"Search Me": Five Challenging Questions...Between the Resurrection and Ascension of Christ

At the end of Psalm 139, which focuses on the extent of God’s presence and knowledge, the psalmist in v. 23-24, prayerfully submits his life to be searched by the Lord,

Search me, O God, and know my heart!
    Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting!

This is a risky prayer, for certainly there are “grievous” ways in our hearts, ways that grieve the Lord and grieve others. This is also a hopeful prayer as well in the request to be led in that better way, “the way everlasting!” God’s way will require me to be turned from my own.

Our study this week will be mainly from Luke 24, John 21, and Acts 1. These passages document, in part, the time between the resurrection and the ascension of Jesus Christ. It is filled with challenging questions from Jesus, angelic messengers, and disciples alike. We will consider five and then leave the sixth question for your own devotional study.

1) The Challenge of Belief (Luke 24:1-9) “Why do you seek the living among the dead?”

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn,

                they went to the tomb, 

taking the spices they had prepared. 

And         they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 

but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 

      While they were perplexed about this, behold, 

                       two men stood by them in dazzling apparel

   And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground,

                        the men said to them,

“Why do you seek the living among the dead? 

He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” 

And they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.

On that first Resurrection Sunday, we read that the women had gone to the tomb to further prepare the body of Jesus with the customary spices since his burial on Friday had been done in a hurry by a couple of guys (John 19:38-42). And they couldn’t possibly have done it right! The problem wasn’t their intent to do a good job but their failure to remember what Jesus had told them before he died. There were two different “men” who met them at the tomb and asked them a challenging question that set them on the path of belief.

The angels, appearing as men “in dazzling apparel” (I jokingly refer to them as the “Men In Bling”) asked the women, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” My paraphrase of this question is actually an emphatic statement, “Start to believe!” You see, the women were doing everything to honor Jesus as dead (hence the spices) when he had said that just as surely as he would be killed, that he would as certainly rise again on the third day.

This situation makes me wonder how much time we spend looking back and longing for something to be what it once was, when Jesus’ plan is for so much more?

In the Old Testament book of Haggai, it tells of the reaction of the people after the foundation for the second temple had been laid,

‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes? Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the Lord. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the Lord. Work, for I am with you, declares the Lord of hosts, according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt. My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not…

The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.’ (Haggai 2:3-9; see also Ezra 3:12-13)

Think about a photo album that we might have in our home. If we pick it up and look through it will our memories prompt us to gratitude or discouragement? It is a choice. Will we choose to believe that Jesus is at work even through difficulties and loss? The solution is not that everything would go back to the way it was, but that it might become what the Lord desires for it to be. This will involve a lot of trust!

2) The Challenge of Devotion (John 21:15-17) “Do you love me?”    

If I were to paraphrase this question, I would say it sounds like, “Is that your final answer?”

Peter had previously bragged that though everyone else would fall away, he would not fail, even unto death. Jesus, in turn, informed Peter that he was wrong and would deny him three times before the rooster crowed the next morning. Ouch! Jesus was right. Peter, when realizing what he had done to protect himself, wept bitterly (Matt. 26:75; Luke 22:62). Now, a couple of weeks later, on a fishing trip in Galilee, Peter again comes face to face with Jesus, and Jesus addresses the proverbial “elephant in the room” right there on the beach.

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter,

“Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” 

He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.”

He said to him,      “Feed my lambs.” 

He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” 

He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.”

He said to him,      “Tend my sheep.”

He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” 

Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and

he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.”

Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep." 

Jesus asked a question of devotion. Would Peter be devoted to saving his own life or in love and trust be willing to consistently lay his life down for the care of Jesus “flock”? What about us? Are we going to be devoted to saving ourselves or serving others? Jesus said, “Feed my lambs…tend my sheep…feed my sheep” instead of becoming like the violent shepherds the prophets had called out centuries earlier. Our devotion to Christ is expressed most clearly in our love and care for others. His mission is tender, relational, practical, and ongoing. But what about others?

3) The Challenge of Comparison (John 21:18-22) “What is that to you?”

     Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, 

                                     you used to dress yourself

      and walk wherever you wanted,

                     but when you are old,

                                     you will stretch out your hands,

 and another will dress you

                     and carry you where you do not want to go.” 

¹⁹ (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.)

And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”

²⁰ Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them… 

When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” 

²² Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come,

              what is that to you? 

                                     You follow me!” 

As Jesus was revealing to Peter the uncomfortable news about Peter’s manner of death, Peter seemed to want to change the subject, or at least look for some company on that hard road, by comparing his fate to that of John. “Lord, what about this man?” How often do we do the same thing? When faced with bad news, or walking through difficult circumstances, do we compare ourselves with others?

