Sunday
Morning Bible Study
May
8, 2011
Introduction
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel preached? Does it speak to the broken hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk – Meat – Manna Preach for a decision
Invitation to
Israel. We are getting close to the door
closing on the opportunity.
We have made it
past the death of Jesus Christ.
Early on Sunday
morning, Mary, Peter, and John all found the tomb empty. Jesus appeared to Mary. Mary returns and tells the disciples that
Jesus had appeared to her:
(Mk 16:11 NKJV)
And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.
Luke tells us that later on in the day Jesus appeared to two other disciples…
(Mk 16:13 NKJV) And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe
them either.
20:19-23
Jesus appears to the disciples
:19 Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when
the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews,
Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
:19 the first day
Note: From the time of the
resurrection, the church has continued to meet on the first day of the week,
Sunday.
:19 at evening – opsios
– evening, from three to six o’clock p.m.
It’s still Easter Sunday, but now we’re at the “evening service”.
:19 the doors were
shut – kleio – to shut,
shut up
Perfect tense. The doors were shut
and remained shut.
:19 assembled – sunago
– to gather together, to gather
This is the word that’s the basis for the word “synagogue”.
Church is a place where we “gather together”.
(Heb 10:24–25 NKJV)
—24 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, 25
not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some,
but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
:19 for fear of the Jews
The disciples are still afraid at this point that they too might be
arrested and either jailed or put to death.
Matthew records (28:11-15) that when the Roman guards told the chief
priests that the body of Jesus was gone, the chief priests told them to tell
Pilate that the disciples had stolen the body.
(Mt
28:11–15 NKJV) —11 Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came
into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had
happened. 12 When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together,
they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, 13 saying, “Tell them, ‘His
disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.’ 14 And if this
comes to the governor’s ears, we will appease him and make you secure.” 15 So
they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this saying is
commonly reported among the Jews until this day.
That means that they were in trouble!
:19 Jesus came and
stood in the midst
A.T. Robertson, the Greek scholar, translates it, “stepped into the midst”. Right through the
closed doors. How did He do it?
Was Jesus just
a ghost?
Remember Mary was “clinging” to Jesus. (Jn. 20:17)
(Jn
20:17 NKJV) —17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet
ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending
to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’ ”
The following week He will challenge Thomas to touch His wounds. (Jn.
20:27)
(Jn 20:27 NKJV)
—27 Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and
reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but
believing.”
Luke records
that Jesus actually sat down and ate some broiled fish and honeycomb with the guys (Lk. 24:39-43)
(Lk 24:39–43 NKJV)
—39 Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a
spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.” 40 When He had said
this, He showed them His hands and His feet. 41 But while they still did not
believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, “Have you any food here?” 42 So
they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. 43 And He took it
and ate in their presence.
The Resurrected body (you’ll get one too…)
Disguised at
will (we saw this last week)
Materialize at
will. Cool.
:19 Peace be with
you – eirene – peace
He might have said it in Hebrew,
“Shalom”. It’s a very common greeting.
Mark tells us another thing Jesus also said at this time:
(Mk 16:14 NKJV)…He rebuked their unbelief
and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him
after He had risen.
Jesus gets serious with the guys for their unbelief.
In reality, when you think of all the amazing things they’ve seen Jesus do,
why didn’t they believe a little easier?
Lesson
Jesus is serious about your
unbelief.
We have all kinds of reasons for
our unbelief.
We live in a society that makes us question everything and doubt
everything.
Do you believe
in UFO’s? Do you believe that President Obama was born in
the United States? Do you believe that Osama bin Laden is
really dead?
We have a hard time knowing what is true and what is
false.
Illustration
Have
you ever heard of the Salk Theory?
Jonas
Salk, that great doctor of medicine who pioneered polio research and discovered
the Salk Polio
Vaccine, had a legion of critics he dealt with over the years. At one point, he made an interesting
observation about the nature of criticism which seems to hold true for any
person who is successfully innovative.
“First,”
he said, “people will tell you that you are wrong. Then they will tell you that you are right,
but what you’re doing really isn’t important.
Finally,
they will admit that you are right and that what you are doing is very
important; but after all, they knew it all the time.”
Some of us have
been through hard times, and somehow have come to the conclusion that if we
don’t like what God is doing in our lives, then we just aren’t going to believe
in Him.
The problem is that we assume we know as much about the situation as God
does and that we are the only ones who know what is truly best.
None of which is true.
But the truth is, God values our trust, He values our belief in Him.
(Heb 11:6 NKJV)
But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must
believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Just like any relationship, God wants us to trust Him.
Has your unbelief kept you from all that God has for your life?
:20 When He had
said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad
when they saw the Lord.
:20 He showed them
– deiknuo – expose to the eyes; to
give evidence or proof of a thing
:20 His hands and His
side
The parts of His body that had been pierced by the nails and the spear.
When John has his “Revelation” of Jesus some sixty years later, John
describes what he sees in heaven:
(Re 5:6 NKJV) And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the
four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though
it had been slain…
There is something about Jesus that shows He had died.
