That Very Night
That Very Night by Rev. L. John Gable
April 26, 2020
What a day this has been! I don’t even know what time it is. I know it’s late, but I’m too tired to think and too excited to sleep.
I’m really glad you stopped by. You’ve heard the news, haven’t you? About Jesus? (pause) No, not that He’s dead, but that He’s alive! Really! It is true! I’ve seen Him myself, several of us have, just today. If you haven’t heard this you better sit down because I’ve got a lot to tell you and it is really hard to believe, but I promise you it’s true!
It all started this morning, today is still Sunday, right? Early this morning several of the women went to the tomb, you know, Mary and Mary and Joanna and the others. They were going to finish the burial since they had to hurry so last Friday. (pause) No, I didn’t go, none of us did. We figured, “why bother?” We knew He was dead. We saw Him hanging there, you did too, and it’s already been three days. We thought we’d just let the women go back to the tomb to finish up that morbid task, and that they’d be back when they’d finished. Little did we know.
Apparently when they got there the tomb stone was already rolled away and His body was missing! (pause) Exactly! That’s what they thought too. They just assumed someone had taken it, or stolen it, but why? And who would want it? If anyone had any reason for taking it it would have been one of us and we certainly didn’t want it. Anyway, it is didn’t make any sense to them, but suddenly two angels appeared, and said, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here. He has risen, just as He told you.”
Well, they hadn’t been gone more than a half hour when they came running back, breathlessly shouting, “He’s alive! He’s alive!” It was still early and I was just barely awake so I could hear them yelling, but could hardly make out what they were saying, and I hate to admit it, but even when I understood them I didn’t believe a word of it, none of us did. How could we, it didn’t make any sense? We knew He was dead and here they were telling us He is alive. I probably gave them the same look you’re giving me. It sounds incredible doesn’t it? It just didn’t make any sense. I thought they were just hallucinating or something. But then Peter and John got up and ran to the tomb and when they looked in they saw the grave clothes still lying there and they came back saying they believed it too! They were absolutely convinced, not just that the tomb was empty, but that Jesus really is alive!
All of that was early this morning, so we spent the day trying to figure out what all of this meant. It was strange. We’d find ourselves laughing one minute and crying the next, believing one minute and doubting the next. We really didn’t know what to believe and we certainly didn’t know what to do, so we just kind of hung around here all day, talking, thinking, laughing, praying.
Then about supper time two of the disciples – well, you know Cleopas from over in Emmaus, he and another were on their way home. They must have left before any of this news came out. I guess they figured there was nothing more to do here, so they packed up and left. Anyway, we were sitting here having supper when suddenly we heard them pounding on the door and they rushed back in. Like the women this morning, they were totally out of breath, and for good reason, they had run all the way back from Emmaus. I mean what is that? 7 miles! Well, of course, we were excited to see them. We told them, “The Lord is risen!” They said, “We know. That’s what we came back to tell you. We have seen Him ourselves!” Then they told us how He walked all the way back to Emmaus with them and they never even recognized Him. The whole way He explained the Scriptures, but they didn’t even know it was Him, until they asked Him to stay and have dinner with them. Then as He sat at the table He broke the bread and gave it to them and they said their eyes were opened and they recognized Him! Then He suddenly vanished. He was just gone! But they said they knew it was Him. They said, “Of course, we should have known all along. Our hearts were burning within us as we walked and talked on the road. This is unbelievable! He really is alive!” Here we thought we had Good News to tell them!
So that was just after supper this evening, but then the most incredible thing happened. Jesus came and appeared to us here! (pause) Yes! Right here! I don’t really know how He did it because all of the doors and windows were locked. We’ve been kind of frightened, not knowing what the authorities might do to us, but then He suddenly just appeared among us, just like He did in Emmaus. It’s not like He knocked on the door and we let Him in. I mean, He just appeared, out of nowhere.
Even though we’d heard all of these other stories today, we were startled, to say the least, more like terrified. At first I thought it was a ghost, but then He said, “Peace be with you!” I love that greeting of His. I always have. No matter what chaos was going on, or what kind of trouble we were in, Jesus would always say, “Peace be with you” and suddenly everything was alright again. Like that time we were out in the boat in the midst of the storm. It was like He wasn’t just saying “Peace”, He was actually giving it to us. Whew!
So there He was, standing right about here, saying “Peace be with you”, and I’m still thinking He’s a ghost come back from the dead. Oh, I know there will be some people who will think He never lived at all, but we know that’s not true. We were with Him. We heard Him preach and teach and watched Him heal people and do miracles. I know He really was alive. Then I know there will be other people who will say He never really died. Well I know that’s not true either. We watched Him get nailed to that cross and suffer and die. I will never forget that day as long as I live. I know He died. But here I was thinking He really couldn’t be risen from the dead. I really thought He was a ghost, and He must have known I was thinking that, because He said, “Look at My hands and my feet; see that it is I Myself. Come, touch Me and see.” Of course I didn’t, I didn’t need to then, but I could have. He was showing me He was no ghost. And then He did the most incredible thing. He said, “Have you anything here to eat?” It reminded me of one of my kids rummaging through the pantry yelling to my wife, “Is there anything to eat around here?” So we gave Him a piece of the fish we had had for dinner, and He ate it. You’ve got to believe me. This was no ghost. This was not an encounter with the dead. Jesus is alive!
He stayed with us a while, I don’t really know how long, I lost all track of time. But He started to remind us of all the things He had taught us over the years. It felt kind of like the final review before a big test. He told us again about how He was the One sent by God to be the fulfillment of all of the prophecies of the coming Messiah. He opened the Scriptures to us and showed us again how the law and the prophets and the psalms all pointed to Him. Then He told us again about how the Messiah must suffer and die and how He would rise again on the third day. The incredible thing was, we’d heard all of it before, but this time we got it. All those things we didn’t understand before suddenly made sense to us. It was almost like He was opening our minds to understand the Scriptures and after years of listening to Him preach and teach tonight I finally got it! All of us did, except for Thomas.
I feel so badly about this, but Thomas wasn’t here earlier this evening. I don’t know where he was, but it doesn’t really matter. What does matter is when he got back we told him all about it and he didn’t believe us. I don’t really mean he didn’t believe us, like we weren’t telling the truth. It’s just that he didn’t believe it like we believe it. He said, “Unless I see the nail prints in His hands and the wound in His side, I won’t believe!” And I don’t really blame him. I just wish he had been here. But it makes me wonder, “What is it going to take for someone to believe if they haven’t seen Him for themselves?”
I guess we are going to have to figure that one out because before Jesus left He gave us this great commission. He said, “Repentance and the forgiveness of sins is now available to all people in all nations, and you will be My witnesses. As the Father has sent Me, so I am sending you.” We realized just then that our journey with Jesus was not coming to an end at all. It was just beginning. He was charging us to go out and tell others about Him. He was instructing us to offer forgiveness to others in His name, just as He had done. Wow, imagine that!
Then He told us to stay put, to stay right here in Jerusalem “until you have received what the Father has promised, until you receive power from on high.” And then He breathed on us. Yeah, breathed on us and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” And I thought to myself, “Here we go again. I have no idea what He is talking about, but this time I am going to trust Him and obey. I’m going to do whatever He tells us to do, because now I am absolutely convinced that He is telling the truth because He is the Truth.
What a day this has been! What a glorious, glorious day! Incredible, isn’t it? Really, unbelievable. But I hope you do believe it, because it is absolutely true. I’m so glad you came over. I just had to tell somebody this Good News, and now I realize there are lots of some bodies we’ve got to tell. (pause) Oh sure, you can tell anybody you want. By all means, tell everybody you can because it really is true. He really is alive!
I’ve got to get some sleep. We’ve got a lot of work to do. We’ve got a lot to tell a lot of people. And what a joy that will be! Peace be with you!