The Gospel of Luke (Chapter 24)_Feb 2021

The Gospel Of
Luke (Chapter 24):
A Reflective Guide

Showdown II: 
The Gospel - The Resurrection And

Ascension Of Jesus

Dr. Ng Kee Chuan

The Gospel of Luke (Chapter 24): A Re ective Guide

The Gospel Of Luke (Chapter 24):
A Re ective Guide

Showdown II: The Gospel - The Resurrection
And Ascension Of Jesus

By

Dr. Ng Kee Chuan

Title Page

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The Gospel Of Luke (Chapter 24): A Re ective Guide

The Gospel Of Luke (Chapter 24): A Re ective Guide

Showdown II: The Gospel - The Resurrection And Ascension Of Jesus

Written by: Ng Kee Chuan

First publication: February 2021

Scripture references were taken from the Good News Bible. Others would be as
stated in the reference.

Right to copy (yes, you read that right!): Feel free to reproduce, store in a retrieval
system, or transmit in any form or by any means without prior permission of the
publisher.

To preserve the integrity of the content from being attributed to the author when
changed and modi ed by others, the only o cial reference copy by the author is
the one located on http://projectbase.com.my/bible-knowledge/.

Published by: 
Ng Kee Chuan  
26, Lorong Bunga Bakawali 1,  
Taman Stephens, 
88200 Kota Kinabalu, 
Sabah, Malaysia.

e-ISBN: 978-967-2802-3

Credit Page

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The Gospel of Luke (Chapter 24): A Re ective Guide

Please send feedback to author at this email: [email protected]
Pictures were taken from Unsplash, Pixabay, Pexels and Google Image. Thanks to
all the wonderfully creative and generous photographers who shared their works
of art freely. Your pictures that adorn the pages in this booklet have made it so
much more interesting and attractive.
Layout done by using Designnr.
Edited by: Chow Kwai Yok, my faithful and beautiful companion of my best years of
life here on earth.

To God be the Glory!

Credit Page

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The Gospel of Luke (Chapter 24): A Re ective Guide

Dedicated to all the committed and sacri cial Bible Knowledge teachers who have
taken time and energy to teach this subject to young people at the important
crossroad of their lives.
1 Corinthians 15:57–58 (GNB)

But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! So
then, my dear brothers and sisters, stand rm and steady. Keep busy always in your

work for the Lord, since you know that nothing you do in the Lord’s service is ever
useless.

Dedication Page

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The Gospel of Luke (Chapter 24): A Re ective Guide

Table Of Contents

Introduction 6

     1. Restoration: T he First Witness To T he Resurrection 10
Of Jesus (Luke 24:1-12)
38
     2. Revelation: T he Two Witnesses To T he Resurrection
Of Jesus (Luke 24:13-35) 58
79
     3. Responsibility: T he Foundational Witnesses To T he 91
Resurrection Of Jesus (Luke 24:36-49)

     4. T he Ascension of Jesus (Luke 24:50-53)

References 

Table Of Contents

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The Gospel of Luke (Chapter 24): A Re ective Guide

Introduction

Studying the Bible is one of the greatest joys Christians can experience. We learn so
much about God and his heart when we take time to do so.

Taking time to study the Gospel of Luke is a really good introduction to the life and
works of Jesus because Luke had taken great pains to write a detailed and orderly
account for us to study. You will appreciate his precision in details and description.

Even though you might be teaching or studying the Gospel of Luke as a subject for
SPM, nevertheless you can take time to slow down and smell the owers, as it
were. This means you are not just studying the facts but also endeavoring to relate
the divine text to your life and situations. Most of all, focus on getting to know Jesus
personally and grow in your relationship with God as you study this gospel written
by Luke and his sequel the Book of Acts.

This short guide is a tool to help you build that bridge between the ancient text and
your context today. As you take time to study the text and re ect on what this little
e-booklet seeks to guide you to meditate on, I pray that the Holy Spirit will speak
straight into your heart.

Here is a short description about the parts in each section that is set up to help you
make this journey even more exciting:

Introduction

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The Gospel of Luke (Chapter 24): A Re ective Guide

L  earning Objective: This statement helps you set up your expectations as you
read this passage and study it.
 Success Criteria: After you have nished your study, check if you have
achieved what you set out to do using the criteria stated in this part.
 Engage: This is like a little ice-breaker to set your mind on the topics in the
passage.
E  xplore: This section helps you dig into the text of the passage; telling you
what it says.
E  xplain: This section helps you to draw out the meaning of the topics raised in
the passage.
 Elaborate: This section helps you relate what you have learnt in the previous
sections to your own life and situation.
 Evaluate: This section helps you nail down some actions that you can
implement in your life immediately.
 Discussion Questions: These questions are quite personal, and if you have
time to sit down and share with others, it will be mutually edifying and you will
consolidate your fellowship one with another.

