If you're afraid, you must have reason to be afraid. And the rest can easily become afraid as well. I heard there's this out there. Well, here they are in this fear, thinking they're seeing a ghost, and he says, why are you troubled? Why do doubts arise in your heart? Think about this. Jesus had repeatedly told them he would rise. Repeatedly. Peter had seen him alive. So had Mary. So had the two men from Emmaus. And now he's standing there and they doubt. Why did they doubt? He asked them, why do you doubt? This is one of the great tragedies of human existence. One of the things we see here, how easy it can be to doubt God. that sometimes, and for some people, no amount of proof will convince them even of what is right before their eyes, even of what is obviously true. This was true of our first ancestors of Adam and Eve. The serpent got Eve to doubt God. That was the first sin, her unbelief. In that moment, this doubt was true even of those closest to Jesus who had all the evidence you could possibly need. And today, and for 2,000 years in the world in which we live, far too many have doubted and still doubt the reality of the risen Christ. And salvation through Him and through Him alone. Doubt encouraged, of course, by what? By the world? and by the prince of the power of the air. Same one who convinced Eve to doubt. So now here they are, in addition to all those testimonies, and here's Jesus standing in their midst and still there was doubt. So, Jesus, who came into this world and died for his people because of his love for us, gave them another proof. Yet another proof. Verse 39, he said, See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. And he's talking about his body now. Touch me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see that I have. So it's here that we're shown that nails were driven through Jesus' feet as well as through His hands. We don't see that in the actual accounts of the crucifixion. But here we do. He points to His feet and the wounds there. John tells us that Jesus also showed them His side. But notice that Jesus speaks of his having flesh and bones. He does not speak of himself here as being flesh and blood. Is that significant? Well, I'm persuaded that it is. Given that Paul teaches, 1 Corinthians 1550, that flesh and blood will not inherit the kingdom of God. The possibility is at least raised here, if not conclusively demonstrated, that our glorified bodies will not be flesh and blood bodies, yet will possess flesh and bones. In Leviticus 17, verse 11, God declared to Moses that the life of the flesh is in the blood. Life of the flesh is in the blood. Though we're taught in 1 Corinthians 15 that flesh and blood will not inherit the kingdom of God. We're taught there that we will be raised to glorified imperishable bodies. And again, I'm persuaded by the Word of Scripture that while our flesh will indeed enter into God's glorious presence, the life of our glorified flesh will be sustained not by blood, as in this life, but by the Spirit of Christ. Now, I can't prove any of this. The Bible doesn't tell us all about it. But we infer from all that Paul has written and from what Jesus says here, that this seems to be the case. What does all that mean? Well, we're going to look at a couple things here. One writer says this though, blood is everywhere the type of this lower animal life. Not referring to animals or us as animals, but to flesh. But the blood of Christ is never spoken of as existing after His resurrection. We never read about His blood. The blood of the human Christ was poured out on the cross forever. It was of infinite value. The precious blood of Christ was poured out. And of this mortal body that we all have and all inhabit, Paul wrote this. It is sown a perishable body. It is raised an imperishable body. Those are two different kinds of bodies. It's sown in dishonor. It's raised in glory. It's sown a natural body, flesh and blood. It's raised a spiritual body. And in verse 45, Paul says, the last Adam, referring to Christ, became a life-giving spirit. A life-giving spirit. Paul didn't provide every detail of these glorified bodies. And nor did Luke give us any detailed description of Jesus' glorified body. But we know that the old bodies last only as long as the blood flows within them. Our resurrected bodies will last forever. They are imperishable. And you know, nowhere does Scripture teach that this new imperishable body is dependent upon blood to sustain it. Matthew Henry wrote this, burying the dead is like committing seed to the earth, that it may spring out of it again. Believers shall at the resurrection have bodies made fit to be forever united with spirits made perfect. In other words, these flesh and bone bodies, glorified bodies that we will have, will be sustained not by blood, but by the Spirit of Christ. And if you think he's not capable of doing that, then you know a different Christ. Well, he showed them his hands and his feet. Marks of the wounds on his hands and feet were a means of verifying for them that it was Jesus himself. Now this is kind of interesting. He's showing them, look, this is me in the flesh. You're not seeing a ghost. But if Jesus still had these marks in His hands and feet, marks of the nails, how is it that His body was so changed then that neither Mary nor the men from Emmaus recognized Him? You see the difficulty here. Well, we can't answer this. If His body's the same body, they ought to have recognized Him. But it's got some characteristics of His former body. And we, our understanding is completely limited here as to how Jesus' body could be so different from our present bodies that He could enter a room without opening a door. And yet on the other hand, He still had these scars from His crucifixion. They were still present. They were still visible. So in some ways, this new body, it's a new body, but it has some of the characteristics of the old body. One writer says this, he suggests that Jesus showed the apostles that His resurrection body is the same body He had previously, but in a new and wonderful state. Well, that too is surmise. We just can't be