Proclaiming the Resurrection

MEMORY VERSE: “And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” —Luke 24:47

LUKE 24:1-9, 44-49

THE feelings of the disciples in connection with Jesus’ death and resurrection are well described by Jesus in a statement he made to them in the “upper room” the night before he was crucified. We quote: “A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child, she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world. And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.”—John 16:21,22

While Jesus had indicated clearly to his disciples that he expected to be put to death by his enemies, they were still not prepared for it. In the “upper room” they sensed the coming of tragedy, yet it was difficult for them to believe that their Lord and Master, the Messiah, would be cruelly wrested from them and crucified. After all, in accepting him as their Messiah they were confident that he would establish a powerful government which would deliver their nation from the Roman yoke and extend its sphere of influence world-wide. How could he do this if he were crucified? But he was taken, and when the harrowing experiences of that day of death for their Master had ended and the body had been put away in the tomb, their fears and sorrow culminated in anguish and frustration. “We trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel,” two of them said to the resurrected Jesus on the road to Emmaus.—Luke 24:21

The disciples remembered Jesus’ statement about being raised the third day, but it was difficult for them to believe that this would really be true. The women who were at the tomb early and were told by the angels who met them there that Jesus had been raised from the dead, reported this with joy; but to the disciples who received this report it seemed like an idle tale, “and they believed them not.”—Luke 2:1-11

The angels who met the women at the tomb reminded them of Jesus’ prophecy concerning his death and resurrection: “The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.” The account states that the women remembered these words. Seemingly they were convinced, and they hastened to tell the eleven apostles and all the other disciples they could reach. Peter and John then ran to the tomb and found it empty, even as the women had testified.—John 20:3,4

Gradually the apostles and others of the disciples became convinced that their beloved Master had indeed been raised from the dead. Concerning Jesus’ appearance to the two disciples on the way to Emmaus, Mark writes “that he appeared in another form.” (Mark 16:12) To Mary he appeared to be a gardener. For the benefit of “doubting Thomas” he appeared in a body with nail prints in the hands and feet, and a wound in the side. To the disciples who had been fishing all night he appeared in still another form.

But none of the bodies in which Jesus appeared after his resurrection was his real, glorified, and divine body. John refers to these appearances as among the “signs” which Jesus gave to his disciples to prove to them that he had been raised from the dead. (John 20:30) Luke says of Jesus, “To whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.” (Acts 1:3) John wrote concerning Jesus’ divine body, “It doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”—I John 3:1-3

On one of the occasions when Jesus appeared in a body resembling the one with which the disciples were acquainted—plus the wounds—he reminded them of the testimony of the Law and the Prophets, and the psalms concerning his death and resurrection. We read, “Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures, and said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”—Luke 24:45,46

The first step in a proper approach toward God is repentance. Upon the basis of true repentance and turning to God in consecration, through the merit of Jesus’ shed blood, there comes the remission of sin. Repentance means “a turning about.” Just to be sorry for one’s past sins is not enough. This godly sorrow must be followed by an evidence of full devotion to the Lord. All those who thus consecrate themselves to God are commissioned to preach the Gospel far and wide.

QUESTIONS

Why were the disciples not prepared for Jesus’ death?

What was one of the methods used by Jesus to convince his disciples that he had been raised from the dead?

What is meant by repentance and remission of sin?

| Home Page | Table of Contents |