Teachers can use this booklet to lead meaningful discussions as you teach the text
in the Gospel of Luke. You can use this guide to help your students think more
deeply and personally about what they are studying.

If you are a student, you can use this guide to help you go deeper in your study,
not just memorising the facts. You can even incorporate this guide as part of your
daily devotions as you anticipate God speaking to you personally and directly into
your life.

Introduction

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The Gospel of Luke (Chapter 24): A Re ective Guide

Most of all, let the voice of God be heard as you engage in the most important book
in the world - the Bible. This will be a lifelong practice that will be such a positive
impact in your life and transform you into a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ.
Amen!
Your fellow pilgrim,
Dr. Ng Kee Chuan

Introduction

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The Gospel Of Luke (Chapter 24): A Re ective Guide

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE (CHAPTER 24)

THE GOSPEL OF LUKE (CHAPTER 24)

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1. Restoration: The First Witness To The Resurrection
Of Jesus (Luke 24:1-12)

Luke 24:1–12 (GNB)

Very early on Sunday morning the women went to the tomb, carrying the spices
they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the entrance to the
tomb, so they went in; but they did not nd the body of the Lord Jesus. They stood
there puzzled about this, when suddenly two men in bright shining clothes stood by
them. Full of fear, the women bowed down to the ground, as the men said to them,
“Why are you looking among the dead for one who is alive? He is not here; he has
been raised. Remember what he said to you while he was in Galilee: ‘The Son of
Man must be handed over to sinners, be cruci ed, and three days later rise to life.’ ”
Then the women remembered his words, returned from the tomb, and told all
these things to the eleven disciples and all the rest. The women were Mary
Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James; they and the other women with
them told these things to the apostles. But the apostles thought that what the
women said was nonsense, and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran
to the tomb; he bent down and saw the linen wrappings but nothing else. Then he
went back home amazed at what had happened.

Learning Objective

At the end of the interaction, I should be able to:

analyse the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

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The Gospel of Luke (Chapter 24): A Re ective Guide

Success Criteria

At the end of the interaction, I am able to:
 di erentiate truth from ction when it comes to the historical event of the
resurrection of Jesus.
 attribute the resurrection of Jesus to tangible and reliable proofs.

Engage

What is one good news that you still remember receiving in your life? Why was it
such a good news to you?

Explore

In our last study of the Gospel of Luke chapters 22 and 23, we considered the
Showdown I. It was undoubtedly the lowest point in human history.

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The three closest friends of Jesus failed him miserably. Judas, the team’s treasurer,
driven by the lust of his eyes, betrayed Jesus for money (only thirty silver coins).
The other disciples in Jesus’ inner circle, driven by the lust of the esh and self-
centeredness, deserted Jesus at the most crucial moment, to save their own lives.
Peter, the leader-in-waiting, driven by pride and self-con dence, denied even
knowing Jesus out of fear.

The three courtrooms of the three foes of Jesus failed to administer due justice for
him, even though it was evidently clear that Jesus was innocent. The Chief Priest
and the Jewish Council (Sanhedrin) came up with trumped up, bogus charges. King
Herod wanted a miraculous performance, and when Jesus refused, Herod and his 
soldiers mocked and treated him with contempt. Pontius Pilate publicly declared
three times that Jesus was innocent, and yet he sentenced Jesus to death.

Jesus was then led away to be cruci ed, like a common criminal. For three hours,
darkness shrouded Jerusalem, as the powers of darkness seemingly had their day.
But little did they know that the darkness actually signi ed the spiritual transaction
of the penalty of sinners being paid by the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.

On the cross, Jesus prayed three prayers regarding his relationship with the Father
that was broken because he was the bearer of the sins of people. Through the three
prayers, Jesus acknowledged the horrible reality of being abandoned by the Father
for the rst time ever from eternity, of the spiritual transaction being nished and
completed, and committing his own spirit to the Father as he literally died, so that
the terms in the will of the Gospel could be nally enforced.

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All these were part of the three elements of the Gospel  that were most important:
that Christ died for our sins, that he was buried and that he was raised on the third
day.

As we ended our consideration of chapter 22 and 23, we followed Joseph of
Arimathea and the women to the borrowed grave. It was a sombre, silent and very
sad atmosphere. The movement that Jesus had started was apparently as dead as
he was. His followers had all fallen and disbanded in utter dejection. The only
decent thing left to do was to bury Jesus - to put Jesus and his movement to rest.
There was no hope, no desire to go on, no disciples and followers - only Joseph
and the few faithful women.
No one expected the twist in the plot that would happen in chapter 24, because it
was just too far fetched to even imagine. No one in their right mind would make up
a story like that because it would be too unbelievable.

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What happened?

Explain

After three days in the cold, dark tomb, Jesus rose from the dead!

It was simply incredible! Almost unbelievable! Jesus had actually stated it explicitly
earlier while he was still alive, especially after he had transitioned and set his sights
on going to Jerusalem to ful l his mission. But no one could grasp his meaning
then. The rst time he said it, it was rather mysterious:  

Luke 9:44-45 (GNB)

“Don’t forget what I am about to tell you! The Son of Man is going to be handed
over to the power of human beings.” But the disciples did not know what this meant.
It had been hidden from them so that they could not understand it, and they were
afraid to ask him about the matter.

The second time, he said it, it was more explicit and direct, as he gave more details:

Luke 18:31-34 (GNB)

Jesus took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, “Listen! We are going to
Jerusalem where everything the prophets wrote about the Son of Man will come
true. He will be handed over to the Gentiles, who will mock him, insult him, and spit
on him. They will whip him and kill him, but three days later he will rise to life.” But
the disciples did not understand any of these things; the meaning of the words was
hidden from them, and they did not know what Jesus was talking about.

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Su er, die and three days later, rise from the dead? It was just too far-fetched to
understand, what more to accept it. They must have thought that Jesus was
speaking guratively, not literally. Even when the events started to unfold, just like
Jesus had predicted and prophesied, they still could not connect the dots. The
meaning was hidden from them, and their minds seemed to have “blinders”, so that
they could not “see” the truth behind his words.

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The light only came on after three days when Jesus rose from the dead, and
appeared to the three sets of witnesses. The rst was a woman, the second were
two witnesses on the road from Jerusalem back to their lodging in Emmaus, and
the third were the eleven disciples (minus Judas the traitor who had committed
suicide out of guilt). We will consider each set of witnesses because Luke had a
speci c purpose for relating these incidents, one after another, so as to give us a
composite picture of the Resurrection of Jesus and his purpose.
So, we continue the plot of the story with Showdown II, beginning with the women
whom we left o in the previous chapter; when they had followed Joseph of
Arimathea to his own personal tomb, where he put Jesus' dead body wrapped in a
white linen sheet. Since Jesus' cruci xion - death happened so suddenly and it was
the beginning of the Sabbath, the women did not have the time to prepare the
spices and perfumes that were normally used in Jewish burial to embalm the body.
So, they made plans to return after the Sabbath since they did not want to be
accused of violating the Sabbath Law by working.
Meanwhile, behind the scenes, Jesus' enemies were still at it!

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Matthew 27:62–66 (GNB)

The next day, which was a Sabbath, the chief priests and the Pharisees met with
Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember that while that liar was still alive he said, ‘I will be
raised to life three days later.’ Give orders, then, for his tomb to be carefully guarded
until the third day, so that his disciples will not be able to go and steal the body, and
then tell the people that he was raised from death. This last lie would be even worse
than the rst one.” “Take a guard,” Pilate told them; “go and make the tomb as secure
as you can.” So they left and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone
and leaving the guard on watch.

To their credit, they had been paying attention to what Jesus had taught about what
would happen after his death. That’s why, the very next day after Jesus' death and
burial, even though it was the Sabbath, the chief priests and the Pharisees broke the
Sabbath law, and went to have an audience with Pilate.

They told Pilate:

“Sir, we remember that while that liar was still alive he said, ‘I will be raised to life
three days later.’ Give orders, then, for his tomb to be carefully guarded until the
third day, so that his disciples will not be able to go and steal the body, and then tell
the people that he was raised from death. This last lie would be even worse than the
rst one.”

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They knew that Jesus had said quite explicitly that he would rise again from the
dead after three days. This meant that they could relate Jesus' prediction to the
incidents that had unfolded the day before. They asked Pilate to secure the tomb,
so that no one could steal the body of Jesus, and concoct a deception that Jesus
had resurrected from the dead. They knew such a “lie” and “deception” would be
worse for them than anything Jesus had taught and done while he was still alive.

Oh, the darkness in their hearts  was so great. Their unbelief and hatred was so
strong that it had consumed their soul. Satan was still using them as his pawns to
do his work. When Pilate heard this, the fear that he felt when dealing with Jesus
during his trial, must have returned to his heart. He immediately dispatched his
soldiers, together with the Chief Priests and the Pharisees, to secure the tomb,
saying, “Take a guard, go and make the tomb as secure as you can.” Of course they
had found out from Pilate that Joseph of Arimathea, one of their own, had
requested for the body of Jesus after it had been veri ed that Jesus was indeed
dead by the professional executioners. They knew exactly where the personal tomb
of Joseph was, and they promptly made their way there.

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On arrival at the tomb, they must have removed the big rock that blocked o the
entrance, checked that the body of Jesus was indeed there, rolled back the big and
heavy rock, and sealed the entrance with the Roman seal, indicating that no one
was allowed to break the seal and go in, except by the authority of the Roman
governor, Pontius Pilate. Anyone who did that without his permission, was
punishable by death.

