Luke 24 Unpacked: Repentance, Forgiveness, And Power

From a priest struck silent to disciples who can’t stop praising, Luke’s story ends with a surge of clarity, courage, and joy—and a mandate that still reaches us. We walk through Jesus opening the scriptures in Luke 24, showing why the cross and resurrection weren’t tragic detours but the plan foretold in the Psalms and fulfilled in Him. That understanding flips the script on two common counterfeits: guilt that stalls at regret and preaching that promises comfort without a cross. Instead, we lean into the real gospel—repentance that turns, and remission that truly sets us free.

We talk about the difference between feeling bad and changing direction, how forgiveness cancels debt yet doesn’t erase earthly consequences, and why the church’s message must remain an official communique from the King rather than a self-help slogan. Then we get practical: proclaim and witness. Proclaiming is heralding Christ’s terms of peace to all nations. Witnessing is telling, plainly and personally, what God has done in our lives—mercy given, peace supplied, healing experienced. If that feels daunting, Jesus meets us with a promise: power from on high. The Spirit’s dunamis is not about personality; it is about capacity to do what Christ commands.

Finally, we stand with the disciples at the ascension, where blessing, worship, and great joy send them back to the city ready to speak. That arc becomes our map: scripture opened, hearts awakened, message proclaimed, testimony offered, power received. If you’re hungry for a faith that is more than sentiment—and a mission deeper than self-betterment—this conversation will steady your steps. Listen, share it with someone who needs hope, and tell us what step you’re taking today. Subscribe, leave a review, and join us as we keep seeking Jesus and making His good news heard.

Transcript

Framing Luke’s Arc And Purpose

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You are listening to Heather Word with our pastor and teacher Ken Davis. Pastor Ken is the senior pastor of Calvary Chapel Southwest Metro in Burleson, Texas. Please join us as we study the Gospel of Luke verse.

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The Gospel of Luke begins in the temple with a priest that would not believe and could not speak. And it ends in the temple with a bunch of fishermen, tax collectors, and hoodlums, basically, who had met Jesus face to face, who had walked with him and learned from him, who had been touched by him, and who believed him.

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And you couldn't shut these guys up, but they were worshiping and praising God, proclaiming Christ and bearing witness to all.

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The Gospel of Luke is the third account in the Gospels of the life and teachings of our Savior, Jesus Christ. As believers, there are a few studies that will benefit us more spiritually than studying the life and teachings of the Master. Today, Pastor Ken concludes our study of the Gospel of Luke. It's been quite a journey through this book. Our hope and prayer is that through this study of the Gospel of Luke, you've seen your Savior, Jesus Christ, more clearly, that you've gained insight into the life that He's called you to live, and that you've been empowered to serve. Don't forget to stay with us after today's message to hear more information about He the Word, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. But for now, please open your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 24. As we join Pastor Ken for the conclusion of our study of the Gospel of Luke.

Messianic Prophecy Survey In The Psalms

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Psalm 2.7 portrays Jesus, portrays the Messiah as the Son of God. We see this fulfilled in Matthew 3.17. I'll go kind of slowly because I'm not going to repeat these except for this one. Psalm 2.7 portrays him as the Son of God, and it is fulfilled in Matthew 3.17. Psalm chapter 8, verse 2 portrays him as being praised by children. That was fulfilled in Matthew 21, 15 and 16. Psalm chapter 8, verse 6 portrays Jesus, portrays the Messiah as the ruler of all, fulfilled in Hebrews 2, 8. Psalm 16, 10, rising from the dead, fulfilled Matthew 28, 7 and other places. Psalm 34, 20 tells us that his bones would be unbroken. We have the testimony of that in John 19, verse 32, 33, and 36. Psalm 35, 11 tells us that he would be accused by false witnesses, which we see fulfilled in Mark 14, 57. In Psalm 35, 19, we show that he was hated without cause, and we see this fulfilled in John 15, 25. Psalm 40, verses 7 and 8 tells us that he would delight in God's will. We see the testimony of this in Hebrews 10:7. Psalm 41, 9 shows that he was betrayed by a friend. Luke 22, 47 fulfills that. Excuse me, 22. Psalm 110.4 tells us that he is a priest forever, which we also see in Hebrews 5.6. Psalm 118 22 tells us that he was the chief stone of God's building, which again is spoken of in Matthew 21, 42. And Psalm 118.26 tells us that he is the one who comes in the name of the Lord, which you see is the psalm of praise that they spoke and sang to him

