Luke 24:36-53, “The Great Commission”
By
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In our last study, we looked
at verses 1-35 of chapter 24 which deal with the events of Jesus’ resurrection
from the dead.
1.1.1. We saw that the fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ gives us as
Christians great confidence and assurance of many things, including:
1.1.1.1. We know that everything that Jesus taught His disciples can be relied
upon.
1.1.1.2. We know that all of our enemies have been conquered by Jesus: sin, hell, death, the grave, and the Devil.
1.1.1.3. We know that we too will be resurrected with a body like Jesus’
resurrected body.
1.1.1.4. We know that Jesus is now the judge and that one day all people are
going to stand before Jesus as their judge.
1.1.1.5. We know that Jesus is with us where we are each and every day.
1.1.1.6. We know that Jesus’ resurrection power can work in our life and that we
can live a holy and empowered life that pleases the Lord.
1.1.2. Warren Wiersbe writes the following, “Christianity is in its very
essence a resurrection religion,” says Dr. John Stott. “The concept of resurrection lies at its
heart. If you remove it, Christianity is
destroyed.””
1.2.
In our study today, we are
going to finish the book of Luke studying verses 36-53 of chapter 24:
1.2.1. Here, we will see that the evening of His resurrection after a few
individual appearances to His disciples that Jesus reveals Himself to the
apostles all gathered together and proves to them that He is not a ghost but
rather that He has flesh and bones. He
does this by revealing to them the marks in His body sustained during His
crucifixion and by eating a meal with them.
1.2.2. Then, Jesus will give final instructions to His disciples consisting of
giving them the Great Commission to go and preach the gospel to all of the
nations and make disciples everywhere they go.
We will consider in depth the “Great Commission” that Jesus
entrusted to the church.
1.2.3. There have been many great missionaries throughout history, and many of
these men and women have made some fantastic and important statements
concerning the church’s responsibility to take it upon itself to do its part to
help fulfill the Great Commission, for instance:
1.2.3.1.
David
Livingstone once said, "If a commission by an earthly king is
considered a honor, how can a commission by a Heavenly King be considered a
sacrifice?"
1.2.3.2. C.T. Studd once said, "If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him."
1.2.3.3. Oswald J. Smith once said, "Any church that is not seriously involved in helping fulfill the Great Commission has forfeited its biblical right to exist."
1.2.3.4. Dave Davidson once said, "If you found a cure for cancer, wouldn't it be inconceivable to hide it from the rest of mankind? How much more inconceivable to keep silent the cure from the eternal wages of death."
1.2.3.5. Charles Spurgeon once said, "Someone asked Will the heathen who have never heard the Gospel be saved? It is more a question with me whether we -- who have the Gospel and fail to give it to those who have not -- can be saved."
1.2.3.6. Peter Taylor
Forsyth once said, "It is not
in our choice to spread the gospel or not. It is our death if we do not."
1.2.3.7.
J. Howard Edington once said, "People who don't believe in missions have not read
the New Testament. Right from the beginning Jesus said the field is the world.
The early church took Him at His word and went East, West, North and South."
2. VS 24:36-43 - “36
While they were telling these things, He Himself stood in their midst and
said to them, “Peace be to you.” 37 But they were startled and
frightened and thought that they were seeing a spirit. 38 And He
said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39
“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.” 40 And
when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. 41 While
they still could not believe it because of their joy and amazement, He
said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” 42 They gave Him a
piece of a broiled fish; 43 and He took it and ate it before
them.” -
Jesus appears to His apostles all gathered together and calms their
fears about seeing Him, then He proves that it is He and that He is not a
spirit but in a body made of flesh and blood
2.1.
In our last study, we
observed that early on Sunday morning after Jesus had been crucified on the previous
Friday morning and then placed in a tomb just before evening, that some women
came to His tomb in order to bring some spices and do a better job of preparing
Jesus’ body for burial. However, when
the women got to the tomb the stone over the entrance of the tomb had been
moved and Jesus’ body was gone. Then,
some angels appeared to them and rebuked them for not believing the things that
Jesus had told them before His death about raising from the dead. The angels told them that Jesus was risen from
the dead. So, these women ran to tell
the apostles about these things.
However, when they arrived and recounted their story the apostles didn’t
believe them thinking that the story was ridiculous. However, Peter and John ran to the tomb and
verified that Jesus was not there. Mary
Magdalene had waited outside the tomb after this and Jesus had appeared to
her. Next, we read about two men who
were traveling upon the road from
2.2.
