Easter Sunday 2026

0:00 Easter Sunday is the most special of days. As we've celebrated already, this is the hinge of history, the day that everything changes. But in its specialness, in the specialness of days of the calendar like this, there is an inbuilt problem. There is an inbuilt difficulty. And that problem is the sort of social communal pressure many of us might experience to self-generate or to rise up in ourselves or even to act out what we think are the appropriate feelings or responses on a day like this. And it is Easter Sunday and we are celebrating the glorious resurrection of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. And it is wholly appropriate that as his church, we do that. We declare our gratitude and rejoice in the living hope that is ours in Christ.

1:21 However, the reality is that we are complex and complicated. Complex and complicated people still marred by sin and brokenness. With complex and complicated personalities and stories and experiences. And we're living in a world that for now, until Christ's return, remains fallen and broken and sinful. And so for all sorts of reasons today, what is happening in here in many of us might be very far removed from what is happening in here collectively. That sense of, or that feeling of misalignment.

2:20 That sense of disconnect, it might be related for some of us to our present circumstances. What is and has been going on in your life? Or it might be because today being a very special day evokes specific memories from the past. Traditions of the day that you once enjoyed. Meals around tables that were incredibly meaningful, but are now no more. Perhaps as a result of loss, or because of relational breakdown, or because of the consequences of mistakes you or others have made, Or simply just because of the changing seasons of life.

3:17 And those memories, on days like today, they cast long shadows over the day. And so celebratory is not necessarily a word that you would use to describe your heart and the state of it. In his love and in his grace, God in his word never, never demands us to self-generate appropriate feelings. The Psalms of David and the other writers give us a model of visceral honesty and transparency before God. Sometimes we as the church have not been to our regret as capable in allowing for the nuance amongst us. And this morning, we're continuing on from where we left off in Luke's gospel. And we're simply going to make our way step by step through his account of this first Easter Sunday in chapter 24. And what we want to do is we want to notice and we want to be mindful of and we want to enjoy and be challenged by just the full of purpose detail that Luke includes.

4:44 And what we encounter is we encounter three things. And what we'll notice, I hope, is because I've tried to make it as obvious as possible. Those three things follow the same pattern. we begin with encountering people in a state of sorrow and despair. We see them gently rebuked and then the word of God opened to them and taught to them. And we see them then moving from that place of sorrow and despair to be witnesses to what they have seen and what they have heard. And what we want to learn is how God brings them from where they were to where they end up. So the teaching this morning is absolutely for all of us.

5:32 It's for all of us, but it's especially for those of us who, for whatever reason, might be feeling that sense of out of alignment, out of kilter today. So let's work through this. On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and they went to the tomb. Now I wonder how you would expect Luke to start his account of the day. I reckon if somebody asked me, I'd want to have some sort of dramatic narration of Jesus being raised from the dead and the stone being rolled away and so on. But of course, Luke is a meticulous historian. he is only going to include eyewitness account that he has received, and he's received no eyewitness account of that.

6:23 So he's going to start where his eyewitness account starts, and he begins with these women. In fact, the risen Jesus isn't even in this scene at all. So we have these grief-stricken women, and interestingly, if you were going to present fiction or try to present fiction as fact, you definitely would not start with women. There's a ring of historical credibility just with the fact that that's been done. And we meet them arriving at the tomb as soon as they possibly can after the interminable wait they've had across the Sabbath. They are exhausted with grief and crying and their utter hopelessness is represented by the spices that they bring with them to honor the body of Jesus. They have absolutely no expectation. They have no category at all for anything to do with resurrection.

7:19 And that goes on. They find the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, that's an interesting phrase. Notice, faced with the empty tomb, there's no, he is risen. There's no conclusion being drawn that direction at all. Instead, it's the other way. It's an intensification of their grief. Something must have been done with the body, whether it's stolen or something else.

7:52 And then we have the first rebuke. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them 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? Why the angels chastise them? Would you ever have thought that you would find Jesus here in this place of the dead? Is that the sum of your expectations of him? Do you really think this is where the story ends? And then the angels teach them, he is not here, he is risen.

8:35 Remember, they say to them, Remember how he told you while he was still with you in Galilee, the son of man must be delivered over the hands of sinners, be crucified, and on the third day be raised again. Then they remembered his words. Notice what the angels don't say. They don't say he's not here, he is risen, and here he is. Now, as I said, the risen Jesus isn't even present in this scene. But his words are. The words of the Son of God are. The angels remind the women of his words.

