Jesus is Real

Written By Rev. Law Hui Seng
Posted By Teresa Han
12th April, 2009 (Easter

Luke 24:36-49
Main Idea: To preach the reality of Jesus as living God.
Objective: To help the congregation to see that Jesus is so real that we can experience Him.

A. Introduction
- After being a pastor for 15 years, one of the toughest challenges is still how to help children of God and disciples of Jesus to experience Him personally.
- Let me very honestly say to you this morning, very often when problems, whatever they may be, no matter how big they are, I always ask myself this question, is it worth it? When I ask a question like, I always tend to find an answer against some bottom lines. I must say one bottom line is always to do with the purpose behind everything.
- Especially, when I am pushed to a corner, and I have to examine my ultimate purpose; and yet I have very few alternatives or solutions, or worst still, there is no alternative or solution left, I still hand on as long as my faith is concerned.
- Why? This is simply because this God whom I believe, in the person of Jesus, is real.
- This God, in the person of Jesus, whom I believe, may not even answer my prayers according to the deepest needs of mankind, yet, I believe He is real.
- Yet this is not blind faith. This is not something I made it up. It is not something like I think like that, therefore, I brainwash myself into it.
- At the end of the day, I always have to answer the question: What do I get out of brainwashing myself it? If it is something not there, if Jesus is not real at all or He is not there at all, and I pretend He is real, how long can I pretend?
- How long can a disciple of Jesus pretend that Jesus is real in His life?
- Everything I do and we do in the church, we do it in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Why? Because Jesus is real. Jesus is true.
- Today, in this Easter, let us challenge our faith by asking ourselves, how real is Jesus to you? (Say to someone beside you)

B. How real was Jesus to His disciples
- Naturally, the basis of this question must come from gospel of Matthew, Mark and Luke. They are the authority of God’s word in the Bible.
- The reality of resurrection of Jesus is found in all the 3 gospels. Thank God for the permanent record in the Bible.
- Let us examine how real the resurrected Jesus to His disciples was.
- If Jesus was not real to His disciples, how could He be real to us? If Jesus was not real to His disciples then, how could their faith in Jesus be passed down to us today? If you take the trouble to read the book of Acts in one go, you would find how real was Jesus to His disciples after Jesus died, buried and resurrected. It was because Jesus was so real as Son of God that, even the apostles like Peter, Paul and many others were willing to face the risk of death in spreading the love of Jesus for mankind all over the place.
- Let us honestly face the passage today to examine how real the resurrected Jesus to His disciples was.
- Firstly, after resurrection, Jesus appeared in person to his disciples. In verse 36, it says that when the disciples who gathered were talking among themselves, He appeared as a physical person, a solid person; and He could even greet them, “Peace be with you.” The disciples were so scared that they thought they had seen a ghost. Then from verse 37 onwards till verse 49, it is a lot of exchange of words, real conversation. If you were there, were you find Jesus real?
- Secondly, after resurrection, Jesus even helped His disciples to recognize the reality of Himself by appealing to our human faculties of touch, seeing and eating to prove that He was real to His disciples. He was the resurrected Christ. In verses 38 to 40, He challenged them to see His hands and feet and asked them to touch Him. Even then, Jesus being so understood our human limitations so much so that He wanted to demonstrate to them in front of their eyes that He could eat in verse 41. Jesus knew that there was such a thing called being overwhelmed by joy and amazement, they could not believe He was real by seeing the hands and the feet. So, He had to ask His disciples for a piece of broiled fish to eat in their presence. Only then, His reality became known to His disciples. This is because verse 45 says Jesus opened their minds to realize what was prophesied in the Old Testament about Him was true. About the Messiah who need to suffer and rise from the dead on the third day.
- I strongly believe that Jesus disciples must have that kind of real encounter with Jesus in person, only then, they could take Jesus far; only then, their ministry, that is preaching repentance and forgiveness of sins to all nations, beginning with Jerusalem could go on and on.

C. Applications.

a. How Jesus gets real to you?
How Jesus is so real to you. I believe your wisdom tell you that after resurrection, Jesus took the initiative to see the disciples. Yes, on the one hand, after the death of Jesus, the women took spices to go to the tomb where was buried and looked for His body and they could not find the body. Instead, they were informed by the 2 angels that Jesus had resurrected.

The women’s information about our resurrected Lord was something the apostles (Luke 24:11) could not believe. Then, when apostle and the other disciple while traveling to a village called Emmaus, Jesus took the initiative to appear to them. In verse 15, it says, “As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus him came up and walked along with them…” They did not discover it was Jesus then. You see how Jesus took initiative to appear to them. And in today’s passage, especially in verse 36, Jesus deliberately took initiative to appear to the apostles again. This time, they recognized Him.

I strongly believe that Jesus is all the time try to get real to us just like the way He tried to appear to His apostles. We may not have the privilege to see Jesus in person but by faith we believe He is there. He is the Holy Spirit who is inside us.
He is all the real in us. He always takes initiative to call us to repent and obey His word. The problem with us is we always miss him. We always miss Christ’s presence, or His speaking to us. I called this the missing art in Church. Let me give you some examples of Christ’s initiative of getting real with you. Do you at times felt called by a voice to forgive, to show love for someone in need, to show understanding, to keep going back to a long house, etc? It is Jesus getting real to real.

b. How do you get real with Jesus?
You cannot get real with Jesus unless you come to a personal faith with Him. You have to be convinced that Jesus is your savior and your Lord, your master. If you desire to get real with Jesus, you need to acknowledge your total corruption of yourself, you have to acknowledge that without God, you always cannot do good and overcome your own sinfulness.

The best way, the quickest way, the most way for you to distant yourself from God is to claim that “I am capable to be good, I can do all things without Jesus. I am in control of my life. I have the final say about how I should use my life. My sins are justifiable.” The more you emphasize yourself, your own good, your own power, cleverness, the more you cannot real with Jesus. The more Jesus is not real to you.

c. How do you get personal with Jesus?
If there is anything that demands the most of your attention today in this sermon today is this. If as a result of this sermon, the word of God, you get real with Jesus by being personal with Jesus, Jesus will be most happy. If Jesus is so real, if God is still living in the person of Christ, how do your get personal with Him?

If Jesus is really, the Son of God, the living God, then, He demands your personal attention.

Let me show some guidance to you on how to come to Jesus personally.
1. Think of how you relate to your father and mother in person. How they matter to you so much. If Jesus is the master of your life, ask yourself He matters to you or not?
2. Those of you who are husband and wife, can you recall all the intimate talk and only 2 of you can know them. There are talks only your life partner and Jesus know. The rest of the world do not know.
3. Do you have things that is so confidential that nobody in this world should know, only Jesus know it.
4. Do you know what it means to have heart to heart between any 2 persons. You do that to Jesus, then, you are in a personal relationship.

I am so particular as your pastor about building a personal relationship with the living Jesus because it where love, joy, peace, faith, forgiveness, strength, wisdom and all the needs you need in life come from. You miss the personal relationship with Jesus, you miss everything in life.

5. Conclusion.
- I pray God’s word today has convicted of the need to work on your personal relationship with Jesus
- I pray that you always find Jesus real in your life.
- Jesus must be very real in your life.