Now notice the context of
these verses. While the two travelers
upon the road to Emmaus were in the midst of relating to the apostles their
story of seeing Jesus and having Him teach them how the scriptures had foretold
the things that He had done in His crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus appeared
to them all gathered together.
2.3.
This appearance by Jesus is
probably the same one reported by Mark in his gospel, Mark 16:14, “14 Afterward
He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table;
and He reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they
had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen.”
2.4.
John in his gospel tells us
many more details about this day including the fact that there were actually two
appearances by Jesus to the eleven, one with Thomas and one eight days later
without, John 20:19-28, “19 So when it was
evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were
shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in
their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 And
when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The
disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 So Jesus said to
them again, “Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send
you.” 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to
them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 “If you forgive the sins of any, their
sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they
have been retained.” 24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called
Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other
disciples were saying to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them,
“Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the
place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” 26
After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them.
Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said,
“Peace be with you.” 27 Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here
with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My
side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.” 28 Thomas answered
and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
2.4.1. This appearance to the apostles was on the evening of the day of His
resurrection, not the appearance that He made to the eleven all gathered
together eight days later when Thomas was finally present.
2.5.
In our last study, I asked
some trick questions to test our general Bible knowledge, and one of the
questions I asked had to do with the response of the eleven after Jesus finally
appeared to them during the evening of this first day: “Jesus’ disciples were terribly grieved
and dejected after Jesus’ death upon the cross.
However, three days later on the day of Jesus’ resurrection, having
heard the stories of the women meeting angels who told them Jesus was raised
from the dead, Peter telling them that he had seen Jesus raised from the dead,
and the two disciples who had been walking on the road to Emmaus telling them
of having seen and been taught the scriptures by Jesus who had been raised from
the dead, the apostles (minus Thomas) are finally relieved and comforted when
their beloved Savior appears to them all together that evening?” It is ironic that the apostles would be
fearful of seeing Jesus after all that Jesus had told them beforehand about the
things that were going to happen and then after all of the reports of seeing
Jesus which they had heard that evening.
2.6.
All of the things that
happened on this day of Jesus’ resurrection demonstrate how slow of heart the
disciples were to believe the things given to them by God. In fact, even here Jesus yet again rebukes
the apostles for their unbelief asking them why doubts were arising in their
hearts. Our not believing the promises
of God must vex the Lord more than anything I would think.
2.7.
It is interesting that Jesus
mentions the heart as the receptacle from which faith and doubt arise. Believing in the promises of God is a matter
of the heart primarily not of the mind.
The concept of the “heart” is hard for us to grasp. However, in the scripture the “heart”
is seen as being the seat of our emotions and guides to a certain extent the
thoughts of our minds.
2.8.
When Jesus shows to His
disciples His feet and hands it is believed that the proof that it is Jesus is
seen in the fact that they observed the marks of His crucifixion. Remember, the scriptures do not tell us that
the disciples saw the “scars” from Jesus’ crucifixion but rather the “marks.” Scarring occurs as a result of natural
healing in our physical bodies however Jesus’ appears to His disciples in a
temporary body of some sort that causes those who knew and loved Him most not
to be able to recognize Him. It must
also be understood that Jesus’ body had not had time for natural healing to
happen and the resultant scars to occur in Jesus’ body.
2.9.
It is beautiful to see here
that the doubts of the apostles soon turn to ‘amazement’ and ‘joy’
as they realize that it is in fact Jesus whom they are seeing and that He has
been resurrected from the dead just as He on many occasions had told them that
He would do. The joy of the Lord replaced their fears and doubts on this evening and
the rest is history!
2.10.
After Jesus’ resurrection He
could eat a meal if He desired to do so however His body did not require Him to
eat meals to sustain Himself.
3. VS 24:44-53 - “44
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.” 45 Then He
opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and He said to
them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the
dead the third day, 47 and that repentance for forgiveness of sins
would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from
3.1.
As Jesus appears to the
apostles on this evening note the fact that He reminds them of a couple of
things that His resurrection accentuates:
3.1.1. The fact that He had told them that these things that they were seeing
would occur, ‘while I was still with you.’
3.1.2. The fact that everything that was written about Jesus ‘in the Law of
Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.’ Everything that was happening was prophesied
to occur hundreds of years before this day.
3.1.2.1. Note how that Jesus directs us to the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms
(or books of poetry perhaps) for prophesy concerning Himself. Jesus is making the point that all of the scripture
reveals Him.