9:21 They invite belief based on his words. The words Jesus had told them, Luke records those back in chapter 9, again in chapter 8. Jesus taking prophecies from the Old Testament, not simply of what would, happen, but what must happen in order to him as Messiah, his suffering, his rejection, his execution, and then his resurrection. They had never seen it before. They'd never gotten it before, but now they remembered. Now those forgotten words began to take on a new enlightened clarity in their minds. And this is crucial for us to see that Luke includes this detail, that their belief began not with the physical revelation of Jesus' risen body, but with the revelation of his word and how Jesus' resurrection fulfilled that word. And so these women who had embarked on that new morning in a place of sorrow and despair, now become the original witnesses.

10:38 When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Again, they had no category for, "He is risen." They were not psychologically predisposed in any way to that concept. Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. He's at least intrigued. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and He went away wondering to himself what had happened.

11:26 They became witnesses, but there's still no belief from the disciples. Luke then moves into scene two. And he says this. Now that same day, two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. And their move away from Jerusalem was indicating that their hope of what they thought the Lord might accomplish in that place, that hope was now finally extinguished. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened as they talked and discussed these things with each other. Jesus himself came up and walked along with them. But they were kept from recognizing them.

12:16 and he asked them as this stranger on the road, what are you discussing together as you walk along? And they stood still, their faces downcast. One of them named Cleopas asked him, and likely irritated by this interruption by a stranger with what appeared to be the worst timing possible. Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days? Oh, the irony. But Jesus is happy to let them continue. What thing? About Jesus of Nazareth, they replied, he was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and All the people, the chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death and they crucified him.

13:09 But we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. We had hoped. But that hope has been extinguished. Because there's no such thing as a dead Messiah. Or so their reading of their scriptures has told them. In addition, some of our women amazed us. Listen, they've even heard this and witnessed this. Some of our women amazed us.

13:38 They went to the tomb early this morning, but didn't find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels who said he was alive. Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see Jesus. And their conclusion, well, they're on the road to a mess. They still don't believe. All of this, again, has just intensified their sorrow and their grief. And the closure of their faith. They're on the road away from their hope.

14:16 And then he said to them, how foolish you are. And how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory? And I imagine their faces as they get rebuked by this stranger. And I can imagine that they might have been very close to saying, I don't know, what's the Aramaic equivalent of get lost or jog on or whatever. But I think there must have been something in the authority of the way this stranger said this, that they were happy to let him continue.

14:58 And again, like the women, they aren't given a revelation of his physical resurrected body. They are given a revelation of God's word. They are given, incredibly, a Bible study. And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he explained to them what was said and all the scriptures concerning himself. So the stranger's home group discussion question was this. Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory? And then he takes them on this incredible spiritual journey that is going in the opposite direction from their physical. And I wonder, what were the Old Testament stop-offs that he might have made along that journey?

15:57 Perhaps the one whose heel would be struck by the serpent would yet crush the head of the serpent in Genesis 3. Or perhaps talking about the ram as the substitute for Isaac or the Passover lamb. as we've been learning, walking them through the different parts of the tabernacle on the day of atonement, the blood of the sacrifice sprinkled on the mercy seat, the scapegoat taking the sin away. Or perhaps Isaiah's suffering servants showing them this order that the Messiah would not simply be conquering. That's what they thought. That was the concept they had of this redeemer of Israel from the Roman Empire, but that actually the true Messiah would have to suffer. It was binding that this was the way it would have to happen. He would have to suffer and die before appearing alive and triumphant.

17:00 And that continues, as they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther, but they urged him strongly, stay with us for it's nearly evening. The day is almost over, so he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him and he disappeared from their sight. They asked each other. And Luke records this very importantly. Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the scriptures to us. Again, do you notice what they don't say?

17:49 They don't say, were not our hearts burning within us when we recognized who he was? I think that's what I would expect them to say. No, they say, were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the scriptures to us? On what basis did they believe? On what basis were their hearts ignited? On what basis did they move from sorrow to joy, from despair to hope? On the basis of the testimony of the scriptures, on the basis of God's word, on the basis of the Bible study. We tend to put all the emphasis on them encountering who he was whenever he breaks the bread.

18:47 And yes, that's important. But Luke is at pains to put the emphasis on them seeing him revealed, seeing him as the fulfillment of the Old Testament scriptures that he opens up to them. As they would have walked along the road and they saw these threads come together that they'd never seen before, as they sort of felt the words lifted up off the page with this new brightness and clarity. As they got to hear and understand what angels for generations had longed to understand and grasp, they believed before they recognized the risen Jesus, not after. and that's crucial and again like the women their response is to go and tell and this brings these two together they got up and returned at once to jerusalem there they found the 11 and those with them assembled together and saying it is true the lord has risen and has appeared to simon by this point peter jesus revealed himself to peter as well so there's this excitement in the room and The two of them told what happened on the way and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread. They have reversed their physical journey to align with the spiritual one that Jesus has just taken them on. And their burning hearts lead them to ignore the danger on the road traveling from Emmaus to Jerusalem at that time of night because they cannot wait to go back to the place where hope has been resurrected. They cannot wait to tell the others what they have experienced.

20:36 And from there, look, as I said, transitions into scene three. While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them. Here's Jesus now with all of these disciples. Peace be with you. Again, irony, because what is actually the case? Peace be with you. they were startled and frightened thinking they saw a ghost. Still, still, after all of this eyewitness testimony, still, they still don't quite believe.

21:13 And again, we have another rebuke, a gentle rebuke from Jesus in the form of a question. He said to them, why are you troubled? Come on. Why do doubts rise in your mind? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I, myself. Touch me and see. A ghost doesn't have flesh and bones as you see I have.

21:37 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, do you have anything here to eat? A ghost doesn't ask for stuff to eat. They gave him a piece of broiled fish and he took it and ate it in their presence. Can you imagine being in that room? The gathered disciples now get to see together the resurrection body of Jesus. And the first fruits, the prototype, the pioneer of the bodies that all those who are raised in him will one day receive. not that the disciples get any of that in these moments but they get to touch him they get to see him eat he has risen

22:35 he has defeated death everything changes because of this everything changes from here and i think if i was look i just sort of tie off my account there I don't think I'd go any further but look what he does again he decides it's of great importance for us to know and then Jesus led them in a Bible study and I'm like if there was ever a time when a Bible study seems unnecessary if there was ever a time when a Bible study seems superfluous surely it would be in this time in this moment when Jesus in his resurrected body reveals himself to the disciple surely the physical evidence is sufficient but Luke is determined to show us that that's clearly not the case and that's deeply significant look what he goes on to say he said to them here's Jesus saying this is what I told you while I was still with you. Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets and the Psalms. And then he opened their minds so they could understand the scriptures.

24:02 He told them, this is what is written. Again, going back to these words, the Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day. Again, he leads them like he did with Cleopas and his companion through this Bible study, through all that they have missed and misunderstood in the law and in the prophets and in the Psalms. And can you imagine again? These disciples, awestruck, but gathered around the feet of Jesus, listening to, hanging on his every word. And perhaps he starts talking to them about Psalm 22. that psalm that begins my God my God why have you forsaken me and John

24:54 who remembers being at the foot of the cross the other day starts to draw these threads together and he starts to see this psalm that talks about bones out of joint and pierced hands and feet and and lots cast for the suffering one's clothes. Or Hosea 6, on the third day, he will restore us that we may live in his presence. And they start to see the glory of his word, the intricacy of what has been put together. These words spoken by prophets, written by prophets hundreds of years before. Now, like I say, lifting off the page as they relay. It's all about him. It was always all about him. What's he doing?

25:52 He's grinding their experience of his risen body in the testimony of the Old Testament scriptures, in the testimony of God's word. He is enlightening them and igniting them with seeing how it had to happen this way, how God had a plan. And that plan is written down in scripture. And that plan is being worked out through his suffering, through his death, through his resurrection. He is stirring their hearts. He's building their faith in readiness for their role as witnesses. He's transforming and empowering with the word of God.

26:32 And Luke goes on then with what he told him next. And repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. Perhaps, not sure, but perhaps he opened up Isaiah again where Isaiah prophesies, I will make you as a light for the nations that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth. And he says, look, I've showed you all the places where I am in here. But look, you're there too. witnesses of these things. I'm going to send you what my father has promised so that you can go out as witnesses, but stay in the city until you've been clothed with power from on high. And that will happen at Pentecost in G course.

27:22 And next week, Jamie will pick up from here when he focuses on the ascension of Jesus in the final part of our Easter Minner series. But for now, we stop here. And just as we close, I want to briefly reflect on what struck me as I've gone back through this passage over the last couple of weeks, and I've brought some of that out already. And here it is. Often at Easter, we teach a lot on. I teach a lot on. We talk a lot about the evidence for the resurrection. Right?

28:03 That's what we major on. The historical credibility of the eyewitness accounts like this one of Luke. The most plausible explanation for the empty tomb. The transformation of the disciples from these scattered failures to these courageous witnesses. The explosion of the early church. And it is good and it is right that we look at and we proclaim this evidence for the resurrection. And we've done that this morning as we've worked through Luke's detail. as a byproduct of that emphasis we can too easily miss and I think I've done this before what Luke majors on here repeatedly in his own account and that is the centrality of the necessary transformational power of God's word in the story of Easter Sunday even when these people get to see the resurrected Jesus.

