"And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, 'Peace be unto you.'
But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.
And he said unto them, "Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have."
And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet. And while they ---yet believed not for joy---, and --wondered, he said unto them, 'Have ye here any meat?'
And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them.
And he said unto them, 'These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the --law of Moses, and in the --prophets, and in the --psalms, concerning me.'
Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,
And said unto them, 'Thus it is written, and thus it behoved 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 among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
And ye are witnesses of these things. And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.' " - Luke 24:36-49
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Remember and Celebrate
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We are still celebrating the Resurrection this week ... why not ? ... and we have some wonderful things to share! We will be back with the Apostle Paul next week, but all of this week have been meditating on the Resurrection itself. As THE seminal, and defining moment in the history of Mankind, we feel it deserves a closer look... and what better way to apprehend it, than to get into the skin (figuratively) of that small band of people that experienced it for the very first time!
Our text this week is from the Gospel of Luke, and this passage of scripture has a very interesting context.
We all know the story of the disciples going to the tomb early on Resurrection Day to see the empty tomb for themselves. This was limited to a select few... Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James (Salome is added in Marks account) that told Peter, who came along with John (in Johns account) to see the empty tomb.
Peter and John leave, seeing the tomb empty... but Mary Magdalene stays behind - distraught and sorrowful.. her tears are proven to move the heart of God, because she looks into the tomb (John 20:11-18), and sees two angels - that were either invisible, or not there, when Peter and John looked inside! The angels so kindly ask her... "Why are you crying?".... wow... really?... - but this is not a dumb question.
Mary is not mourning the death of her Lord, she is upset that she no longer has an opportunity to minister to Him, even in His death. " And they say unto her, 'Woman, why weepest thou?' She saith unto them, 'Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.' "
She would have taken comfort even in ministering to His body, but even that was taken away from her and she is undone. She turns away to leave, unable to bear this any longer, only to come face to face with the gardner (she thinks) ... who might have know where he is.
There is no magic in her not recognizing Him immediately... her eyes are probably blurred with tears, and her grief stricken mind is no longer processing visual input with the same detail it once did.... shapes, colors and voices are blurring together... but there is one Voice, that says one word... "Mary." That is it... (John 20:13... read for yourself!)
Talk about a 180! She turns at the word, and all she can say is ""Rabboni"!!!! In an instant, her grief is turned to joy indescribable! Peter and John saw the empty tomb, but she is THE FIRST HUMAN PERSON to see Him RISEN... and she is the first EVANGEL.... taking the Good News to Peter and the disciples... but Mark and Luke record their reaction for us..
"And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not. " (Mark 16:11). "And their words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them not." - Luke 24:11.
The first Gospel unbelievers were Christ's own disciples!! ? So go easy on people who are not yet ready to adopt Him as Savior just yet.... ? In our text, we see them not believing "for joy.." even after they had seen Him with their own eyes!!!... but that comes later.
That same day, the first day of the week - we are given TWO appearances of Jesus.
One, to the disciples that evening where He shows them His hands and feet (John 20:19) and confirms Mary's account.
Thomas is not there at this meeting which is clandestine - John telling us that the doors were shut for --fear-- of the Jews. He will have to wait eight days before Christ appears to them (and him) next time! This first evening appearance is late at night on the Third Day.. (technically the 4th day...).
After appearing to Mary, Christ is recorded as walking with two disciples, (Cleopas is named as one), down from Jerusalem to Emmaus that Third Day afternoon - this was a 7-7.5 mile journey (60 furlongs is what is recorded) -- about 2+ hours at normal walking speed.
"And he said unto them, 'What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad?'
And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, 'Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days?'
And he said unto them, 'What things?' {:-)}
And they said unto him, 'Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him. But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, ----to day is the third day---- since these things were done. Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre; And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive. And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not. '" - Luke 24:17-24
They were at Jerusalem, they saw everything go down, AND they heard the witness of the women, and the disciples that went to the tomb! Now they are walking back to their hometown sad... you can read the rest of the story for yourself... Christ first educates them as a Rabbi would - without revealing Himself, but when they sit down to eat - He can't stop it any longer - Breaking bread/Communion involves relationship - and over the bread and wine - He makes Himself known to His own.
They cannot keep this news to themselves, so that very moment, they start their trek back to Jerusalem to tell the disciples! What a different journey that must have been, and joy must have given them wings -- for we see them back in Jerusalem, late that evening, joining the disciples in time for a very late dinner! Christ Himself being the Evangel here!
Let's hear what Christ has to say to this assembled group of people.
1. "Shalom".
The greek has it as "eirene humin" - Peace Be Unto You, in Luke's account - but we cannot think of this greeting as anything other than the traditional Hebrew greeting, which is both Peace and Hello!!! (Normal right ??)