When He comes back …
(Zec 12:10 NKJV) “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of
Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced.
Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him
as one grieves for a firstborn.
:20 glad – chairo –
to rejoice, be glad; to rejoice exceedingly
The guys are pretty excited about seeing Jesus alive.
Lesson
Proven Love
When we are in heaven, we will know what it took to get us there. We too will see His wounds.
I believe that His wounds are forever.
It’s not meant to be something to hold over our heads as in, “Look what I
had to go through for you bad people!”
It’s meant to be a reminder of the love that God has for us.
(Ro 5:8 NKJV) But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were
still sinners, Christ died for us.
Jesus died for us because we had a huge problem.
We are sinners. Our
sin is what separates us from God.
The only way to make things right is to pay the price for
sin.
God doesn’t want you to pay the price, it’s too great a
price.
So God sent His Son to die in your place, so you could
find forgiveness and a new life.
Through eternity we will be reminded of the love of God,
because we will see the precious wounds that paid our debt.
There will be no doubt that God loves us.
Some of us have been through things that make us question the love of God.
Perhaps it’s been an abusive home that we grew up in.
Perhaps it’s been a spouse that’s betrayed us.
Perhaps it’s been a tragedy in our lives that seems unfair.
It is not an unfeeling thing for me to tell you – God
really loves you.
Look at the wounds.
See what God has done for you.
You may not understand the difficulties that you’ve
experienced so far in your life, but there is ONE THING that you can be sure
of.
God loves you.
:21 So Jesus
said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”
:21 Peace to you!
There has to be more to this than just a greeting. Why does Jesus repeat Himself?
Because true peace with God has finally been provided for.
Jesus died to make things right with God.
(Ro 5:1 NKJV) Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ,
When we choose to believe in God and in what Jesus has done on the cross,
we will find ourselves at peace with Him.
:21 has sent
– apostello – to order (one) to go to
a place appointed; this is the general usual word for “sending”, the word “apostles” (“sent ones”) comes
from this word.
Perfect tense – done in the past with results carrying on into the
present.
:21 I also send
– pempo – to send; to bid a thing to
be carried to one; this
word has a hint of “equipment”, suggests an official or authoritative sending.
Present tense – a continual sense
The idea of “equipment” means that He hasn’t sent us empty handed.
He’s given us
shoes to run the race.
He’s given us weapons to fight the war.
He’s given us
the “ability” to do what He wants.
Lesson
The Assignment
Jesus would later reiterate this assignment when they are in Galilee:
(Mt 28:19–20 NKJV) —19
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to
observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always,
even to the end of the age.” Amen.
There is actually only one “command” in these two verses, “make disciples”. We “make disciples” while we are “going”. We “make disciples” by “baptizing” them and by “teaching them” to do what
Jesus says.
The cool thing is that we don’t do it alone. He is “with us”. That
means He gives us the power, the ability, the strength to do what He says.
The ability comes through the Holy Spirit.
(Ac 1:8 NKJV) —8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon
you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and
Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
The word for “power” is dunamis. The basic idea behind the word dunamis is “ability”.
The Holy Spirit gives us the “power” or the “ability” to follow after
Jesus and do what He commands.
Remember the sense of “equipment” in His “sending”
us? He equips us through the Holy
Spirit.
This isn’t just the disciples’ assignment, this is ours as well.
There are people that you know that need Jesus. Who will tell them?
Start by praying for them. Ask God
for opportunities to share. Invite.
:22 And when He
had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
:22 He breathed on
– emphusao – to blow or breathe upon
This is a pretty rare Greek word.
It’s only used one time in the New Testament (here), and one time in the
Greek translation of the Old Testament (the Septuagint) in the book of Genesis:
(Ge 2:7 NKJV) And the Lord God
formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and
man became a living being.
The original man came alive when God “breathed” into him.
We are “born again” when Jesus breathes into us.
:22 Receive
– lambano – to receive (what is
given), obtain, to get back
Aorist imperative
(Wuest) And having said this, He breathed on them and says to them, Receive at
once the Holy Spirit.
I believe that it’s at this moment that the disciples were “born
again”. They received new life, the work
of the Holy Spirit.
This takes place when they see Him resurrected. This takes place when they have come to
believe.
Lesson
The Work of the Spirit
Jesus had said to the disciples:
(Jn
14:16–17 NKJV) —16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another
Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the
world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know
Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
I believe that this is what is taking place at this
moment. The Holy Spirit has gone from
being “with” the disciples, and is not “in” them.
Some people see this as being symbolic, and that the
actual event won’t take place until the day of Pentecost, some 47 days
later. But I have a hard time taking it
symbolically when Jesus commands them to do it now, to “receive”.
As believers, it’s important that we learn more and more to allow the
Holy Spirit to have a greater, more active role in our lives.
Jesus describes the Holy Spirit not just being “with” and “in” us, but
eventually coming “upon” us, which is what takes place at Pentecost.