29:13 let me remind you what moved the women from sorrow to joy from despair to hope not the angelic visitation but that they remembered his words what set the hearts of cleopas and his companion on fire not the revelation of jesus in his risen body but the revelation of jesus in the scriptures in the word of god What transformed the scattered disciples like Peter from terrified deniers to courageous witnesses. Not simply that they encountered the risen Jesus in the flesh, but they had their minds open to see him in the scriptures. the common denominator to ignited hearts in this story is the eyes of those hearts, so to speak, being opened to truly see Jesus, the Messiah, and the word of God by the power of the spirit of God, to truly see how his suffering, his death, his resurrection, as God's Messiah son, are the fulfillment of all of the scriptures. And that then brings us back to where we started. I'll just speak to a couple of different groups of people. First are those in the room that I highlighted at the start.

30:43 Those in the room who absolutely believe in the resurrection of Jesus as an objective historical reality. But for whatever reason, out of some of those that I outlined earlier or something different, today you know that your heart is far more weak embers than roaring fire. Let me say again, the Father doesn't want or demand pretense on your part. He doesn't want or demand attempts at self-generated heat on your part. Rather, he invites you to receive the same source of power and revelation and transformation as the people in this story needed and received. He invites you afresh into encounter and experience and understanding a new perspective in his powerful word. He invites you to read it.

32:09 He invites you to meditate on it. He invites you to feast upon it. And as I was thinking about this, for some reason my mind went to a set of bellows. These were ubiquitous in your granny's front room back in the 80s when I was a kid. Everybody's granny had these, didn't they, at the fireplace? Maybe some people do. I apologize, you've still got these, right? I haven't seen them in a long time.

32:37 But these bellows that fan the embers into flame. See, his word and the power of his spirit is the transformational oxygen that can fan those embers. That can move you from believing in the resurrection as an objective reality. To believing in the resurrection as the central reality in your life. As the prism through which you see and assess and live out everything. As a prism that turns everything upside down. It's a prism that makes you see your deepest sorrows. And your greatest joys.

33:35 in a totally different way. And it's his word that will move you from A to B. And of course, however strongly, the fire of the resurrection burns in our hearts. That picture then is true for all of us, wherever we are, for all of us. The glory and the wonder and the luster of the resurrection of Jesus on that third day, according to the scriptures, will be enhanced, will be encouraged, will be intensified as we dive into his word and we read with anticipation and expectation and we pray and we ask that God would reveal Christ to us in his word. If we want to say, like Cleopas and his companion, Are not our hearts burning within us? Well then this Easter, there might be a lot worse things you could do than trying to recreate the Bible study that Jesus led them on on the road. Looking through the Old Testament, I wonder where he went and trying to think through where that might have been.

34:53 Set their hearts on fire. Why can't it do it for you? And then lastly, and very briefly to those here this morning, considering the claims of Luke's carefully ordered account, you're not in a place of belief, but you're considering what this is all about. Absolutely, let me invite you to genuinely investigate the evidence for the resurrection that we celebrate today. Because that evidence is compelling. It does stand up to scrutiny if you go in and properly investigate it. But please don't do that.

35:39 And then never reopen or read the Bible. Open or read the word of God because it is his word. It is the Bible that is alive and active. That's what we believe. it is his word that can truly pierce your heart it is his word that can make sense of life it is his word that can make sense of you it is his word that can truly illuminate and can truly transform your life as you encounter the story and the love and the mercy and the hope held out to you by the living God in his resurrected son, Jesus. And if you want help or guidance on just where to start with that, well then talk to the person that brought you or talk to the person beside you or feel free to come and talk to me and we can set you in the right direction.

36:52 The testimony of this chapter is the power of God's word to bring about faith in the resurrected Jesus. Let's pray together as the band come back. Christ has died. Christ has risen. And Christ will come again. Father, thank you for this life-changing, history-defining truth that we celebrate together. This truth that has this eyewitness testimony testifying to it, but more importantly, has the pages of your word testifying to it.

37:58 And so our prayer for this Easter Sunday is that this story, this carefully curated account from Luke might compel us, might propel us into your word to experience what the women experienced, to experience what Cleopas and his companion experienced, to experience what those disciples experienced as you led them through your word. Continue to strengthen our faith. May your word dwell in us richly. And as it does so, may it turn us into eager and compelling witnesses to what we have seen and heard and understood for your glory. And in Jesus' name, amen.