Guards of Roman soldiers were stationed at the entrance to guard the tomb. They
were well-trained and disciplined professional soldiers. 

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The professional soldiers knew the signi cance of the Roman seal to them as
soldiers commanded to secure the tomb. If anything happened and the seal was
broken without the orders from the Roman governor, they would be immediately
executed for failing in their duties. In most likelihood, there were at least two guards
of soldiers, each guard consisting of four soldiers. This was because every four
hours, the guards changed shifts. Thus, there could be anything between eight to
sixteen guards at the tomb of Jesus.

During the night shift, four soldiers stood in the front of the entrance of the tomb,
while the rest of the soldiers slept in a semicircle around the entrance. Thus, it was
highly unlikely that anyone could penetrate that tight security, quietly move the
heavy rock, and steal the body of Jesus. This was because they would have to
contend with the professional soldiers guarding the tomb with their life.

Nothing unusual happened until the third day, where we continue our reading from
the account of Luke in chapter 24. Early on Sunday morning, just at the break of
dawn, that is after the Sabbath was over last evening, the women (Mary Magdalene,
Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and the other women) made their way to
the tomb. They were still wondering how they were going to move that big and
heavy rock that they saw Joseph of Arimathea used to seal o the entrance, when
he pulled away the wedge that kept the rock from rolling on its ledge and covering
the entryway to the tomb.

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Mark 16:3 (GNB)

On the way they said to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the
entrance to the tomb?” (It was a very large stone.)

When they arrived there, they were surprised to see the Roman guards there.
Matthew gives us some extra details of what happened at the entrance of the tomb:

Matthew 28:1-4 (GNB)

After the Sabbath, as Sunday morning was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the
other Mary went to look at the tomb. Suddenly there was a violent earthquake; an
angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled the stone away, and sat on it. His
appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were
so afraid that they trembled and became like dead men.

Suddenly, there was a violent earthquake and the rock was rolled aside by a shining
angel of the Lord, leaving the tomb wide open! The angel coolly sat on the rock
waiting for the women to arrive at the entrance.

Meanwhile, the Roman guards, who witnessed the shaking and the glowing angel,
were scared out of their wits. They had never experienced or seen anything like that
before. Nothing in the battle eld could beat that spectacular demonstration of
power, so strong it shook the very ground they were standing on. They fell to the
ground like dead men, trembling in their boots.

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The women saw the open tomb. They approached it cautiously, walking past the
guards who were on the ground shaking with extreme fear. Mary Magdalene was
the rst at the entrance so she stooped and looked in. The body of Jesus was no
longer on the bench where she saw Joseph of Arimathea placed it on Friday. She
burst into tears thinking that someone had taken the body of Jesus away. Oh, the
indignity of it all. First they killed her beloved Master, now they even broke into his
tomb, and who knows what they did to it!
Suddenly a voice spoke out to her and she noticed the two angels, one at the head
and one at the foot of the empty bench. “Woman, why are you crying?” they asked
her. Through her tears she replied, “They have taken my Lord away, and I do not
know where they have put him!”

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The angels said to the all of them:

“You must not be afraid. I know you are looking for Jesus, who was cruci ed. Why
are you looking among the dead for one who is alive? He is not here; he has been
raised, just as he said. Come here and see the place where he was lying. Remember
what he said to you while he was in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be handed over
to sinners, be cruci ed, and three days later rise to life. Go quickly now, and tell his
disciples, ‘He has been raised from death, and now he is going to Galilee ahead of
you; there you will see him!’ Remember what I have told you.”

The other women pushed past Mary when they heard the angels, and saw that
Jesus' body was indeed no longer there. Hearing the instructions from the angels,
the women all left, to go and inform the disciples what the angels had informed
them.

When the women found the disciples, they were still mourning and weeping.

Mark 16:10 (GNB)

She went to the disciples, who were grieving and weeping, and told them what had
happened.

They excitedly told them about what they had experienced and heard. But they
would not believe them.

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Mary was still xated on the missing body of Jesus. She told them, ““They have
taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
Hearing this. Peter and John ran to the tomb and found it just like the women
described it.

They went in and saw that the linen wrappings were rolled up by itself like an empty
cocoon (that is, the linen wrappings around Jesus’ body were not unwrapped but
as if the body had miraculously slid out of the wrappings). The cloth that had
covered Jesus’ head was, however, folded up and lying apart for the other
wrappings. They then believed the news of the missing body but were bewildered
about what had happened. They went back to report to the rest.

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Meanwhile, Mary had walked back to the tomb just when Peter and John were
leaving it. Mary was still confused about the missing body as she peered into the
empty tomb. Feelings of sadness lled her heart again as she lingered at the
entrance. With tears still streaming down her cheeks, she slowly turned to follow
Peter and John back. As she did so, through her blurred vision because of her tears,
she noticed someone standing next to her. It was Jesus, but she did not recognise
him since she was crying so much.

