¹On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. ² They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³ but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴ While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. ⁵ In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? ⁶ He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ⁷ ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” ⁸ Then they remembered his words.

⁹ When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. ¹⁰ It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. ¹¹ But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. ¹² Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.

(Luke 24:1-12 NIV)

Welcome to Woodside Bible Church. My name is Jonathan, I’m one of the pastors here, and today is Easter Sunday! It is the day we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah, who is not dead, but risen and alive. In his resurrection, Jesus alone liberates us from an eternity of judgment and death. Let’s pray.

Father in heaven, thank you for sending your son to die on the cross for our sins. We know you didn’t have to, but you wanted to. It was in your heart and mind to pursue us even if we didn’t pursue or deserve you. When Jesus was raised from the dead 2000 years ago to prove that God would not be stopped by sin or death, you showed us that hope wasn’t out of reach. You gave us hope through our belief… and we believe. We want to believe beyond the doubts that cause us to be double minded, scattered, and broken.

Yes, give us new life, for all of us here who need that encouragement. Don’t ever let us forget that you showed us the resurrection to give us hope and acceptance into your household. What a privilege to be your child and to live how you created us to live—being loved by the almighty God, creator of the heavens and the earth, the alpha and the omega. We pray that today you will remind us that the resurrection was not just an event that passed by, but the ultimate miracle impacts every facet of our lives. Thank you. In Jesus name. Amen.

If you decide to place your trust in Jesus with your life today, I want to encourage you to take the next step of faith and make a public declaration of your trust in Jesus through baptism today. Just meet us at the connect desk in the lobby anytime during this service or after.

Jesus is alive. His tomb is empty. So wouldn’t you like to have a meal with Jesus? I know I would. In fact, what would you discover? I think you would discover the following:

First, that the God of the universe loves you and has invited you to his banqueting table. Second, that the king of kings wants to know more about the baggage you carried to the dinner table. But most importantly,

Big Idea: The living Jesus calls the you to repent, believe, and live for him.

We’re going to be in Luke 24:36-49 where disciples have a meal with Jesus after his resurrection and we learn exactly that. If you don’t have a Bible, there’s a Bible in the seat back in front of you, that’s our gift to you. Feel free to take or share it with somebody.

Just some context for you before we jump into this text here. In the text, it’s still the day the disciples found Jesus’ empty tomb. Jesus’ disciples witnessed his death by crucifixion and are trying to understand what’s going on. What’s making matters more complicated for the 11 apostles is the fact that two people who travelled and followed Jesus, not the 12 disciples who were out of town just showed up telling them about encountering a real, living Jesus on the road. So we pick up the story here, verse 36.

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. 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 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.

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. 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.”

(Luke 24:36-49 ESV)

Last week, Michelle sent Kate and me out on an errand. I drove to an address that didn’t exist, and while driving up and down the block I got mad at Google. And you know me, a good father, so now I’m teaching Kate about how the engineers built Google maps wrong, and why letter and number recognition is important and she’d better learn it if she wants to make something of herself in life, and how you just can’t trust other people to make good design decisions anymore. Oh, yeah, I went there. Don’t act like you’ve never criticized other people in front of your kids.

And because now that I’m doubting Google’s ability to do what I want it to do, I’m doing what people used to do before technology because when Skynet decides to be an antagonistic force against humanity, I’m going to show my three year old how to survive. I’m driving real slow with our windows down reading addresses off houses. No luck, can’t find the address.

So we get out of the car and start walking the block because maybe I missed while driving and we’ll find it on foot, because you know, I’m smarter than the computer, the house has to be in the general vicinity. Now we’re walking down the block and Kate is now is saying, “Dad, I’m hot, the sun is too hot, I need to take off my jacket. I’m hungry.”

Now I’m wondering if should even drop off the meal. Maybe Kate and I should just picnic here on the sidewalk. So as my last-ditch effort, and in a rare moment of self-doubt, I decided to check that address again on my phone….I entered the wrong address on my gps. How in the flippity flops did I copy and paste the wrong address? Yeah. Now I’m in full blown doubt mode. I’m losing it! The newborn fog and lack of sleep is finally getting to me. Or maybe it’s my old age: my memory is going.

Then I hear, “Dad, I’m tired, can you carry me?” So now I have the right address, I’m walking with a toddler in one arm and hot food in another down the block for the third time. And under my breath, because now I’m heaving for air and dripping sweat, I’m lambasting the software engineers who should have accounted for a mistake I would make, this one time.

Anyways, after we finally complete our errand, Kate says, “Daddy, can you please buy me ice cream?”

And I respond, “But we have so much ice cream at home.“ “We do NOT! I checked in the fridge-er-er and there is nothing.”

And although I am absolutely positive I saw two tubs of ice cream and a box of Elsa and Anna popsicles at home, now I’m doubting my own memory. If I incorrectly type addresses into my phone, what’s to stop me from recalling the contents of my freezer?

Regardless, I try again: “Oh… but it’s also very cold out.” She responds, “No it’s not cold, you see it’s so hot today?”

I look down at my jacket, it’s unzipped and I’m still sweating from marching up and down the block earlier. So maybe the weather report is wrong. Maybe it’s not 30 degrees right now – maybe it’s actually 50! What do meteorologists know!

 So, with our winter jackets on and our noses turning bright red, Kate and I got our ice creams, shivering as we finished every last bite.

Doubt. It makes all of us spiral down a horrible path by saying, thinking, and doing things that a three year old can take advantage of.

Does anybody wrestle with doubt sometimes? Like self-doubt, doubts about people, doubts about situations, doubt about the goodness of God? Maybe we won’t call it doubt, we can call it indecision, skepticism, or second guessing. Anybody wrestle with those things in their lives?  

Nobody?

• Are you telling me that nobody ever doubted whether your relationship would work out?
• Or doubted if the job you’re at was the right job?
• Or whether selecting “all of the above” was the right choice?
• Maybe you doubted whether your kids or your parents would ever come home.
• Or doubted whether the promises of God for you were ever going to come?

I have lots of doubts. In fact, until earlier this morning, I doubted whether God even wanted me to share a message about doubt on the day we’re supposed to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection without a doubt. Being raised from the dead is such an impossibility to begin with, so to raise questions and concerns about doubt doesn’t make sense. But here we are, opening the can of worms called doubt on a day we shouldn’t be doubtful.

Doubt is an emotion that leaves a person petrified between belief and disbelief or commitment and non-commitment.

The reality is, everyone doubts. I want you to know this truth about doubt: Doubt is an emotion that leaves a person petrified between belief and disbelief or commitment and non-commitment. Doubt simply masks your deepest fears, regrets, and disappointments. In fact, the studies of science, philosophy, and theology are all devoted to helping people wrestle with the emotions of doubt.

Jesus’ disciples doubted. They doubted whether they followed the right guy. They doubted their path forward. They doubted Jesus was really alive. The reason they doubted was because when you experience something and can’t explain it, you start doubting your own experience, and whether it really happened. So if you have doubts about placing your faith in Jesus you’re not alone and you’re exactly in the right place to wrestle with those doubts. So I’m going to share with you why, when we have a meal with Jesus, he tells us to repent, believe, and live for him. First because:

Jesus’ resurrection is true

Here’s what I mean: people witnessed and experienced the resurrected Jesus in real life. Let’s jump back into verse 36.

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. 

Luke 24:36-37 ESV

So two disciples were telling the rest of the apostles about how they saw Jesus on the road to Emmaus and explaining that Jesus is alive. That’s when all of the apostles see Jesus in real life. But doubt kicks in because emotionally they can’t trust their experience now and they assume the Jesus they are collectively seeing is actually a ghost!

In fact, this would be the conclusion you and I would jump to because these apostles witnessed Jesus dying on the cross. Their friends took Jesus’ lifeless body and put it in a tomb. They saw the Roman soldiers roll a giant boulder to cover the tomb. There were soldiers guarding the tomb. This has to be a ghost! Because they’re not ready to commit to the fact that Jesus is very much alive and in their very presence. Because doubt is an emotional lack of commitment. Jesus sees their doubt and says, “well, I’ll prove to you that I’m not a ghost.” Verse 38.

³⁸ And [Jesus] 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. 

Luke 24:38-40 ESV

So Jesus helps the disciples overcome their emotions by making the point that ghosts don’t have bodies. Jesus is offering the disciples, who are full of doubt, undeniable proof that he is indeed alive—yeah ghosts can’t be touched, but real people can. But having touched the physical body of Jesus just wasn’t enough to overcome the doubt. Verse 41.

⁴¹ And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, [Jesus] 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.

Luke 24:41-43 ESV

Isn’t that the interesting thing about doubt: You can be filled with joy and be amazed by what you’re experiencing but still doubt the experience.

The disciples were beginning to entertain the idea that it was actually Jesus standing in front of them and not just a figment of their imagination. But, doubt kept holding them back from believing that this is actually reality. So what does Jesus do?

He eats.

One thing everybody knows about dead people is that dead people don’t eat. Dead people don’t eat!

If touching his very much alive body wasn’t enough proof enough, then his eating broiled fish is definite proof because dead people don’t eat. But alive people do. But you’re thinking, we still have doubts trusting Jesus. I mean,

• We never walked with him.
• We never touched his wounds.
• We never had broiled fish with him.

The disciples did all those things and they still doubted Jesus was alive and standing before them. So Jesus tells his disciples that their experience with him plus the scriptures you learned should eliminate the doubt in their minds about whether or not Jesus is alive. The things written about Jesus plus personal experience cannot be a coincidence because

Jesus’ resurrection is taught.

Let’s read verse 44.

⁴⁴ Then [Jesus] 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.” 

Luke 24:44 ESV

Jesus reminds the disciples that he said that he would be resurrected but that he was just pointing to the Old Testament about himself and the reality that Jesus is very much alive. In the first century the Bible wasn’t circulated around in nicely compact books or phones, and they usually were bound in three volumes: the Law, written by Moses, the Prophets, written by the prophets, and the Psalms or wisdom literature written by David, Solomon, priests, prophets, and many others. Verse 45.

⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 

Don’t you love how when you doubt, God always comes to connect the dots so your doubts, no matter how strong they are, have no legs to stand on. Isn’t also funny that God regularly upends what we thought was true or what isn’t possible and makes miracles happen and we experience them and are just blown away. Verse 46.

⁴⁶ and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead,

This is beautiful, pay attention.

First, Jesus alludes to the Psalms and the Prophets and says, remember that the Christ must suffer. In the Psalms, it’s written that the innocent will have to suffer for the guilty. The Psalms also says there is nobody who is innocent except the holy one of Israel.

Then in the prophets, particularly Isaiah 53, where the savior suffers. So, the Christ suffered, the innocent for the guilty to fulfill the words about Jesus in the Psalms and the Prophets. Jesus showing us that this is not haphazard coincidence but an intentional plan that was foretold in Scripture over the course of a millennia by multiple authors from various regions.

This is where Jesus changes the disciples understanding about resurrection and the reason why they probably had such a hard time believing that Jesus is in fact alive standing before them. When Jesus says that on the third day that the Christ would rise from the dead, that was not what they expected.

In classical Jewish theology, the resurrection doesn’t happen until the temple in Jerusalem is rebuilt and Jews from all over come back and usher in a new period where God is king. But the temple can’t be rebuilt until the nation is liberated from their current first century Roman oppressors. So the disciples knew the resurrection is supposed to happen, but not so soon and only when the temple was physically rebuilt by the Messiah. When Jesus, the physical manifestation of the temple, rose again from the dead on the third day, the idea of resurrection stopped becoming an existential and philosophical quagmire, and became reality.

On this day 2,000 years ago, Jesus, who is fully God, but also fully human, freed us from the penalties of our sins when he willingly suffered death on the cross as the perfect substitute for us. He fulfilled the law.

In his humanness, he identifies with our struggles, strengths, and weaknesses. In his divinity, death could not defeat him, his perfect sacrifice covered the entire penalty of sin. Because he is alive, Jesus continues to accomplish God’s purposes by giving us new life and hope for eternity. All that we need, and all that we hoped for in life comes from Jesus’ death and his resurrection.

In faith, we receive Jesus’ substitutionary atoning death without any merit of our own but only by God’s grace. The perfect righteousness of Christ is imparted to us when we repent and believe in him.