We call this the “filling” of the Holy Spirit.
I need to learn to yield my life more and more to what
the Holy Spirit wants to do in my life.
:23 If you forgive
the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they
are retained.”
The Catholic Church takes
these verses to suggest that God gives a special ability to the priests to
forgive people’s sins. Not so.
:23 forgive
– aphiemi – to send away; to let go,
give up a debt, forgive
1st time: Aorist
subjunctive; 2nd time: Present Passive
:23 retain
– krateo – to have power; to get
possession of; to continue to hold
1st time: Present subjunctive; 2nd time:
Perfect indicative
There are two phrases in this verse – the first deals with “letting go” of sins
(forgiveness), the second
dealing with “holding on” (unforgiveness). In each phrase there is an action on the
disciples’ part and a corresponding result on God’s part. If you examined the tenses of the Greek
verbs, you find that God’s response takes place at a different time than when
the disciples’ action takes place.
Greek scholar Dr. Kenneth Wuest
translates the passage like this:
If the sins of any certain individuals
you forgive, they have been previously forgiven them, with the present result
that they are in a state of forgiveness. If the sins of any certain individuals
you retain in not forgiving them, they have been previously retained and thus
have not been forgiven, with the present result that they are retained and in a
state of not being forgiven.
Dr. Julius R. Mantey, preeminent Greek scholar, translated the passage this
way:
“Whosoever sins
you forgive shall have already been forgiven them, and whosoever sins you do
not forgive shall have already not been forgiven them.”
The point is not that the disciples are granting forgiveness, but that they
are simply proclaiming the forgiveness that a person already has or doesn’t
have.
One day while Jesus was
sitting in Peter’s house, four men dug a hole in the roof and used ropes to
lower their paralyzed friend down to Jesus for healing.
(Mk 2:5–7 NKJV) —5
When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are
forgiven you.” 6 And some
of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this Man
speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
We wouldn’t argue with the Jews
about their position. We also believe
that only God can forgive sins. But Jesus is God.
Forgiveness with God only comes
from God.
In our passage, Jesus
isn’t giving the apostles the power to forgive sins, but the authority to
proclaim what God has or hasn’t done.
John Calvin writes: “When Christ enjoins the
apostles to forgive sins, He does not convey to them what is peculiar to
Himself. It belongs to Him to forgive sins. He only enjoins them in His name to
proclaim the forgiveness of sins.”
Lesson
The Ministry of Forgiveness
We don’t grant people the
forgiveness for the sins they’ve done against God.
All we can do is to tell them about
what God has done for them and encourage them to ask God for forgiveness.
And if they will ask God for
forgiveness, then we have the great privilege of letting them know that God has
forgiven their sins.
The Bible says,
(1 Jn 1:9
NKJV) If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
This is how forgiveness from God is found. When I admit to God what I’ve done, God
promises to forgive me.
That doesn’t mean that I still might not have to pay the earthly
consequences for what I’ve done to hurt other people, but it means that on
God’s part I am forgiven.
I may still be divorced by my spouse. I may still have hepatitis from my drug
usage. I may still go to jail. I may still lose my job.
But before God my slate is clean. And when I stand before God, there will be no
sin on my account.
If I’m with someone who has done this, I can declare God
has forgiven them.
Some of you right now need God’s forgiveness.
In a minute we’ll give you the opportunity to make things right with God.
Those of you who are believers all have this ministry of forgiveness.
Illustration
Two
children ordered their mother to stay in bed one Mother’s Day morning. As she lay
there looking forward to breakfast in bed, the smell of bacon floated up from the kitchen.
But after a good long wait she finally went downstairs to investigate. She
found them both sitting at the table eating bacon and eggs. “It’s a surprise
for Mother’s Day,” one explained, “we decided to cook our own breakfast.”
We don’t just
keep this forgiveness thing to ourselves.
God wants to use you to help people make things right with
God.
If they will confess their sins to God, you can
confidently tell them, “God has forgiven you”.
As we get ready to share in communion, let’s review … Play “Jesus appears” .
God told the nation of Israel that
one day there would be a “New Covenant” between God and man. Man’s relationship with God would no longer
be based on man trying to obey all of God’s Laws. Instead it would be based on forgiveness.
(Je 31:34 NKJV) No more shall every man
teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from
the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will
remember no more.”
The key to knowing
God is finding forgiveness for your sins.
This can only come when someone pays the price for your sins.
This only comes by
putting your faith in Jesus Christ.
At the Last Supper, Jesus gave us
the ritual we call “communion”.
(Mt 26:27–28 NKJV) —27 Then He took the
cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you.
28 For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the
remission of sins.
The gospel (the good news) is all
about forgiveness that God gives us.
This is the message that the
apostles preached.
Peter said,
(Ac 5:31
NKJV) Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give
repentance to Israel and forgiveness
of sins.
Paul said,
(Ac
13:38 NKJV) Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man
is preached to you the forgiveness
of sins;