Jesus asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it that you are looking for?”
Mary, thinking that he was the gardener, replied, “If you took him away, sir, tell me
where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”

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Jesus said to her, “Mary!” Hearing her name, she turned towards him and saw
Jesus! She exclaimed in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (This means “Teacher”) and fell to Jesus'
feet as she grabbed hold of him.

Jesus gently said to her, “Do not hold on to me because I have not yet gone back
up to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them that I am returning to him who
is my Father and their Father, my God and their God.”
So Mary Magdalene let go of Jesus, rushed back to the disciples and told them, “I
have seen the Lord!” Then, she related to them the message Jesus had told her to
tell them.

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(Note: The above account had been pieced together from Matthew 28:1-8; Mark
16:1-8; Luke 24:1-11; John 20:1-18.)
So, Mary was the rst witness to the resurrected Jesus. What Jesus told her to
inform the rest was that, although he had risen from the dead, he was not going
back to heaven to be with his Father immediately. Jesus knew that the faith of his
disciples and followers had been devastated by his death in the hands of the Jewish
leaders and the Roman authorities. He needed to repair the damage done, and help
them understand why it all had to happen the way it did. He could not leave them in
that broken and depressed state. In fact, Jesus lingered for 40 days to rebuild and
restore his band of disciples and followers.

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The rst message he gave to the rst witness, Mary, was about the  RESTORATION
of his disciples and followers. 

What happened to the guards littered on the ground?

Matthew 28:11-15 (GNB)

While the women went on their way, some of the soldiers guarding the tomb went
back to the city and told the chief priests everything that had happened. The chief
priests met with the elders and made their plan; they gave a large sum of money to
the soldiers and said, “You are to say that his disciples came during the night and
stole his body while you were asleep. And if the Governor should hear of this, we
will convince him that you are innocent, and you will have nothing to worry about.”
The guards took the money and did what they were told to do. And so that is the
report spread round by the Jews to this very day.

When everyone had left the scene, and they were left alone, they slowly picked
themselves up. They went into the tomb and saw that the body of Jesus was no
longer there. Now they started to panic. The seal had been broken, the body of
Jesus had disappeared, and they were going to be held responsible. On top of that,
what actually happened was too far fetched to be believed. Shining angels? Heavy
rocks lifted? Women? Resurrection of the dead Jesus? The Governor will not buy
the factual version. They were dead meat!

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Some of the soldiers probably decided to just run and hide. Some of them,
however, went to seek help from the Jewish Chief Priests and the elders of the
Council. They told them everything that had happened - the bare facts, blow by
blow account of what they experienced and witnessed. What the Chief Priests and
the elders feared most had happened, despite their best e ort to stop it. Jesus had
resurrected just as he had prophesied!
Now, you would think that the foregone conclusion would be made by Jesus’
opponents after hearing the testimony of the shaken soldiers. But no, instead of
accepting the truth, they fabricated a lie to try and neutralise the truth! They gave
the soldiers a large sum of money and told them to change their story:
“You are to say that his disciples came during the night and stole his body while you
were asleep.  And if the Governor should hear of this, we will convince him that you
are innocent, and you will have nothing to worry about.”

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That is one ridiculous story! Firstly, how could all of them have fallen asleep? They
were well trained and disciplined soldiers - the best that money can buy. If they fell
asleep on duty, the Governor would have their heads chopped o !

Secondly, the disciples were hardly trained “spies” to outmaneuver the
professionals. They were a bunch of untrained lay people, mostly shermen! For
goodness sake, how can we believe that the amateur disciples crept past the
“sleeping” soldiers; moved that big rock over the entrance of the tomb without
waking them all up, had time to unwrap the body of Jesus from the white linen
sheet that he was wrapped in, carried the dead body past the still sleeping soldiers,
and then make up the story that Jesus had risen from the dead. For their own
fabricated lie, the disciples  were willing to die for it! Ridiculous story!

Thirdly, even if we give it to them that they were asleep when the disciples came
and stole the body, it is a given that people who are asleep have their eyes shut. If
their eyes were shut and they were sound asleep, how could they know that it was
the disciples who stole the body? Super ridiculous! What kind of brainless fools do
they take us to be?

But that was the best they could do, given that they had to urgently counter what
had happened. They did not have the luxury of time to concoct a foolproof story.

The chief priest assured the soldiers that they would appease the Roman governor
when he heard about the case of the missing body of Jesus. The soldiers took the
money and cooperated. What choice did they have? So, that was the rumour that
was spread since that day.

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When it comes to the resurrection of Jesus, people, through the ages, have had to
resort to ridiculous hypotheses to try and explain it away.