Why The Cross Was Necessary

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in Matthew 21 9 as he enters in to Jerusalem triumphantly. And this is just the Psalms. The list would be as long or longer as we would read through the prophets and the rest of the scriptures. And then we find in all of this that it was necessary for him to die. See, it would have been something, wouldn't it? If we could have been forgiven, if if we could have been redeemed apart from the death of Christ, wouldn't that have been something? I mean, if we had been able to achieve some standard of goodness on our own that did not require him to suffer for our salvation, wouldn't that have been great? I mean, it seems like that's what most of the religions of the world are based upon, isn't it? Some form of works or something that man can do to come to a good standing before God. Don't you wish when you sin that you could go back and unsin? Don't you? Because even though we're forgiven, we so regret the things that we've done. And yet we can't do that, can we? Because we think, if only I hadn't done this, then this sacrifice would not have been necessary. Sadly, when we say that, we're not usually talking about the sacrifice of Christ. We're talking about the pain and suffering experienced in our own lives and in the lives of those around us because of what we've done. That's the sad part. When the true sacrifice, the true tragedy is the fact that because of our sin, Christ had to die. And not just for our sin, but for the sin of the whole world. And so Jesus, here in Luke 24, opens up these scriptures to them.

Jesus Opens Minds To Scripture

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And he opened their understanding, verse 45, that they might comprehend the scriptures. You see, he had taught them much of this before, he had told them much of this previously, and yet for some reason it never quite sunk in. But now they understood. Then he said to them, verse 46, Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day. And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you, but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power. All of these things had to happen. All of these things were necessary. And now that they were accomplished, Jesus opens up their understanding so that they really finally get it. And he says, now that you understand this, you have to understand that you have a job to do. There is something that he wanted them to do with this understanding that he had given them. And that is that they were to preach repentance and remittance of sins or remission of sins in his name to all nations. What does that mean? Well, we know the word that he used here for preached is caruso, which is to herald, to tell abroad, to publish, to propagate or publicly proclaim, to exhort, to call out with a clear voice, to communicate or to preach. That is, to give a public announcement of an official message and to issue whatever demands the message entails. So they had a message that they were to proclaim. And the proclamation of that message, that mission that they were given, has been handed down through generations of Christians to us today. And it is

The Mission: Preach Repentance And Forgiveness

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no less our responsibility than it was their responsibility. What that says is this we as Christians have a message to proclaim. We have an official edict or an official communique from the King of the universe, from Jesus Himself. Now, there are a lot of people today who will preach. That is, they will proclaim, they will have a message that they deliver. But far too often, particularly I think in America, the message that they are sending, or the message rather that they are proclaiming, is not what I would consider an official communique from the king. But rather, it is a message that they have developed on their own. It is a message that makes people feel good and that lines their pockets very often. It's a message that says, What do you want from life? God can give that to you, as though this life were to be the end all of our being. As though this life were where we were to find our joy and our satisfaction and our reward. But that is not the message that we see here in the gospel. The message that the disciples were given to proclaim, to preach, was not a gospel of wealth. It was not a gospel of prosperity. It was not a gospel that said, All of your diseases will be healed, and you will experience that blessed life here and now. That was not the message that they were preaching. The message that they were given to preach was repentance and the remission of sins. Repentance and the remission of sins. Now, the remission of sins is something that a lot of people preach that too. They say, Do you want to be saved? Do you want to be born again? Just pray this little prayer with me and you're good to go. You get your card stamped, right? Write that in the back of your Bible. Today is the day, and all of that. But there was something that preceded that salvation, wasn't there? There's something here that we see that precedes the remission of sins. And it's an important word that we talk about far too little today, and that