3.2.
Notice that Jesus next
opened their minds to understand the scriptures about Himself. This openings of the disciples minds to
understand the scriptures that we see occur on this day reveals to us how
important it is for us to recognize that understanding God’s word is a
miraculous event and thus we need to pray for revelation of God’s word to
ourselves.
3.3.
One of the things that the
gospel of Luke brings out in these verses is that there were actually at least
two times that Jesus ascended up to heaven.
This ascension on the evening on this day of Jesus’ resurrection was
evidently only temporary.
3.4.
Luke tells us in Acts 1:1-11
more after the events that occurred during those forty days leading up to
Jesus’ final ascension up to heaven, “1 The first
account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2
until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the
Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen. 3 To
these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing
proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of
the things concerning the
3.5.
Jesus summarized to His
disciples the gospel message derived as a result of His resurrection from the
dead as He said to them, ‘repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed
in His name to all the nations, beginning from
3.6.
Jesus commissions the
apostles, and everyone of His disciples telling them, ‘You are
witnesses of these things.’ Each of us who have come to know the Lord are
His ‘witnesses’ for we can testify about the things that He has done in
our life as our Lord and our Savior.
3.7.
Notice how Jesus transitions
directly from the declaration of the gospel message of forgiveness of sins now
available through His Name to the sending out of disciples to all ends of the
earth to proclaim this message.
3.8.
In saying, ‘beginning
from Jerusalem,’ Jesus is saying that this message of how a person’s
sins can be forgiven because of Jesus’ death on the cross must be preached in
all the world, and in doing this He creates a strategy for reaching the world
with the gospel. The early church was to
begin their gospel outreach right in
3.9.
On a few occasions Jesus
hinted at the fact that the grand purpose of the church one day would be
wrapped up in the completion of the Great Commission, including:
3.9.1. Matthew
24:14, “14 “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the
whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.
3.9.2. Matthew
26:13, “13 “Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached
in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory
of her.””
3.10.
Perhaps Matthew in his gospel best communicated what
Jesus commission His disciples to do before His ascension into heaven, Matthew
28:18-20, “18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All
authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 “Go
therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to
observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end
of the age.”” Note two things in
this passage from Matthew’s account:
3.10.1.
Going out to fulfill the
Great Commission is dependent upon Jesus first having all authority or power in
heaven and on earth. Without that power
and authority of Jesus going out to preach the gospel would be a hopeless and
fruitless endeavor.
3.10.2.
Jesus promises that He will
be with all who go out ‘even to the end of the age.’ This Great Commission is to continue to be
fulfilled in every generation until Jesus returns.
3.11.
Charles Ryrie in his book, “A
Survey Of Christian Doctrine,” writes the following about the purpose
that the Lord determined for His church from all eternity:
3.11.1.
What does Christ expect of the church? While there may
be many ways such a question could be answered, here are a few suggestions:
3.11.1.1. The local
church should always show its love for the Lord (Rev 2:4).
3.11.1.2. The church
should minister to its own members so that they incite one another to love and
good works (Heb 10:24).
3.11.1.3. The
church is the agency for carrying out the Great Commission. While
witnessing and teaching obviously can and should be done by individuals, these
are also functions of the local church. The gospel should be preached in the
services of the church so that when unbelievers come in they can hear it (1 Co
14:24), and all the epistles bear testimony to the teaching ministry of the
local congregation.
3.11.1.4. The church
is to care for its own who are in need, such as widows and orphans and the poor
(Ja 1:27; 1 Ti 5:1–16; 2 Co 8–9).
3.11.1.5. The church
is to do good in this world (Gal 6:10).
3.11.1.6. But
basically the purpose of the church is to produce mature, stable, holy
Christians. Doing this will sometimes involve discipline in the realm of morals
(1 Co 5) and maintenance of purity in doctrine (2 Ti 2:16–18)..
3.12.
M.S. Mills writes the
following about the Great Commission in his book, “The Life Of Christ” :
3.12.1.
We do well therefore to meditate on the commission
which is so dear to our Lord’s heart. The essence of the great commission is:
3.12.1.1. Go—the
Church’s function is to take the gospel to the world, not merely to proclaim
it. We need to be vigilant and constant in assessing how well we are
discharging this responsibility both as a Church, and as individual Christians.
The fact that Jesus assembled more than five hundred believers with the
apostles demonstrates that this is everybody’s responsibility.