The first words of God to His people, whether He speaks them, or Angels do --- is DON'T BE AFRAID! With Christ, He goes a step further, REMOVING even the FEAR of God and His Wrath/Holiness, to replace it with the Peace of being accepted by Him. He was our Peace offering, who permits us to approach God boldly, as a child may climb up on the lap of a king and tweak his nose with impunity... not being irreverent, but trying to show you a picture of our new status! We are restored back into favor with God again, by Him, who planned this day, waited for it, and now it's here!!!!
2. He addresses the elephant in the room immediately. "Why are you troubled, and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?"
It's hard to process. Even disciples that saw Him perform miracle after miracle are having a very hard time reconciling the person they SAW die a horrible death on the cross and be buried, with the sight of this... spectre... that suddenly appeared to say HI!!! This, in spite of the data dump given to them by Cleopas and his friend probably minutes ago!!! Are they seeing His ghost?
The Word of God does not sugar coat anything. We are given the reactions of real people, acting just like we would, with such transparency and honesty, we marvel at it! { In a post this week we have recommended the TV Series Chosen - not because it's yet another series about the gospel trying to make money off the Christian world... it actually tries to portray the impact of Christ's ministry by painting in character stories that illustrate the many facets of His ministry... and before you ask - NO - we are not compensated in any way, shape or form by the producers of that series for endorsing it - its for YOUR benefit! }
3. "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: ---handle me, and see---; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have."
We know God is a Spirit, as is the Holy Spirit & the Word is Spirit ("The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life")
.... so what is the Word Incarnate saying here? He was born the Son of Man, and this is a human form - whats going on here...??
This is a NEW THING!
The risen Christ is not a re-animated zombie... He elects to retain the marks of His Service in His resurrected body, but His body is touchable, and is HUMAN in form - complete with FLESH and BONES. He is able to pick up and eat food that is set in front of Him, which would be impossible for a non-corporeal spiritual entity to do! Eight days later Thomas will want to probe His side... and verify for himself that Christ has flesh and bones... this is BIG!
The Gospels and Acts record for us that Christ "shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them ---forty days----, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me." "After these things Jesus shewed himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and on this wise shewed he himself...." (Acts 1:3-4, John 21:1)
40 days of proving that He was risen, teaching His disciples what the Word said about Him, and opening their understanding so that they could teach others. Cool.... Mission accomplished right?!! Cross is done, Risen on the Third day, taught the disciples and now .... Christ is going to get out of town??... Yes.
Because after the Holy Spirit comes 10 days later, there is not going to be one, but many christs... (lower case)!
If the Spirit of Christ lives in you, as He did in the apostle Paul - the Spirit that empowered Christ to do His ministry, with answered prayers, signs and wonders done for Him by God Almighty - He makes EACH ONE OF US HAVE THE SAME POWER THAT CHRIST DID! We are all mini-Christs - Hallelujah!!!
We can pray and the hand of God will move. We can have compassion on our sick, and needy. We can heal those that need it. We can encourage and comfort those that are downtrodden. Best of all, we can preach the Gospel of Hope to a world that has lost its way in deep and dark depression.
He is Risen. He is Here, IN all of us!
He left so we could have the PROMISE of the Father, the gift of the Holy Spirit, so that we could glorify Him by walking in the good works HE HAS PREPARED BEFOREHAND for us that love Him. Instead of ONE CHRIST, now we have MILLIONS!!!
Every Human, built in the image of God Himself, can tap into the power that is always available, the assurances that are always unfailing, and the hope that persists through the all the fiery onslaughts of the enemy. We can cower in fear behind our doors like the early disciples, or we can be strong in spirit, confident of God's grace, and powerful to tear down mental strongholds erected by the devil.
Which is what happened. THese unbelieving fearful disciples went on to boldly declare the Gospel - death, torture and martyrdom holding no fears for them - because once you have seen something like this - will you ever be the same again?
We leave you with the last words of Christ to Thomas - Jesus saith unto him, "Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed."
That is the blessing for us, and all that believe. We are also privileged to live in a time like that of the disciples - a time the prophets longed to see - a time that is fast approaching. God has waited long, and there are not many momemnts left - we do not know the exact day or hour { but we have a pretty good idea of what to expect - check out our series on the Book of Revelation on our web site } - but like faithful servants, with our waists girded, and lamps burning - every day let us be about the business of our master for we do not know when He will come for us, or the world!
Peace be with you all!!! Don't despair - God is with you, your bread will not fail, you will have clothes, and a roof over your heads. Do not be troubled, only believe, and you shall see the salvation of the Lord!
Halellujah!