The Real Gospel Versus Prosperity Claims

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word is repentance. Repentance. The word, and I don't know if I'm pronouncing it right or not, in the Greek is metonea, which means to perceive afterwards implying a change. When we sin, in the moment that we sin, are we thinking about the consequences of that sin? Not usually. But rather we are caught up in our flesh and in our desires. And before we realize sometimes even what's happening, and sadly, sometimes even after we realize what's happening, we transgress. We violate God's law. We sin. And invariably, after we sin, there is a regret that comes, isn't there? We feel bad for what we've done, but let me tell you, regret is not the same thing as repentance. Regret will say, boy, I really wish I hadn't done that. But repentance is a change of heart. It's a change of mind, and it's a change of direction. Repentance says, not only do I wish I hadn't eaten that cake, but it is my intention not to eat that cake again. That's repentance. Now, in my own strength and in my own power, perhaps I don't have the ability not to eat that cake again. But my desire is not to eat that cake again. I turn from it. I turn from my sin and to Jesus Christ. Repentance. That was what they were to proclaim.

Repentance Defined Beyond Regret

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And the remission of sin. Ephesus, to send away, the word signifies a release from bondage or imprisonment, dismissal, sending away, and forgiveness with the added quality of canceling out all judgment, punishment, obligation, or debt. That was the message they were to preach. They were to go and they were to say to the people, listen, you have sinned. You have done wrongly, you have transgressed the law of God, and you are deserving of death. But if you will turn from your sin, if you will repent, if you will agree with God that your former ways were wrong, and if you will turn from them into him, then he will forgive you. He will eliminate the debt that you owe, and he will set you free. That is the message of the gospel. That Jesus Christ died for your sins. And that if you will turn from them and turn to him, you will be forgiven. It's not about feeling good. Can I tell you? If there is grievous sin in your life and you repent of your sin and you turn to Christ, you are forgiven. Doesn't necessarily mean you're still gonna feel good. Doesn't mean you're not gonna have regrets. Doesn't mean you're not gonna look back on the things that you've done and say, wow, that was stupid. I shouldn't have done that. Doesn't mean that the people that you hurt through your sin are unhurt. But what it does mean is that the penalty of your sin has been paid by Jesus Christ. And that as you follow Him and walk with Him, that He will bring you to a place of peace with Him. That's a great and an awesome thing. God can heal and restore and mend things that we never thought could be mended. But it's God who does it. And so He tells them that thus it was written and thus it was necessary for the Christ

Remission Of Sins And True Freedom

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to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. That means that the message that they are communicating is from Him. It's from Jesus. It's from the one who paid the price for our sins. That's who the message is from. And so they were to do two things. They were to preach or to proclaim this message, but there was a second thing that they were to do. They were to be witnesses of these things. That word witnesses is Martus. It is one who testifies to the truth that he has experienced. A witness, one who has knowledge of a fact and can give information concerning it. So what he was saying was this I've given you a message to proclaim. And then having proclaimed that message, I want you to bear witness of the things that you have seen. I want you to bear witness to the things that I have done in your heart and in your life. Aren't we glad that the disciples bore witness and that we have the written record of that witness today from which we can draw comfort and know truth? By the same token, there are things that God has done in your life. There are things relating to God that you have experienced. How many today have experienced the mercy of God in their lives? How many today have experienced the peace of God in their lives? How many today have experienced the healing of God in their lives? Now, when was the last time you told somebody about that? I'm not talking about going door to door and knocking on doors, although if that's what the Lord leads you to do, great. I'm not talking about standing on a street corner, preaching, carrying a cross. But if that's what God tells you to do, fantastic. If that's where the Spirit is leading you and how He wants you to serve. What I am telling you is this God has done incredible things for you, and it's your job to tell somebody about it. You don't have to beat them over the head with the Bible. You don't have to scream and yell and tell them they're going to hell. But what you do need to tell them is you know what? I was going to hell. I was lost. My sin had me by the scruff