I used the words, “in faith” and I know that means little not nothing because we hear it so often but, faith is to set aside doubt for one moment and be filled with the confidence and conviction that Christ, who was crucified, is very much alive because he was resurrected. That’s what Easter, or Resurrection Sunday is all about—that we believe the resurrected Jesus manifests himself in our lives and ushers us into the kingdom of God as his beloved children for eternity. That’s the reason

Jesus’ resurrection is to be told.

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

The reason Jesus’ resurrection is to be told is because telling the story of Jesus’ leads to repentance. I don’t know what you think of the word, “repentance,” but to Luke, repentance meant a change in thinking. People must change their minds about God, about their own sins, about how to overcome sin, and who Christ is. There should be no doubt in people’s minds about who God is, no doubt about their own sins, and no doubt about who can overcome those sins. When people change their minds, doubts fade, and embrace God in faith – to stretch themselves out upon God’s mercy, grace, direction, and plan.

This idea is so radical! God gives undeserving people hope in the midst of doubt and loves them like they’ve never been loved. That’s the good news. Verse 48.

⁴⁸ You are witnesses of these things. 

Faith is not an ethic or morality to be kept private.

Faith is not an ethic or morality to be kept private. Faith is the testimony of God’s activity in our life story because you’re convicted it’s true. If you believe Jesus died to save you from your sins and welcomes you into his family as one of God’s precious children, despite your occasional doubts, then it is your duty, as a witness of God’s power, to share with others what God is doing in your life.

When I was 16 years old and I gave my life to Jesus, it was because my friend shared his faith, his convictions, with me. Nothing fancy. No arguments. Just a simple, “Jonathan, I need to tell you about Jesus.” He didn’t wait for the right opportunity or make any fancy sales pitch. He just shared how the resurrected Jesus invited him into a family like none other and that he was no free to be who he was created to be—a son of God.

This is where doubt kicks in for some of you. It’s not placing your trust in Jesus as your savior, redeemer of your soul. You doubt your ability to share the amazing love of Jesus with somebody else. Let’s go to verse 49.

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.”

Luke 24:49 ESV

When you accept the resurrected Jesus as your savior, God becomes your father. He becomes the father who blesses his children richly with his promises. The ultimate power is God’s power, the Holy Spirit, and that’s exactly who he sends to us. That’s his promise to you the moment you repent from your sins, believe in Jesus, and live your life for Jesus. The Holy Spirit enables us and empowers us to be witnesses in word and deed of our faith in Jesus.

We can do all things through him who gives you strength because of our faith in Jesus Christ as our savior. God is with us and we now have his strength. We are clothed with God’s Spirit and I challenge all of us, from this moment forth, to live boldly in faith: live for Jesus like you’ve never have before.

If you’ve never placed your trust in Jesus to save and release you from the penalties of your sin, then I urge you to do so today. Take that doubt and throw it out. Believe that a new life, a living hope, joy, and peace can be yours through faith in Jesus. The God who saves by dying on the cross and is raised from the dead because death could not hold him. If that’s what you want, pray this prayer with me. Family let’s all pray this because it’s always good to proclaim the risen Jesus as our Lord and Savior.

Father in heaven, we are sinners who deserved death. Yet, in your love for us, you sent your one and only son, Jesus, to be the sacrificial lamb, to pay the price for our sins because you knew we couldn’t. We believe and trust you for our salvation, a gift for us from you.

We have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in us. And the life we now live in the flesh we live by faith in the Son of God, who loves us and gave himself for us. (Galatians 2:20 emphasis my own)

Lord, thank you adopting us as your children so we can live with this new identity and have belonging with you through Jesus’ righteousness. Help us live in faithful repentance, trusting you with our new lives in Christ. Now, as we move from this place, let us be bold in proclaiming the good news of our God to the ends of the earth so that your immeasurable goodness can deliver the lost, hungry, sick, and abandoned. We pray this in Jesus’, Holy Name. Amen.

If you’re wrestling with doubts about God, or just have prayer requests or would just like to talk, come to the front stage, there are people here who would love to pray with you or answer any questions you may have. If you gave your life to Jesus and would like to get baptized, you can head out to the connect desk.

Let’s all stand and worship our loving, gracious God.