Again, in verses 1–5, Luke reminds his friend Theophilus of how he ended the gospel of Luke. People who have thought about this a lot more than I have debate exactly when Acts was written. The majority lean to sometime in the 60s either shortly before or after Paul was executed. But some date it as late as the 90s. Regardless, the events that take place in this book span from the time of Jesus’ resurrection in the 30s to Paul’s imprisonment in Rome in the early 60s.
And this summary of Luke 24 brings up three points we need to be reminded of. Luke wants us to remember how Jesus confirmed his resurrection, taught about the kingdom, and commanded the disciples to wait in Jerusalem.
First, he confirmed his resurrection. Back in Luke 24, this is shown in three ways. The first way was on the road to Emmaus with the two disciples. They tell him about the supposed resurrection and Jesus immediately chastises them for their lack of faith. He then begins telling them about himself from the Old Testament Scriptures.
In other words, he laid the foundation for what had happened concerning his death and resurrection in the Old Testament. The first confirmation came from what they already held dear; he just opened their eyes to understand and see it clearly.
Second, he showed the disciples his wounds. In verses 38–39 he said, “a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” Third, from verses 41–43, he ate with them. He wasn’t a figment of their imaginations. The fish disappeared down his throat.
We believe that Jesus was bodily raised, and we believe that Jesus remains and will remain fully God and fully man throughout eternity. Paul talks to the Corinthians about Jesus’ numerous appearances, but for Luke there was OT confirmation and physical confirmation through showing them his wounds and eating with them.
Second, Jesus taught about the kingdom of God as we see in Acts 1:3. What’s interesting is Jesus’ teaching that we see in Luke 24 seems mostly focused on how the OT Scriptures point to himself. But if we think about this a minute, it should make sense. For we learn a great deal about a kingdom by knowing about the king.
But there is a short section in Luke 24, that I want us to think about specifically this morning because it talks about what kind of people live in this kingdom. This is found in verses 45–47. First, this kingdom is comprised of those who have repented. That’s the message that the disciples are supposed to proclaim. And we’ll see them doing that very thing. Without repentance there is no salvation. The kingdom of God is not made up of fence sitters.
Second, the kingdom is comprised of those who have been forgiven. This is vitally important for our unity. For that forgiveness comes from Christ and not from what we can do better than someone else. We all are in need of a Savior.
And third, the kingdom is comprised of those from all nations. The kingdom of God is not geographic; it is not nationalistic; it is not ethnic. This is all pretty remarkable. The kingdom of God includes those who have given up their own wisdom and ways. It’s made up of people who know they are cleansed, forgiven. They are no longer trying to impress others to gain favor because they have the favor of the only one whose opinion matters.
And the kingdom is a unified diversity—just sheer craziness that God could gather people from every nation and get them to call one another brother and sister. Is that the kind of kingdom your life points to? Certainly this isn’t everything concerning the kingdom that Jesus taught about, but how attractive would we be to the world if we could get just these three things right. What if we were quick to repent? What if we we could rest secure in our assurance before God? What if we could love well those from every nation and tribe and tongue?
So he confirmed his resurrection. He taught about the kingdom.
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