EASTER III Luke 24:36-48

"This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.  Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. This is what is 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, beginning at Jerusalem."

Rational Thinking sees what it believes about the Scripture. When I read the Psalms rationally, I see them as the songs of David.

Spiritual Understanding sees the meaning in the Scripture. When I read the Psalms spiritually, I sense the Presence of Jesus running through them.

The Resurrection of Jesus as the Son of God can be revealed in many ways. Jesus chose to have the Apostles, as well as us, to understand the resurrection by using the Old Testament Scriptures which were the only Scriptures at that time. These are some of the Scriptures Jesus and St. Paul referred to.

Luke 24:45 "Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures." Our minds need to be open to understand the Scriptural meaning. We need to be in His Presence to grasp what He was sharing.

What difference does it make if you are in or out of the presence while reading these verses?

Isaiah 52:15 "That which has not been told them they shall see, and that which they have not heard they shall understand."

This takes Spiritual Understanding not Rational Thinking.

Luke 24:44 He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms."

Jesus fulfilled the Law and the Prophets with the commandment "to do the loving thing".

John's Gospel Chapter 20 tells about Peter and John as they left the empty tomb. "For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead."

"Know" means did not "understand".

St Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4. "For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures."

HE SUFFERED:

Luke 24:46 He told them, "This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer"

Isaiah 53:3 "He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief"

Isaiah 52:14 "His appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and His form beyond that of the sons of men­."­

DEAD:

Isaiah 53:4 "Surely He has borne our grief and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted."

Psalm 31:5 "Into your hands I commit my spirit; redeem me, O LORD, the God of truth."

BURIED:

Isaiah 53:9 "And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in His death, although He had done no violence, and there was no deceit in His mouth."
Isaiah 53:12 "He poured out his soul to death, and was numbered with the transgressors; yet He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."

RISE FROM THE DEAD:

Isaiah 52:13 "Behold, my servant shall prosper, He shall be exalted and lifted up, and shall be very high."

RISEN:

Luke 24:46  "and rise from the dead on the third day"

Psalm 16:10 "For You will not abandon me to Sheol;
You will not allow Your Faithful One to see decay."

Psalm 110:1 The LORD says to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet."

ON THE THIRD DAY:

Hosea 6:2 "After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will restore us, that we may live in His Presence"

Jonah 1:17 "Now the LORD provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights."

Jonah 2:2,6 "In my distress I called to the LORD, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry. But you, LORD my God, brought my life up."

REPENTANCE AND REMISSION OF SINS SHOULD BE PREACHED IN HIS NAME TO ALL THE NATIONS, BEGINNING AT JERUSALEM:

Isaiah 11:10 "In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious."

Isaiah 49:6 "I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that You may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth."

Psalm 118:26 "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. From the house of the LORD we bless you."

Isaiah 53:6 "the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."

Isaiah 53:4 "Surely He has borne our grief and carried our sorrows"

Isaiah 53:5 "But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that made us whole, and with His stripes we are healed."

Isaiah 53:10 "Yet it was the will of the LORD to bruise Him; He has put him to grief; when he makes himself an offering for sin."

Isaiah 53:11 "He shall bear their iniquities."

Psalm 118:22 "The Stone the builders rejected has become the capstone"

Joel 2:32 "And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved"