Luke 24:35-49 - He Is Arisen, Jesus Is Alive!

It is a great privilege that I can share God’s words with you on this Easter Sunday.

You came to church today very well because it is the Sunday when all the Christians in the world and, I guess, in heaven celebrate Jesus’ resurrection. I hope God will bless all of us today as we worship Him.

These days a symbol and a brand name of a company seem quite important for good business. Don’t they?

So a company tries to scout the best designer in the world to create its good symbol and brand name. A few days ago I read a newspaper and realized there were some famous symbols and brand names of companies. Can you think of some?

Well, if there is a symbol of Christianity, what kind of symbol can it be? Yes, it is the cross where Jesus died.

But you see a cross was a horrible thing to have as a symbol of any kind of group because we know a cross was used to kill bad criminals on it such as rebels and murderers.

Do you know why churches use a cross as a symbol of Christianity? Because a cross tells us how much Jesus Christ loves us and reminds us of what kind of death we would deserve if Jesus Christ had not paid our penalties on it.

Although a cross seems strange as a symbol of a good group, to Christians it is the best thing to have as the symbol of Christianity. That is why people like cross necklaces.

In fact, Christians regard a cross as the symbol of Christianity because of Jesus’ resurrection. If Jesus had not risen, Christians would never have a cross as the symbol of Christianity.

But Jesus rose again from the dead so we can have a cross as the symbol of Christianity. Jesus rose again and reappeared as the victor over sin and death like no other in all of history.

So Jesus’ resurrection is one of the most important events of the Bible.

Maybe someone will ask me this question:
How do we know that Jesus Christ rose again from the dead?
I can tell you the reason why we know that Jesus Christ rose again from the dead.

Firstly because the empty tomb says that Jesus Christ rose again.

The Bible says in Luke 24:5-7:
Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; He has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and must be crucified and on the third day must be raised again.

The tomb could not keep Jesus continually because Jesus was and is alive.

Secondly we know for sure that Jesus Christ rose again.

There were lots of witnesses who met the risen Jesus Christ after Jesus’ resurrection. The witnesses were mainly Jesus’ disciples and they did their best to say this:
Jesus rose again and he will save all human beings, sinners, when they say sorry for what they have done wrong and believe in Jesus Christ.

Because of the witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection, the first church could start and the good news has been spread to the world for about 2000 years. In Acts 4, the Bible tells us that the witnesses could not stop speaking about what they had seen and heard although they were in danger when they told others all about Jesus’ resurrection.

Now I hope that we have understood that Jesus rose again.

As the second part of my sermon I am going to tell you what Jesus Christ did after He rose again from the dead.

What did Jesus Christ do for 40 days after he rose again?

Actually it is quite interesting that Jesus did not take revenge against those who were involved in His crucifixion. After his resurrection Jesus did not want to punish those who crucified him. He did not want the Romans soldiers to be punished because of what they were doing when Jesus was on the cross.

It is pretty interesting. Isn’t it?

But if we know that Jesus had already won the battle against the power of sin and death when he died on the cross, then it is understandable that Jesus did not take revenge against those who crucified Him. Actually Jesus did not need to do so because He had already destroyed the power of sin and death.

This is why we can trust the Bible. The Bible says in John 3:17: for God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.

Without taking revenge, Jesus met his disciples to remind them of what he had told them would happen.

Jesus also wanted to show his disciples that He understood why they were frightened so he said “Peace, be with you” to them.

Well, I think if we lack faith in Jesus, we will feel frightened when we are in trouble. But remember that Jesus wants to help us to have faith in Him like he did for his disciples and remember that he also wants to say these words ‘Peace, be with you’ to all of us when we are struggling with our lives.

Jesus strengthened the faith of his disciples so that they could spread the Good news to the world. Jesus made his disciples able to do what He had told them to do. One of the things to do was mainly to love each other.

Yes, I think now we should talk about what Jesus’ resurrection means to all of us.

What does Jesus ’ resurrection mean to all of us?

In 1 Peter 1:3 the Bible says:
Through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, we can have a living hope which shows us how great God’s mercy is for us.

This means that we also will be raised when we die if we believe in Jesus Christ.

Well, I wonder whether we can live without a living hope that encourages us to do what is right and just in the world.

I am definitely sure that I can live without food and water for some days but I can not live for a second without the living hope which is from believing in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

C.S. Lewis said the most precious thing that Jesus did was his resurrection and because of that we, believers, will be raised from the dead as well.

Because Christians believe that they will be raised to life again after dying. Because Christians have faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Christians themselves can risk their lives, facing sometimes death.

That is why a funeral of a Christian seems quite different from other religions.

In human history there have been many people who were Christians who did not feel afraid of dying while they were doing something important that Jesus told them through the Bible to do for the world, facing lots of risk in their lives.

Even a long time ago Daniel and his three friends were not afraid of dying while they were doing right before God.

I now think of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who was fighting against the Nazis and Hitler as a German pastor. In the Second World War, Bonhoeffer was a person who showed great courage which was from believing in the resurrection of Jesus Christ to all human beings. Even though Bonhoeffer was killed just some hours before the U.S army arrived to rescue him, I believe that he is now in the arms of Jesus Christ. His great courage always encourages me to do what is right.

There are many people who were not afraid of dying, doing what is right like Dietrich Bonhoeffer. They are Martin Luther, Martin Luther King Junior, Mother Teresa, Pastor Joo Ki Chul ...

They were not afraid of dying because they believed that Jesus rose again from the grave and they also would be raised from dead.

I am convinced that this world can only be just and fair when the people who believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ live by the power of the resurrection.

My friends,
If you believe in Jesus Christ, please do what Jesus tells you to do.
As you know, we can listen to God when we read the Bible and pray to Him.

My friends,
If you have never heard that Jesus Christ rose again from the dead before, why do not you believe that?
If you have never thought that you will be raised from the dead when you die in the faith of believing in Jesus Christ, why do not you believe in Him?
If in human history there have been many people who were brave enough to make the world different through believing in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, why do not we do something like them?

I would like to finish my sermon by reading John 11:25-26 altogether.
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies: and whoever lives and believes in me will never die."

Do you believe this?

Last updated 11-May-2012