Jesus’ answer, in the form of a challenging question, is as instructive to us as to Peter, the gist of which is, 
“What is that to you? You follow me!” 

So when we find ourselves falling into comparisons this week, let us take v.22 to heart. It is a spiritual wake-up call. We are not to be concerned about God’s plans for others but with our decision to follow Jesus with a fully devoted heart. I encouraged my congregation to write, “What is that to you? You follow me!”  on a notecard and to put it on their dashboard, desk, or mirror, as a ready reminder that there is no room for envy or comparison as we follow our Lord Jesus Christ!

4) The Challenge of Mission (Acts 1:1-8) “It is not for you to know…”

As we leave the Gospels and venture into the Book of Acts, it is helpful for those new to the Bible that Acts is “Luke, Part 2”. Which reminds me that God’s Not Dead, Part. 2 came out this week and well worth watching. Let’s take a moment to read the first few verses to set the scene and then notice the question the disciples ask and Jesus’ surprising answer.

In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, 

“It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 

It was only natural that the disciples should ask the question about the kingdom and Israel that was born out of their original Messianic expectations and the strong Old Testament link between the coming of the Spirit and the Kingdom age. However, the timing of their question sounds like, “OK, now are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” It seems as if Jesus’ answer is of the “Not telling!” variety. Years ago, I heard the late Dr. Guy P. Duffield preaching on this passage and the title of his sermon was, “Mind Your Own Business!” Jesus was basically telling them that they were asking the wrong question. Instead of restoring the kingdom to Israel at that time, he was extending the kingdom to the world. While the timing of end-time events was not for them to know, there were two things that they really needed to understand right away: (1) “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.”, and (2) “You will be my witnesses”. They were to be empowered witnesses in an ever-increasing circle that some have said correlates with the four stages of the Christian mission. As you can see, this mission of extending the kingdom would take those first Christians out of their geographical and cultural comfort zones. It still works that way today.

• Jerusalem (Geographically: Here—Where we are; Culturally: Our own) How do we witness of Christ and his resurrection life in our own family, and our church family? Are we filled with hope or do we mutter and complain?
• Judea (Geographically: Near; Culturally: Similar) Where is this for us? Certainly, it would include our neighborhood, our work environment, or our school. We can and should be witnesses to those who have similar habits and interests as we do.
• Samaria (Geographically: Near; Culturally: Distant) Where is this for us? Who are those perhaps in the next neighborhood, or even at work or school who are not part of our natural in-group but are accessible should we choose to engage. Who is near but out of our comfort zone? These divisions happen as a result of race, religion, politics, socio-economic strata, education, etc. Such outreach will not happen unless we are intentional about breaking down the social walls that divide us.
• to the end of the earth (Geographically: Far; Culturally: Distant) How can we witness to the far and the distant? Aside from the traditional role of the foreign missionary, we can witness beyond our homeland through modern communications (email, Skype, Blogs, etc.), prayer, financial support for mission work, cultural learning, as well as befriending refugees and immigrants, and participating in relational short-term missions to name a few.

That brings us to our final challenging question for this week...

5) The Challenge of Obedience (Acts 1:9-14) “Why do you stand looking into heaven?”

And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, 

“Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This [same] Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

After Jesus ascended into heaven the two “men” returned with another challenging message. It helps to know that “angel” means" messenger". They bring a message from God to the stunned disciples on the hilltop. If I were to put the implied message bluntly, it might be, “You’re still here?” Or even, “Get to work!” Standing and staring was not appropriate given what Jesus had just told them. 

Remember what he said? They wouldn’t see him again until he returned…and that certainly wouldn’t happen right away. His parables often hinted at a delay and his prophecy about Peter growing old and being crucified put his return out at least a few decades. “Such gazing into heaven was inappropriate because of Jesus’ instructions and promise about the Spirit.” (David Peterson, Acts) He told them to do at least three things:

• Stay in Jerusalem,
• wait for the Holy Spirit.
• be witnesses—“the master will return and call his servants to account”

How did they respond to this challenge? (v. 12-14)

Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet,

which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away. 

    And when they had entered,

                     they went up to the upper room,

          where they were staying,

Peter and John and James and Andrew,

Philip and Thomas,

Bartholomew and Matthew,

James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. 

      All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer,

together with the women

                                     and Mary the mother of Jesus,

                                     and his brothers.

They believed, they were devoted to Christ and each other, they stopped comparing and started following Jesus, and began to obey the Lord by waiting in Jerusalem (together in prayer) for the gift of the Holy Spirit! What will we do in response? I pray that we can do the same in our context! May we all learn from their example!

