What We Believe: April 20, 2025

Okay, so we've been chatting a bit, right? And if you know me, you'll probably hear some of the same things pop up. For me, one of those big ideas is that everything boils down to what we believe. Seriously! What you hold to be true really does shape what you do.

Think about it – we believe in the awesome life Jesus calls us to, and bam! We're stepping into that life with Him. Even way back with Abraham, before he was "Abraham" with a capital A, God said, "Hey, I'm sending you to this amazing place, gonna bless you big time, make you a whole nation!" And Abraham just...believed Him. That simple act of trusting God's word, getting up, and going in obedience? That showed real belief, and God counted that faith as being totally good, like being perfect! Isn't that wild?

So, when we talk about Jesus rising from the dead, can we all agree that's a tough one to wrap our heads around? You might just nod along, "Yeah, yeah, Jesus rose," because it's something we often just accept. But really think about it. Intellectually, it's hard to imagine someone going through all that torture, death, being wrapped up and buried for days, and then just...unwrapping themselves, moving a huge stone, and walking out! And spiritually? It messes with our minds to think about God, who can't die, coming as a human to die. It's a lot to take in!

And that's exactly what we see in the Bible today, as we finish up the book of Luke (don't worry, we'll loop back to those missing chapters!). In Luke 24, it's like scene after scene of people really struggling to believe that Jesus actually came back to life. We see their doubts, and we also see the answer!

But first, let's rewind a bit to Luke 23:44. It says it got super dark in the middle of the day until three in the afternoon because the sun just...stopped shining. Then, the curtain in the special holy place tore right down the middle. And Jesus cried out, "Father, I give you my spirit." And with that, He breathed His last.

When a Roman soldier saw all this, he was like, "Wow, this guy really was innocent!" And all the crowds who'd gathered to watch? They were totally shaken and went home feeling terrible. But the people who knew Jesus, the women who had followed Him from Galilee, they just stood at a distance, watching it all. Let's just have a moment of quiet here. God, His death...it just feels wrong. The sun went dark, the earth shook, that special curtain ripped. It was wrong, God. We're sorry You had to go through that. Amen.

Then, there was this good guy named Joseph, who was part of the Jewish council but hadn't agreed with their plan to kill Jesus. He was from a town called Arimathea and was really looking forward to God's kingdom. He went to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body. He took it down, wrapped it in nice linen, and put it in a tomb carved out of rock – a tomb that had never been used before. It was the day before the Sabbath, so everyone was getting ready for their day of rest. The women who had been with Jesus from Galilee followed along and saw the tomb and how His body was placed. Then they went home to prepare spices and perfumes, but then they rested on the Sabbath, just like they were supposed to.

Think about it – after Jesus died on the cross, they even stabbed Him with a spear, and blood and water came out. He was gone. A dead body is clearly not a living one. They took Him down, pulled out the nails, wrapped Him up, and put Him in that tomb. These tombs usually had a big stone door. Inside, there was often a table where they'd lay the wrapped body. When another family member died later, they'd open the tomb again. By then, it would just be bones and cloth left. They'd put the bones in special boxes and the linens on top. But this tomb was brand new. No one had ever been in there.

And because they were running out of time before the Sabbath, they couldn't even do a proper burial with all the oils and spices. They just wrapped Him up and laid Him there. The women had all those spices ready; it was part of how they would grieve and say goodbye. But they had to rest.

Then comes the first day of the week – what we call Sunday. Chapter 24, verse 1 kicks it off: "Very early in the morning, the women came to the tomb, bringing the spices they had prepared." They found the stone rolled away! They went inside, but the body of Jesus wasn't there! They were totally confused. Suddenly, two men in super bright clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed down. But the men said, "Why are you looking for someone alive in a place for the dead? He's not here! He's risen! Remember what He told you back in Galilee? He said the Son of Man had to be handed over to bad guys, be crucified, and then rise on the third day!" And then, the women remembered Jesus' words!  

They rushed back from the tomb and told all this to the eleven disciples and everyone else. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and some other women. But the disciples thought it was just crazy talk and didn't believe them!

But Peter? He got up and ran to the tomb! He looked inside and only saw the linen cloths. So he went away, totally amazed at what had happened.

Later that same day – still resurrection Sunday! – two of Jesus' followers were walking to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking about everything that had happened, all confused and probably pretty sad. And guess what? Jesus Himself came and started walking with them! But something kept them from recognizing Him.  

He asked them what they were talking about, and they stopped, looking all bummed out. One of them, Cleopas, said, "Are you the only person in Jerusalem who doesn't know what's been going on?" "What things?" Jesus asked. So they told Him all about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a powerful prophet in what He did and said, both to God and to everyone. They told Him how their leaders had handed Jesus over to be sentenced to death and how He was crucified. And then they said, "We were really hoping He was the one who was going to save Israel!" Plus, it had been three days since all this happened, and some women from their group had freaked them out by saying they went to the tomb early and saw angels who said Jesus was alive! Some of the other guys had gone to check and found the tomb empty, just like the women said, but they didn't see Jesus.

Then Jesus said something pretty direct: "You guys are being so foolish! You're so slow to believe everything the prophets said! Didn't the Messiah have to go through all this suffering to enter into His glory?" And then, starting with Moses and going through all the prophets, He explained everything in the scriptures that talked about Himself!

As they got close to Emmaus, Jesus acted like He was going to keep going, but they begged Him, "Stay with us! It's getting late, the day is almost over." So He went inside to stay. And then, as they were eating together, Jesus took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them. And suddenly, their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him! But then He disappeared!