sure. One day we will know. What is clear is that in His invitation to the apostles to touch Him, and affirming that He was still flesh and bones. It shows that Jesus' resurrection body was a physical body, material body. And this got them closer to belief. Remember how many times we saw that they lacked faith and didn't believe during Jesus' earthly ministry? Well now, we're told, they saw His wounds, but they still could not believe it, but now for a different reason. Not because of a lack of faith, but because of their joy and amazement. You know, it's one thing to disbelieve because you lack faith. But it's another thing to disbelieve because of joy. Something seems too good to be true. Lenski wrote this, the heart is too small to take in the great joy all at once. There's a flutter as if the reality might after all not be real. We might have all had some experience like this. This can't be real, it's too good. Luther wrote, It's one of the Christian's afflictions that grace is altogether too great and too glorious for us to easily take it all in. And I think that's what Luke's getting at here when he tells us they saw his wounds but still couldn't believe because of their great joy. It was too much. Remember just two days earlier he had died. They all knew He had died. He had been dead. He was buried. Now here He is standing there, very much alive. And this was all contrary to all human experience. Save the miracles that Jesus Himself had performed in their midst. You know, one of the simple questions for those who say they are Christians is, do you believe that was Jesus standing in the room that night? Trust we believe. And here the apostles are witnessing the greatest miracle of all. That's what they were seeing. And now, Jesus was going to lead them to know and believe it was all true. He asked them, do you have anything to eat? Now, nowhere do we read that Jesus, after He rose, needed food to sustain Him. He may have, He may not have. I doubt that He did. And they gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he ate it. He ate it to prove to his apostles that it was indeed he who was standing there with them. That he was again physically alive. And then Jesus, as he often did, kind of has them look back. And he doesn't say, Look, that was you read the Old Testament? Didn't you listen when I was talking? No, Jesus did these things in such a gentle manner. He said, these are my words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all the things which are written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled. You know, there's just a difference in the way sometimes we might talk. How dumb can you be? How could you have missed this? He doesn't say any of those things. This is how He leads people to believe in Him. This is how we should lead people to believe in Him. Now, what we read here beginning in verse 44, some believe it relates to that same resurrection day evening. Some believe Luke's writing about a later appearance or maybe combining several appearances. Some suggest that. After all, Jesus was on the earth for 40 days after His resurrection. Well, we can't be certain. And frankly, it doesn't matter. What's important is not the time when Jesus spoke these words, but the fact that He did speak these words. That's what's important here. Now, He begins with a very curious phrase. Notice that Jesus speaks here of the time when I was still with you. Wasn't Jesus still with them? Well, not in the same sense. Remember when he told Mary Magdalene, don't touch me now. Wait, I have to ascend to my father first. Things had changed. Jesus had gone through his humiliation and now he was glorified. He wanted his disciples to realize by this phrase, while I was still with you, that things had changed. There had been a great change. His former mode of relation to them had ceased and would not be resumed. He was their teacher. Now he was their Lord and Savior forever. He was no longer the Christ who'd come down to earth. He was now the risen and glorified Christ. So He uses this phrase, while I was still with you, during His earthly ministry. And He reminded them of things He had said to them before His death and resurrection. Now we don't have any specific record in the gospel that Jesus had used the exact words we read here in verse 44 and following. Although it's entirely possible that He did. But He had told them several times that when he arrived in Jerusalem, what would happen? He'd be handed over by the Jews to the Gentiles. He'd be mocked. He'd be scourged. He'd be spit upon. And he would be killed, crucified. And then on the third day, he would rise again. The way he puts that here in verse 44, he says, these are the words I spoke to you. that all the things that are written about me in the law of Moses and prophets and psalms must be fulfilled. And when we look back to Jesus' words to the men of Emmaus, we see that He spoke of these very things, His suffering and His death, as written of Him in Moses and all the prophets. Now what's the point of all this? The point of all this is that in God's eternal plan and purpose, His suffering and death was essential, was necessary to the fulfillment of that eternal purpose, as written in the sacred Scriptures. One of the themes we see throughout Luke's gospel, as well as Matthew's in particular, is the fulfillment of Old Testament scriptures in Christ. We see this throughout Paul's writings. That Christ is fulfillment of what we read in the Old Testament. What's the Old Testament show us? Well, it's something some of you mentioned earlier. It shows us the fallen state of man. But it also shows us the promise of Christ. over and over again, from the Garden of Eden onward to Abraham, Genesis 12, 3. And now Jesus said that all those promises in the Old Testament, that all nations will be blessed in your seat, had been fulfilled in and by Him. Now that's a big statement. It's also a true statement. all of the promises of God in the Old Testament had been fulfilled in him. We have seen during the time of his earthly ministry, Jesus had begun to bring the meaning of these Old Testament prophecies to