One such theory was that Jesus did not die on the cross but only swooned or
fainted  in exhaustion. Is that a plausible explanation? Think with me. Firstly, Jesus
had been beaten, scourged, crowned with thorns, had his hands and feet nailed to
the cross, had a spear driven into his side and declared dead by professional
executioners. Then, secondly, he was placed in a cold tomb for three days, without
medication, without food and without water. In spite of his serious wounds and
bleeding, we have to believe that he somehow revived in the dark tomb,
unwrapped himself from the linen sheet by himself, got up and alone moved the big
rock, without alerting the Roman soldiers, crept past them without them realising it,
and then appeared to his disciples without any pain or e ects of the multiple
wounds. Come on! Now, that is de nitely ction - the same stu as the invincible
Marvel superheroes!

What about that hypotheses that the enemies of Jesus took the body of Jesus?
Well, when the disciples started spreading the news that they had seen the risen
Jesus, the story could be easily squashed to smithereens by producing the body of
Jesus to the public, and that would be the end of it. What a stupid hypotheses!
Hardly worth our time to even mention it!

So, what must be the only plausible explanation? Well, Jesus actually resurrected
from the dead! Duh!

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Elaborate

But how did the resurrection of Jesus happen? Here are a few clear verses in the
Scriptures that tell us how:

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Romans 8:11 (GNB)
If the Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from death, lives in you, then he who raised
Christ from death will also give life to your mortal bodies by the presence of his
Spirit in you.
2 Corinthians 13:4 (GNB)
For even though it was in weakness that he was put to death on the cross, it is by
God’s power that he lives . In union with him we also are weak; but in our relations
with you we shall share God’s power in his life.
1 Peter 3:18 (NKJV)
For Christ also su ered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us
to God, being put to death in the esh but made alive by the Spirit .
Do you remember how it ended for Jesus on the cross? He prayed:
Luke 23:46 (GNB)
Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Father! In your hands I place my spirit!” He said this
and died.

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Jesus was praying to the Father, entrusting his spirit to him, when he gave it up on
his own accord. Then, he died. The Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, who
had been on the sidelines all this while, quietly watching and enduring, now swung
into action! He kept the spirit of Jesus, preserved the body of Jesus from corruption
and decay, waited for three days and then brought regeneration to the body of
Jesus by divine power. God the Spirit raised Jesus from the dead, healed all the
wounds of his former body and infused the body with the elements of immortality.

That’s how it happened! By the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus was raised from the
dead! 

But, please note, that’s not all that those verses tell us. It is by application of the
power of the same Holy Spirit that we, who put our trust in Jesus alone, will also
one day be resurrected, to put on immortality, just as Jesus did, by the power of
the Holy Spirit.

1 Corinthians 15:42–46, 50 (GNB)

This is how it will be when the dead are raised to life. When the body is buried, it is
mortal; when raised, it will be immortal. When buried, it is ugly and weak; when
raised, it will be beautiful and strong. When buried, it is a physical body; when
raised, it will be a spiritual body. There is, of course, a physical body, so there has to
be a spiritual body. For the scripture says, “The rst man, Adam, was created a
living being”; but the last Adam is the life-giving Spirit. It is not the spiritual that
comes rst, but the physical, and then the spiritual.What I mean, brothers and
sisters, is that what is made of esh and blood cannot share in God’s Kingdom, and
what is mortal cannot possess immortality.

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This is our great hope!  Because Jesus went ahead and experienced death, burial
and then victorious resurrection, there is every hope that we, who are united with
Christ, will also experience the same resurrection.
Romans 6:5 (ESV)
For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united
with him in a resurrection like his.
Hallelujah!

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Evaluate

The mystery of the resurrection of Jesus has now been uncovered, and it is
momentous! In fact, it is the pillar of the Christian faith. Christianity rises or falls on
this pillar. Read what Paul had to say about this:
1 Corinthians 15:12–19 (GNB)
Now, since our message is that Christ has been raised from death, how can some
of you say that the dead will not be raised to life? If that is true, it means that Christ
was not raised; and if Christ has not been raised from death, then we have nothing
to preach and you have nothing to believe. More than that, we are shown to be
lying about God, because we said that he raised Christ from death—but if it is true
that the dead are not raised to life, then he did not raise Christ. For if the dead are not
raised, neither has Christ been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then your
faith is a delusion and you are still lost in your sins. It would also mean that the
believers in Christ who have died are lost. If our hope in Christ is good for this life
only and no more, then we deserve more pity than anyone else in all the world.

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In a sense, if Jesus’ resurrection from the dead did not happen or was a hoax, then
we can easily write it o and not bother about it at all. Firstly, if Jesus did not rise
from the dead, then we will be found to be liars together with all the other
witnesses. We have nothing to preach about and nothing to believe in, because the
whole gospel of Jesus dying for our sins will all be based on one big fat lie!
Secondly, we are only deluding ourselves. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, we
are still lost in our sins! That means, Jesus’ sacri ce was not perfect and not good
enough. Death defeated him and therefore, when we die, we will also die in our sins.
That will be a monstrous tragedy for all of us!
But the fact is, Jesus was resurrected from the dead. That’s the historical fact!