Witnesses Who Tell What God Has Done

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of the neck and it would not let me go, but Jesus set me free. And if you want to be free, he can set you free too. Let me tell you how that happened for me. How hard is that to do? How hard is it to tell somebody about something that God did for you? You know, if we would just talk to everybody as though they were Christians about the things that God is doing for us, then I think a lot more of them would be Christians. You know what I mean? We'll come to church and we'll say, Hey, brother man, you wouldn't believe what the Lord did for me this week and da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. And just go on and on, and we'll say, Wow, that's awesome. That is so cool. That's wow, praise the Lord, right? And then we go to work on Monday and they're like, So, how was your weekend? I was all right. Good. Yeah, watch the game. Oh, yeah, went to church. Yeah. Yeah, nothing unusual. I mean, isn't that what we do? Why are we so close? Because we're afraid they'll think we're crazy. So be crazy. You're called to be a witness. You're called to testify of those things that God has done for you. Because if you don't, then how is he ever going to get the glory for it? Because the glory belongs to him, not to you. Amen. So they were to be witnesses. Well, you might say, well, Ken, that's really hard. I don't know how to be a witness. I feel so incomplete, so incapable, so unable to bear witness in that way. I really don't think I have what it takes to do that. Okay, ask for it and he'll give it to you. That's what he told them. He said this, verse 48, and you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you, but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high. That word power

Power From On High: The Spirit’s Enablement

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is dunamis. It is energy, power, might, great force, great ability, strength. That is, listen, guys, yes, you don't have the ability. Yes, you don't have the power. Yes, you don't have the strength. No, you're not capable of doing any of these things, but guess who is? God is capable, isn't he? God is able. God has the strength. God can bear witness. God can testify. God can preach. So all you've got to do is let God do it through you. Let God do it. Ask him to give you the power of the Holy Spirit, that dunamous power. And if you ask, what's he gonna do? Say no? Gonna say, well, okay, I'll tell you what. Why don't you read the whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation first and then we'll talk, right? Or why don't you spend, you know, five hours a morning in prayer and then we can talk about my Holy Spirit, right? Does he say that? No. He says, if you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, notice he even says that we're evil before he tells us what he's going to give us. If you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly father give you the Holy Spirit when you ask for it? How much more? He's like saying, Yeah, I know you're evil, but I'll still give you the Holy Spirit. I know you're evil, but you're still my children. I know you're evil. That's why I had to die. But now that we've taken care of that issue, let's get down to business. Let's do the work that he's called us to do. I'm reminded of the words of Zechariah 4.6, which proclaims, not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts. And he led them out as far as Bethany,

Ascension, Joy, And Unstoppable Praise

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and he lifted up his hands and blessed them. Now it came to pass while he blessed them that he was parted from them and carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen. The Gospel of Luke begins in the temple with a priest that would not believe and could not speak. And it ends in the temple with a bunch of fishermen, tax collectors, and hoodlums basically, who had met Jesus face to face, who had walked with him and learned from him, who had been touched by him and who believed him. And you couldn't shut these guys up.

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But they were worshiping and praising God, proclaiming Christ and bearing witness to all that he had done. May we follow their example.

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Truly, these are some of the most difficult times that many of us have ever seen. The economy is bad, work is sparse, and there's no shortage of strife

Encouragement, Promises, And Next Steps

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throughout the world. But as believers in Jesus, we've been given many great and precious promises. For instance, listen to this verse, taken from our current study. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear, therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows. You see, it doesn't matter how bad things get, God has promised to take care of us. Today's teaching was only part of a full-length message taught by Pastor Ken Davis on a Sunday morning at Calvary Chapel Southwest Metro, Burleson, Texas. To hear this message in its entirety, log on to heatheword.org. That's heedtheword.org. Once you're there, select the Listen Online page. Or if computers aren't your thing, that's okay, you can always call us. That number to call is 817-447-5675. That's 817-447-5675. Even if you're not ordering a copy of today's study, we'd love to hear from you. Knowing that God is using Heed, the Word for His glory, and to encourage His saints is one of our greatest joys. So call us today. This study through the Gospel of Luke has been a real eye-opener. Maybe you've been challenged in some areas in your walk with Jesus. Well, we want to exhort you not to just hear God's word, but to do it. Begin to walk in obedience to the things you're learning. From all of us here at Heather Word, we want to say thank you for tuning in, and may God richly bless you as you seek his face.