They said to each other, "Didn't our hearts feel like they were on fire when He was talking to us on the road and explaining the scriptures?" Right then and there, they got up and went back to Jerusalem. They found the eleven disciples and the others all together, who told them, "The Lord has truly risen! He appeared to Simon!" Then the two disciples told their story about what happened on the road and how they recognized Jesus when He broke the bread.

And while they were still talking, Jesus Himself stood right there among them! He said, "Peace be with you." But they were totally freaked out, thinking they were seeing a ghost! Jesus said, "Why are you so troubled? Why are you doubting in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet – it's really me! Touch me and see! A ghost doesn't have flesh and bones like I do." And He showed them His hands and feet. They were still amazed and couldn't believe it because they were so joyful! So Jesus asked, "Do you have anything here to eat?" They gave Him a piece of cooked fish, and He took it and ate it in front of them.

Then He said, "Remember when I was still with you, I told you that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms had to come true." And then He opened their minds so they could understand the scriptures. He also said, "This is what's written: the Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations, starting in Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And listen, I am sending you what my Father promised. But stay in the city until you are filled with power from heaven."  

Then He led them out near Bethany, lifted up His hands, and blessed them. And while He was blessing them, He left them and was taken up into heaven! And after worshiping Him, they went back to Jerusalem with huge joy and spent all their time in the temple praising God. It's an incredible story! Jesus really did rise from the dead!

But think about it – these were people who had spent three years with Jesus! They were perplexed, they forgot what He had said, they didn't believe the eyewitnesses (even the women!), they were kept from recognizing Him, they were astounded but still disbelieving, their hearts were slow to believe, and even when He was standing right in front of them, they thought He was a ghost! And even while He was talking to them, they were amazed but still in disbelief.

But there's something Jesus does over and over in these stories that finally opens their hearts to believe it's really Him. What do you think it was? He did some things that weren't totally convincing on their own – He stood before them, let them touch Him, ate with them, appeared to different people. But even after all that, there was still a wall, a mental and spiritual block, keeping them from truly grasping, "This is Jesus! The Messiah, God in human form, died, came back to life, and is now just hanging out eating fish!"

The thing that really opened their eyes was Jesus's words. The angels reminded the women of Jesus' own predictions. On the road to Emmaus, Jesus had to explain the scriptures to the disciples for them to start to understand. And the moment He broke the bread in that familiar way, it clicked for them – they remembered His words! They even said their hearts were burning when He was speaking – His words had power! Later, even with all the disciples present, while the physical proof was there, it was when Jesus talked to them about the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms that their minds were opened.

That's what I'm trying to say, friend. Recognizing Jesus comes from seeing Jesus in the Word, knowing Jesus's words. For me, one of the coolest parts of what I do is studying the Bible and suddenly seeing Jesus pop up in unexpected places, even in the Old Testament! It might be a longing for a perfect king in Chronicles, or seeing the weight of sin in the sacrifices of Leviticus. It's like flipping through the pages and suddenly going, "Whoa, that's Jesus!" It opens up the whole picture and makes you realize this has been God's plan all along. It's more than just someone's story; it's Jesus' own narrative woven throughout the scriptures.

Romans 10:17 is a big one for this: "Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ." It's like a little lesson right there.

Think about it – in Numbers 21, when the people were complaining, God sent snakes. When people got bitten and were dying, God told Moses to make a bronze snake and lift it up. Anyone who looked at it in faith would be healed. You can see how that points to Jesus! The snake represents the curse of sin, and Jesus became that curse, lifted up on the cross so we can look to Him and find salvation.

Or look at Isaiah 53 – it's almost too clear! "Who has believed our message? To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a young plant, like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, familiar with pain...But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed...Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer..." That's Jesus, like 700 years before He was even born!  

Jesus Himself kept bringing up these Old Testament passages, saying, "That was me!" The one bruised on the heel who would crush the serpent's head in Genesis 3? "That's me!" All those Psalms crying out about being brought down to death and then lifted up to new life? "That's me!"

Jesus shows up again and again throughout the Word. And as we see Jesus as the center of everything in the Bible, our hearts, just like those first followers, will be opened to believe in His resurrection – that He came for us, lived for us, died for us, rose again for us, and is now in heaven but will come back for us.

Sometimes we think, "Man, if Jesus was just standing in front of me, then I'd believe!" But honestly, we probably wouldn't even recognize Him. But we can recognize Him in the Word.

That's the encouragement we get at the end of John's gospel. Jesus told Thomas, "Go ahead, touch my wounds. You'll know it's me." And when Thomas did, he believed. But then Jesus said something so powerful, almost like He knew it would be recorded for us: "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

That's us, friend! I've seen some cool things, I've experienced God, but the thing that truly opened my heart to believe Jesus's words, to believe He's the center of everything, is finding Him in the Word.

Someone once said (and I love this!), "The Old Testament is like a beautifully furnished room, but it's dimly lit. You need to take the lamp of Jesus and bring it close to the pages, or walk around the room with it, and you'll see all the beauty and richness as you see the big picture of what God has designed."

What I know is that when we truly believe Jesus' story – like we believe a bus is coming and jump out of the way – when we believe He did what He said He would do, that He died and rose for us, we will be changed. And if you're a Christian, don't think, "Oh, I already believe, I'm already changed." Belief is an ongoing thing! We are constantly being renewed in our minds as we learn to believe what He says more and more. When you really believe that He went up to heaven and sent His Spirit to live inside you, you'll share the good news boldly, without fear.

Is there anywhere in your life where you need to learn to believe in Him more? Let's all learn to believe in our Lord and Savior, who today on our calendar, rose from the dead!