Discussion Questions:

1. How can you be sure that the resurrection of Jesus actually happened?
2. How does the resurrection of Jesus impact your life as a Christian? Why?

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2. Revelation: The Two Witnesses To The Resurrection
Of Jesus (Luke 24:13-35)

Luke 24:13–35 (GNB)

On that same day two of Jesus’ followers were going to a village named Emmaus,
about 11 kilometres from Jerusalem, and they were talking to each other about all
the things that had happened. As they talked and discussed, Jesus himself drew
near and walked along with them; they saw him, but somehow did not recognize
him. Jesus said to them, “What are you talking about to each other, as you walk
along?” They stood still, with sad faces. One of them, named Cleopas, asked him,
“Are you the only visitor in Jerusalem who doesn’t know the things that have been
happening there these last few days?”

“What things?” he asked. “The things that happened to Jesus of Nazareth,” they
answered. “This man was a prophet and was considered by God and by all the
people to be powerful in everything he said and did. Our chief priests and rulers
handed him over to be sentenced to death, and he was cruci ed. And we had
hoped that he would be the one who was going to set Israel free! Besides all that,
this is now the third day since it happened. Some of the women of our group
surprised us; they went at dawn to the tomb, but could not nd his body. They
came back saying they had seen a vision of angels who told them that he is alive.
Some of our group went to the tomb and found it exactly as the women had said,
but they did not see him.”

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Then Jesus said to them, “How foolish you are, how slow you are to believe
everything the prophets said! Was it not necessary for the Messiah to su er these
things and then to enter his glory?” And Jesus explained to them what was said
about himself in all the Scriptures, beginning with the books of Moses and the
writings of all the prophets.

As they came near the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were
going farther; but they held him back, saying, “Stay with us; the day is almost over
and it is getting dark.” So he went in to stay with them. He sat down to eat with them,
took the bread, and said the blessing; then he broke the bread and gave it to them.
Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he disappeared from
their sight. They said to each other, “Wasn’t it like a re burning in us when he talked
to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?”

They got up at once and went back to Jerusalem, where they found the eleven
disciples gathered together with the others and saying, “The Lord is risen indeed! He
has appeared to Simon!” The two then explained to them what had happened on
the road, and how they had recognized the Lord when he broke the bread.

Learning Objective

At the end of the interaction, I should be able to:

evaluate my attitude towards God’s Word especially the Old Testament.

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Success Criteria

At the end of the interaction, I am able to:
c  heck whether I have a right attitude towards God’s Word, the Bible.
 critique my grasp of how the Old Testament and New Testament point to
Jesus.

Engage

Which group of believers make you more enthusiastic about your faith? Why?

Explore

There is an Old Testament Law about the need to have at least two witnesses:
Deuteronomy 19:15 (GNB)
One witness is not enough to convict a man of a crime; at least two witnesses are
necessary to prove that a man is guilty.

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Thus, it has been a common practice among the Jewish brethren to have at least
two witnesses to establish any case. This fact appeared to be in play as Jesus next
chose two disciples to be witnesses to his resurrection after Mary, the rst witness.
But in actuality, that was only partially true as Jesus really wanted to point out the
two primary witnesses to his resurrection.
What or who were they?

Explain

Two dejected followers of Jesus were trudging their way back to their lodging
place in Emmaus from Jerusalem, which was a journey of about 11 km. They were
recounting all that had happened to Jesus, their Master, unable to make any sense
out of it. Out of nowhere, Jesus appeared and joined them, but they somehow did
not recognise him.

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Typically, Jesus started the conversation with a question, “What are you talking
about to each other, as you walk along?” They were stopped in their tracks by the
question, as one of them replied, somewhat irritated, with another question which
was a non-answer, “Are you the ONLY visitor in Jerusalem who doesn’t know the
things that have been happening there these last few days?” - “Where have you
been? What shell did you crawl out from? The whole of Jerusalem was in an
uproar over it? You just came from there...how could you not know?” they seemed
to question Jesus.
“What things?” Jesus persisted.

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That was all that was needed for them to blurt out what was troubling them in their
minds and heart:

“The things that happened to Jesus of Nazareth This man was a prophet and was
considered by God and by all the people to be powerful in everything he said and
did. Our chief priests and rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and he
was cruci ed. And we had hoped that he would be the one who was going to set
Israel free! Besides all that, this is now the third day since it happened. Some of the
women of our group surprised us; they went at dawn to the tomb, but could not
nd his body. They came back saying they had seen a vision of angels who told
them that he is alive. Some of our group went to the tomb and found it exactly as
the women had said, but they did not see him.”

