Everything We Need

Thank you for reading this sermon from Christ Fellowship. I hope and pray that this sermon will be a blessing of grace and truth to you. With that said, let me encourage you not to use this sermon as a replacement for your local church. Christ Jesus did not establish his Church simply for us to consume content. Instead, He calls us to be part of a real, covenant family. 

We’ve come to the very end of the Gospel of Luke this morning. 82 sermons starting back in August of 2023! Almost two years of Luke with a few small breaks. I’m sure you’re anxious to see how it ends, so let’s get to it.

36 As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!”

37 But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit.

Somehow, the disciples are all standing in a room talking about Jesus and the various reports that He is alive, when Jesus Himself appears among them!

This reminds me of a news story from last week about a drunk man who was reported missing by his family. He wandered up and joined the search party for himself. Somehow, it took them hours to realize they had already found him.

This feels a bit like that. Jesus just shows up!

38 And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?

He’s right there in front of them and still they are doubting!

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 And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?”

42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish,

43 and he took it and ate before them.

Two things come to mind as I read this story. The first is the response of the disciples. Even with Jesus right in front of them, they struggled to believe. Luke says they “disbelieved for joy”. In other words, it seemed too good to be true. Pinch me! Is this really happening?!

But the second thing I notice here is how important it was to Jesus that they understand He has a real human body. He’s not a ghost. He is flesh and blood. He even eats fish in front of them to prove He has a body.

And yet, there must also be something different about Him. We’ll come back to that at the end.

44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything 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 said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead,

47 and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.

Once again, Jesus instructs His disciples from the Bible. He explains everything they missed about the Messiah and His mission from the Old Testament. Then He says:

48 You are witnesses of these things.

49 And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

He’s talking about Holy Spirit.

50 And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them.

51 While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven.

52 And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy,

53 and were continually in the temple blessing God.

And that’s it. That’s how Luke ends.

What I want to do first is have us think about the body of Jesus. He wants the disciples to know that He has a real body. There were going to be false teachers that would later claim Jesus could not have had a real body. But Jesus goes out of His way to prove that He has a real body.

And yet, it’s also different. Somehow Jesus is able to appear and disappear at will. Then He’s carried up into heaven. What does that mean? How can Jesus have a body in heaven?

This is probably the most difficult thing for us to grasp about the resurrection. It was physical and real, but the glorified body of Jesus is also different. It is no longer mortal or perishable. It is glorified and powerful.

At the end of Revelation, John sees the new creation… a place where the barrier between heaven and earth is erased. The resurrected body of Jesus in Luke 24 now belongs to both realms. That stretches our minds quite a bit, but this is what the Bible teaches about us as well.

At the final resurrection, we will receive transformed bodies. It won’t just be our old body, affected by sin, subject to pain and death. It will be a glorified body, and we will also belong to both realms – heaven and earth. In other words, Jesus is showing us our hope here in this story. We will still be human, but everything will be better!

Pain will be gone. Sickness will be gone. Cancer will be gone. Limbs will be restored. No more tears. No more grief. No more doubt.

But the best part about this is that Jesus never really left us. His glorified body is in heaven, but He is also spiritually present with His church. And one day, we will be where He is, no longer bound to a dying and decaying earth. Everything will be made new!

And so, it’s possible that our understanding of heaven and life after death needs to be stretched a bit by this text. We will not be babies sitting on clouds playing harps. Thank the Lord!

Now, what I want to do next as we close out our study of Luke is to look closely at the parting words of Jesus. There’s a progression to it.

After greeting them in peace and proving He has a real body, Jesus says several things.

First, He again explains the message of the Gospel using Scripture. He’s making it plain for them that His work on the cross and the resurrection was a fulfillment of prophecy. It’s not something new.

This is important, because the Jewish people were going to claim that the disciples of Jesus were starting some new Messianic cult and that they had stolen the body of Jesus. But that was not the case. Their own Scriptures were filled with prophecies that Jesus embodied.

Notice also the simplicity of the Gospel message. Christ suffered and rose from the dead so that, or in order that, repentance for the forgiveness of sins might be preached. It is very simply: His work and our response to His work, which is repentance, equals forgiveness of sins. If you add anything or subtract anything, you are left with nothing. Christ alone. Faith alone expressed in repentance.

This is the heart of God! This is the point of the Christian faith! The work of Jesus is finished and sufficient for the forgiveness of sins. All we need to do is receive it… turn to Him and trust Him to deal with our sin.

Second, Jesus gives them clear instructions about their mission. You are witnesses. The Gospel will need to be preached to the nations. But you won’t do this alone. You will go with power of the Holy Spirit.

Then Jesus ascended, and the disciples worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. Why joy? Why not grief that He was gone?

Because Jesus didn’t leave them empty-handed. He left them with the Word—which He opened to them—and the promise of the Spirit, who would dwell in them. That’s the way Luke ends… not with absence, but with presence. Not with uncertainty, but with mission. Not with lack, but with everything they needed. Everything we need!

There’s an old story about a wealthy man who passed away and left behind an impressive art collection. He had paintings by Rembrandt, Picasso, Van Gogh… Other wealthy people gathered at an auction to bid on these famous works of art.

But the first piece offered at the auction was a simple portrait of the man’s son, painted by an unknown artist. Of course, the crowd wasn’t interested in this painting—who wants that when there are masterpieces coming later?

But one man in the back, a poor man who had known the family, bid on the painting. No one else wanted it and so he won it for a small price.

Immediately, the auctioneer shocked the room by closing the auction. “According to the will,” he said, “whoever takes the son gets it all.”

That is Luke 24. The disciples get the Son—and they receive everything. His presence, His peace, His mission, and the power to carry it out.

Jesus didn’t give them a business strategy. He didn’t leave them with wealth or armies. He gave a small group of disciples the Scriptures and the Spirit. And with that, the world changed.

You might feel inadequate for the task before you. You might look around at our culture, your family, your own heart—and wonder, what can I do? But you are not empty-handed.

Jesus has left His church with all that is necessary:
His Word to guide you, and His Spirit to empower you.

One last story—D.L. Moody once held up a glass and asked, “How can I get the air out of this glass?” Someone said, “Suck it out with a pump!” Moody shook his head. Then he took a pitcher and filled the glass with water. “Now,” he said, “the air is gone.”

The answer to fear, doubt, and emptiness is not to suck it out. It’s to be filled—with the Word of Christ dwelling richly in you, and the Spirit of God empowering you. That’s what the disciples had. That’s what we have. Word, Spirit, and a promise of great hope!

So go with joy. The Son has ascended—but His presence remains. The search party has ended. He’s been found. He is with us. And He is enough.