light. But we also saw that the disciples still lacked understanding. He'd tell them he was going to die and be raised on the third day, and they didn't understand. Why was that? Well, if you have your Bibles open, look at 9 in Luke chapter 9, verse 44. Luke 9, verse 44. This is another one of these facts of the Gospels that is not talked about a lot, but it explains many things. Jesus said to them, Let these words sink into your ears, for the Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. Well, then they shouldn't have been surprised when that happened, should they? Well, read on. But they did not understand this statement, and it was concealed from them, so that they would not perceive it, and they were afraid to ask Him about it. Turn to chapter 18 in Luke. in verse 32. Here it is again. Jesus told them He would be handed over to the Gentiles, that He would be killed, and that on the third day He would rise again. Well He couldn't have been any clearer than that, could He? But look at verse 34. The disciples understood none of these things, and the meaning of this statement was hidden from them. And they did not comprehend the things that were said. Why not? Because all things are done in God's time. And it wasn't time for them to understand. If they'd known these things and understood them, what would Peter, for one, have done? Well, we know what he would have done. He'd have gathered arms and been ready. There was once when Peter said to Jesus, God forbid, I'm never going to let that happen to you. Jesus said, get behind me, Satan. The plan could not be thwarted. This had to happen. He had to suffer or else your sins could not be forgiven. The stain of your sin could not be cleansed. So they couldn't know. It was hidden from them. But now that was about to change. Why? Because they're about to be the ones to be sent out into the world to tell everybody the very thing that Jesus is telling them. He opened their minds, Luke writes, to understand the Scriptures. Opened their minds. And He said to them, Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day. That's what the Old Testament foretold. And that repentance and forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations. All the nations. Not just the sons of Jacob. Not just Israel. To all the nations. But beginning in Jerusalem. And Luke records a wonderful account of that in the early chapters of the book of Acts. So on the road to Emmaus, He opened their minds. This is what Jesus does. He opens our minds and our hearts to the knowledge of the truth. He showed them, and now He shows us, that the Scriptures, the Old Testament, pointed to a Messiah who would suffer and rise. This was the only way. Again, here is on the road to Emmaus. Luke doesn't tell us any of the passages to which Jesus referred. But he does tell us. He opened their minds and illumined them that in all the Scriptures, they and now we can see Christ. Psalm 22, so much of the crucifixion. Isaiah 53, a vivid description of the crucifixion. And then his resurrection foretold in the Psalm 1610 will not allow his holy one to undergo decay. Psalm 110. My Lord said to my Lord, Seat at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool and many, many others. He showed them He had to suffer and rise in order that the good news of salvation through faith in Him and repentance of sin might be proclaimed to all the nations. Because these are the facts upon which we believe and upon which we are saved. He came, He died, He rose. He overcame the wages of our sin and atoned for our sins. That's the gospel. The proclamation of this good news was about to begin in seven weeks in Jerusalem. And it would be taken as Jesus commanded to the remotest parts of the earth. Not only people from among the sons of Jacob, but believers from every nation, tribe, and tongue would be saved. a couple of the Old Testament passages that speak of these things. Isaiah 49, 6, it's the father speaking to the son. He says, It is too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel. I will also make you a light of the nations, so that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. This was always the plan. By His incarnation, His sinless life, His death, and His resurrection, Jesus accomplished the redemption of His people, just as Moses and David and Isaiah and so many others had prophesied. And now Jesus was letting His disciples in on the plan. This is why He came. That's why He was born to a virgin woman in Bethlehem. To die. To rise again. So to save us. And this too was the oft-repeated message of the Old Testament. I want to read one more short passage. Isaiah chapter 9, verse 2. The people who walk in darkness, the Gentiles, will see a great light. Those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them. Verse 6, For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us, and the government will rest on his shoulders. And his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. Though he would go to a cross and die, he would rise. for our salvation, for our justification. And then Jesus said to them, verse 48, You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending forth the promise of my Father upon you. But you stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high. Well, their role is going to change, isn't it? And next Lord's Day, we're going to look at Jesus' last instructions to his apostles. But for now, let's take a moment, take these words of our Lord into our minds and hearts, and then let us each examine himself, and then we'll gather at his table. Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you that you've opened our eyes to this magnificent, eternal plan of redemption. Knowing we would rebel against you, you made a way. Knowing we would grieve you by our sin, you made a way. You sent your son, and he willingly came and died for us, and you raised him. assuring us that his was an acceptable sacrifice for our sins. And now, Lord, we look forward to that glory. Let us never doubt, Lord. Grant that we would be filled with your assurance all our days. And in Christ's name, we ask these things. Amen.