They related how Jesus, who was considered a powerful prophet of God and the
political deliverer of Israel (Messiah), was brutally treated and cruci ed. They were
disappointed that the deliverance of Israel had not happened through Jesus, whom
they thought had prematurely been killed. That confused them but what happened
after three days, really ba ed them.

The women who went to anoint the body of Jesus at the tomb, returned with some
surprising testimonies. They claimed to have seen angels, who told them that Jesus
was alive, and so, his body was no longer in the tomb. Peter and John ran to the
tomb and discovered that the tomb was indeed empty. Nevertheless, the disciples
could not believe the testimony of the women about Jesus' resurrection, especially
from the rst witness, Mary Magdalene, who was a woman! (Read about this in
Mark 16:10-11; John 20:3-10) In their mind it was mumbo jumbo - just the
hallucination of a grieving woman.

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But at least, it had all come out from their minds! Jesus knew what they actually
thought about the events that happened the past few days, and he was not
impressed! So, he had a rebuke for the two disciples:
Then Jesus said to them, “How foolish you are, how slow you are to believe
everything the prophets said! Was it not necessary for the Messiah to su er these
things and then to enter his glory?” And Jesus explained to them what was said
about himself in all the Scriptures, beginning with the books of Moses and the
writings of all the prophets.

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Jesus said that they were foolish and slow to believe God’s Word that had been
revealed in the Old Testament through the prophets. In other words, he was telling
them that all that had happened would make sense to them if they had understood
and believed God’s past revelation. Jesus then went back to asking questions, “Was
it not necessary for the Messiah to su er these things and then to enter his glory?”
The skill of asking good questions  is one that is necessary if we are to be good
disciple-makers. Questions have that power to get people engaged in the topic at
hand and promote critical thinking. What we don’t want are gullible believers who
naively accept whatever we or others tell them. These kind of disciples will be weak
in faith and easily taken advantage of. They will not be able to stand up to
challenges and will easily fold when backed into a corner.
Jesus started this conversation with the two disciples by asking questions, listening
carefully to the answer  given and then asking follow up questions. This is
sometimes called the Dialectic Method. This is a method that involves two-way
conversations that are dynamic and engaging. The diagram below will help us
understand how to use this method that Jesus demonstrated.  

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We usually start by asking an open-ended question about a topic and then listen to
the person’s answer. As we listen to the answer given, we take special note of the
jargons,  concept words or Christian phrases  that are used. We then form a
clarifying question to get the meaning, viewpoint, perspective or opinion regarding
that word.
Jesus began by asking an open-ended question, ““What are you talking about to
each other, as you walk along?”
The answer given was not really clear when they said, “Are you the only visitor in
Jerusalem who doesn’t know the things that have been happening there these last
few days?”
Did you catch the obscure word that begs to be asked a follow-up question? Yes, it
was the word “things”. So, Jesus formed a follow-up question, “What things?” This
follow up question opened the way for the two disciples to pour out their thoughts
- and pour out they did, in a gushing ow of words!

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After listening to them unload their thoughts, Jesus then decided to move on to a
challenging question, “Was it not necessary for the Messiah to su er these things
and then to enter his glory?” Challenging questions are more di cult to answer
because the person has to justify their answer by giving assumptions, reasons or
proofs. In other words, they would have to give the basis  and substantiate their
answer given earlier.

The person that you are talking to and asking questions will usually reach a point
where he is stuck and cannot answer adequately the question given. When that
happens, he is then ready to learn. You see, when a person thinks he knows the
answer, it actually hinders him from learning. He is not ready to listen because he
thinks he knows better. But when he realises that he does not know, then, he is more
likely to be open to learning new things. That is why Jesus asked questions, and so
should we.

The last type of question is an application question. This type of question is to avoid
leaving the discussion on a theoretical level, that is, merely head knowledge. If we
leave it at that level, the lives of people are unlikely to be challenged to change or
transformed. Therefore, application questions are related to that person’s life, that
is, how to put what he has learnt to action.

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Elaborate

Going back to Jesus and the two disciples after Jesus had asked his challenging
question; Jesus discerned that the two disciples were ready to learn about why it
was necessary for him, as the Messiah to su er the things he did in Jerusalem, and
then to enter his glory. He then used the primary witness  to establish his case -
prophetic Scriptures, particularly the Hebrew Bible.
The Hebrew Bible was arranged di erently from the Old Testament that is found in
our Bible today. It had three sections, namely:

 Torah - The Law consists of the rst ve books of Moses (just as in our Bible).
 Nevi’im - The Prophets
K  ’tuvim - The Writings

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The above diagram gives us the arrangement of the books in the Hebrew Bible,
which are the same books as in the Old Testament (see below), but only placed in
di erent sections and sets.

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