Two Great Bible Studies

Rabbi Ken Alpren
Sermon Notes: Teresa Bennett, Pharm.D.
April 24, 2011

After the L-rd was raised from the dead, He gave two great and amazing Bible Studies to His talmidim recorded in Luke 24.

Luke 24:1-9, “but the next day, while it was still very early, they took the spices they had prepared, went to the tomb, 2 and found the stone rolled away from the tomb! 3 On entering, they discovered that the body of the Lord Yeshua was gone! They were 4 standing there, not knowing what to think about it, when suddenly two men in dazzlingly bright clothing stood next to them. 5 Terror-stricken, they bowed down with their faces to the ground. The two men said to them, "Why are you looking for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has been raised. Remember how he told you while he was still in the Galil, 7 `The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be executed on a stake as a criminal, but on the third day be raised again'?" 8 Then they remembered his words; 9 and, returning from the tomb, they told everything to the Eleven and to all the rest.”

Notice the ‘two men’ reminded the women what they had already been told by Yeshua.

1 Peter 1:12-13, “For this reason, I will always remind you about these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you already have. 13 And I consider it right to keep stirring you up with reminders, as long as I am in the tent of this body.”

The women were faced with skepticism when they returned to tell the others. The others thought the women were full of nonsense! They weren’t trusting yet.

Even Kefa, although skeptical, ran to the tomb to see for himself and came away wondering what happened.

Meanwhile, the L-rd Yeshua Himself joined two talmidim who were walking to Amma’us.

Luke 24:13-19a, ‘That same day, two of them were going toward a village about seven miles from Yerushalayim called Amma'us, 14 and they were talking with each other about all the things that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed, Yeshua himself came up and walked along with them, 16 but something kept them from recognizing him. 17 He asked them, "What are you talking about with each other as you walk along?" They stopped short, their faces downcast; 18 and one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, "Are you the only person staying in Yerushalayim that doesn't know the things that have been going on there the last few days?" "What things?" he asked them.’

Do you think the L-rd was being intentionally deceptive by asking, “What things?” or was He probing them in order to get them to articulate for themselves the events over the past few days as well as verbally process their thoughts?

He also did not reveal Himself. Is this deceptive or was He allowing them the freedom to speak their thoughts and express their desire for His appearing?

Even with us, He will probe our hearts and minds and make it seem as though He isn’t near when in fact He is working in His way to draw our thoughts out of us and help us see things for ourselves.

Luke 24: 19b-25, ‘They said to him, "The things about Yeshua from Natzeret. He was a prophet and proved it by the things he did and said before God and all the people. 20 Our head cohanim and our leaders handed him over, so that he could be sentenced to death and executed on a stake as a criminal. 21 And we had hoped that he would be the one to liberate Isra'el! Besides all that, today is the third day since these things happened; 22 and this morning, some of the women astounded us. They were at the tomb early 23 and couldn't find his body, so they came back; but they also reported that they had seen a vision of angels who say he's alive! 24 Some of our friends went to the tomb and found it exactly as the women had said, but they didn't see him."

At this point the L-rd had enough of their unbelief! And then something marvelous happened. He began to open the Scriptures to them!

Luke 24:25-27, ‘He said to them, "Foolish people! So unwilling to put your trust in everything the prophets spoke! 26 Didn't the Messiah have to die like this before entering his glory?" 27 Then, starting with Moshe and all the prophets, he explained to them the things that can be found throughout the Tanakh concerning himself.’

Even at this point they didn’t know if was Yeshua Himself speaking to them.

What verses might He have expounded with them? Perhaps Psalm 118:22-23 from the Hallel about the rejection of the Chief Cornerstone, or Isaiah 9:6 that a child would be born, or Proverbs 30:4 concerning G-d’s Son whom we would surely know, or Psalm 22 written by David describing His crucifixion, or Daniel 9:6 that we had not listened to the prophets, or Psalm 2:7 that ADONAI has a Son and wouldn’t He have expounded the great Messianic prophesy in Isaiah 53 and Zechariah 12:10? Might He also included Hosea 5:15 that He would return to Heaven’s Throne and wait until they admit their guilt and seek Him?

Aren’t our own hearts burning now to have been there with them that day to walk with the L-rd and hear Him speak?

Yet as they approached their destination, Yeshua acted as though He were to continue on without them. Was He disinterested or was did He want them to pursue His staying with them and to demonstrate they wanted to learn more?

Luke 24:28-32, ‘They approached the village where they were going. He made as if he were going on farther; 29 but they held him back, saying, "Stay with us, for it's almost evening, and it's getting dark." So he went in to stay with them. 30 As he was reclining with them at the table, he took the matzah, made the b'rakhah, broke it and handed it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. But he became invisible to them. 32 They said to each other, "Didn't our hearts burn inside us as he spoke to us on the road, opening up the Tanakh to us?"

The entire time they were together that day, Yeshua’s identity remained hidden until He took the matzah and made the b’rakhah! At that point He was completely recognizable to them; they knew it was Him!

They immediately acted!

Luke 24:33-35, ‘They got up at once, returned to Yerushalayim and found the Eleven gathered together with their friends, 34 saying, "It's true! The Lord has risen! Shim`on saw him!" 35 Then the two told what had happened on the road and how he had become known to them in the breaking of the matzah.’

And much to their surprise, Yeshua appeared again!

Luke 24, ‘They were still talking about it when -- there he was, standing among them! 37 Startled and terrified, they thought they were seeing a ghost. 38 But he said to them, "Why are you so upset? Why are these doubts welling up inside you? 39 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 can see I do." 40 As he said this, he showed them his hands and feet.’

After asking for some food, He began the second portion of His Bible study!

Luke 24:44-47, ‘Yeshua said to them, "This is what I meant when I was still with you and told you that everything written about me in the Torah of Moshe, the Prophets and the Psalms had to be fulfilled." 45 Then he opened their minds, so that they could understand the Tanakh, 46 telling them, "Here is what it says: the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day; 47 and in his name repentance leading to forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed to people from all nations, starting with Yerushalayim.’

It is at this point Yeshua ended the Bible Study with what is known as the Great Commission emphasizing that in His Name repentance and forgiveness of sin should be proclaimed into all people beginning with Jerusalem. The Greek in this passage interestingly also means that this Commission would be ‘ruled’ from Jerusalem. Remember Romans 1:16, to share the truth about repentance and forgiveness of sin in Yeshua the Jewish Messiah to the Jew first and to the nations; to both without the exclusion of either!