3.12.1.2. Make
disciples—Making disciples has two phases, first converting
them, and second, maturing or discipling them. You obviously cannot disciple
anyone until they have believed; and having believed, they need to be
instructed, encouraged, and matured so that they are adequately equipped to
convert others (Paul was happy to say he converted others [I Cor 9:22] though
we know this was said loosely, for it is the Holy Spirit who does the actual
converting, but we are His instruments and must be active, not hide behind
pious theology). ‘Baptizing’ and ‘teaching’ are active
participles in Greek, so grammatically they merely explain the sole verb in the
sentence which is the imperative ‘make disciples.’ Making disciples
thus involves both making converts (which phase is indicated by baptism) and
also teaching them Christ’s doctrine. From conversion to the grave (or
rapture), then, is a continuing process of discipleship. We individually need
to ask ourselves how diligent and good a disciple we are.
3.12.1.3. Teaching—As Jesus
specifically addressed the question of teaching disciples, it is plain that His
primary meaning in ‘make disciples’ is evangelical, not the maturing
process. Teaching, then, is a vital function of His Church, but obviously
teaching must not be emphasized at the expense of evangelism, nor vice versa.
The Church’s responsibility is to keep these two functions in perfect balance,
for only in this true harmony is God best glorified. The only way to know ‘all
that Christ has commanded’ is to study it, and that means Bible study. ‘All
that Christ commanded,’ leaves no room for selective compliance. Believers are
expected to adhere to all Christ’s teachings, regardless of personal
preferences. This, too, is a lifelong discipline, for we will never reach the
state of perfection which He holds up as the ideal. Only He attained this, yet
we are encouraged and exhorted by the human example of Paul (I Cor 11:1).
3.13.
Wycliff in his Bible commentary believes that the
Great Commission was given during Jesus’ appearance to more than 500 recorded
by Paul in 1 Cor. 15:6.
3.14.
I want to tell you right now
that if you are a Christian, then you are a missionary, at least in the city in
which you live. All of us as Christians
are called to go out and take the good news of Jesus Christ wherever we
go. We should all look at the entire
sphere of our contacts and influence with people as our own mission field to
sow the seed of God’s word.
3.15.
We who are Christians must
also support the work of reaching the lost with the gospel through the
church. It is vital that each of us
participate in evangelistic events and efforts and seek to be used by the
Lord. We in the church here are planning
some evangelistic outreaches this summer and also beginning a door to door
witnessing ministry, so please pray for and support this ministry as the Lord
leads you, and He will.
3.16.
Jesus tells His disciples that they were ‘to stay
in the city until you are clothed with power from on high’ because a
prerequisite for effective preaching of the gospel to the world is the baptism
and filling with the Holy Spirit. Each
of us as Christians are not equipped to effectively preach the gospel until we
are endowed with the Holy Spirit’s power.
Thus, we too need to pray and wait for the Lord’s anointing in our life
in that preparation.
3.17.
Notice here that after
Jesus’ lifted His hands and blessed His followers gathered with Him on this day
that they “worshipped Him.” Jesus
never turned any away who worshipped Him, and if He weren’t God and worthy of
all of our worship, it would have been sin for people to worship Him since only
God is to be worshipped.
3.18.
The place of worship in the
beginning of the early church was the temple in
3.19.
The book of Acts tells us the story about how over the
next generation that this group of misfits who were slow in heart to believe
God were used to turn the entire upside down with the gospel. The effort of the church in missions
continued and is seen also in the life of all of the churches who have epistles
written to them, including:
3.19.1.
Romans 1:8, “8 First, I thank my God
through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed
throughout the whole world.”
3.19.2.
Colossians 1:5b-6, “…the gospel 6 which
has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit
and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you
heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth.”
4. CONCLUSIONS:
4.1.
As we consider this study
and how it applies to our life, I encourage you to ask yourself if you are
presently viewing yourself as a missionary right where you are? Are you helping to fulfill the Great
Commission right in your sphere of influence today? If not, you need to get on track with God’s
program.
4.2.
If you feel that you are not
equipped to share the gospel effectively then you need to pray first for the
baptism of the Holy Spirit so that you can share the gospel effectively. Secondly, you need to get equipped to share
the gospel by learning what your Bible teaches and perhaps by buying some good
gospel tracts that clearly explain how someone can come to know the Lord.
4.3.
Lets each of us begin to ask
God to lead us each day to someone that we may be able to share the wonderful
good news of salvation with.