The following section addresses the sixth question for our own personal study this week. If we read the texts listed, we should be able to fill in the blanks for ourselves, and ask the Holy Spirit how we should apply them in our life together!

More Questions: When Jesus Comes Back, Will He Find Us…?

• Awake and ___________ (Matt. 24:42-43; Mark 13:32-37; Luke 12:35-40; 21:34-36; 1 Thess. 5:6; Rev. 16:15)
• With _________ in our Lamps (Matt. 25:1-13; Luke 12:35)
• Treating our fellow ____________ lovingly (Matt. 24:45-51)
• Using our God-given talents ____________ (Matt. 25:14-30; Luke 12:42-48)
• Taking up our cross and _______________him (Luke 9:23-24; Mark 8:34-35; Matt. 16:24-25)
• _________________ one another (John 13:34-35; 15:12-17; Rom. 12:10; Gal. 5:13-14; 1 John 3:23; 4:7-8)
• ______________________ evil with good (Rom. 12:20-21; 1 John 5:3-5)
• Preaching ___________________ and making disciples (Matt. 28:19-20; Mark 16:15-16)

“For This Purpose…”

Encountering The Risen Christ in the Crisis of our Disappointment

In the last several weeks we have been following Jesus’ journey from Galilee in the northern part of Israel south to Jericho and then West to Jerusalem that one final time. As we have seen in recent posts, Jesus was purposeful in preparing his followers for his coming death and resurrection. Today as we reflect on and celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, we will use this concept of “purpose” to walk through not only Jesus’ death and resurrection, but the crisis of disappointment faced by his disciples—specifically the two who were walking to Emmaus that Sunday morning.

1) A Purposeful Life—To Glorify/Reveal the Father (John 12:27-33)

His very life was filled with purpose—from the 200+ Old Testament prophecies that revealed centuries in advance much about his birth, life, suffering, and death, to the prophecies given by faithful men and women surrounding his birth (Anna, Simeon, etc.). His life and ministry was so tied to what theologians call the Missio Dei (the Mission of God) that Jesus himself in John 5:30 said, “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.” And again, in John 8:28-29,

 So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up [i.e., crucified] the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me. And he who sent me is with me. He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to him.”

Yet, for all this, the disciples initially misunderstood the trajectory of his mission. Jesus however knew full well what he was facing, and while it troubled him, it did not turn him from his mission. Let’s take a look at John 12:27-33!

“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say?

‘Father, save me from this hour’?

                       But for this purpose

         I have come to this hour.

 Father, glorify your name.” 

Then a voice came from heaven:

 “I have glorified it, and

  I    will glorify it again.” 

The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered.

       Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”

Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. 

    Now is the judgment of this world;

    now will the ruler of this world be cast out. 

    And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 

He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die. 

Jesus knew his purpose—He wasn’t confused (v. 27, 32).

“For this purpose I have come to this hour” is a precise and profound statement. We might say, “I am here for a reason”, but rarely do we know with enough certainty to say, “for this reason” much less, “at this very moment”! However, Jesus’ life was not spent wandering about with a vague sense of his messianic calling which only became clear near the end. As God the Son he knew it before the foundation of the world when we were chosen in him (Eph. 1:3-4)! As the Son of Man we see him proclaiming knowledge of his purpose when he was 12 years old in the temple, “Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” (Luke 2:9 NKJV).

Jesus’ purpose was compassionate—he wasn’t co-opted (Luke 4:42-44).

Early in his ministry, the people of Capernaum (his adopted hometown) came to think of Jesus as their own local teacher/healer and sought to keep him to themselves. However, Jesus purpose compassionately extended to a much larger “target audience” than that.

And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place.

And the people sought him and came to him,

   and would have kept him from leaving them,

                                          but he said to them, 

“I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God

                        to the other towns as well;

                                      for I was sent for this purpose.” 

⁴⁴ And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea. (Luke 4:42-44)

Jesus was committed to his purpose—no emotional crisis would deter him (v.27).

We see this in his admission of emotional pain in, “Now is my soul troubled” (v.27) and later in the Garden of Gethsemane, “My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me.” (Matt. 26:38) Nevertheless we see that, “He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, ‘O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.’” (v. 39) It seems only too natural for us to switch into fight or flight mode when we experience our own emotional pain, yet Jesus did not defend himself. Instead he extended supernatural forgiveness to his persecutors—even while nailed to a cross. Such abundant grace, even in death, convinced the Roman centurion supervising the execution, “And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, ‘Truly this man was the Son of God!’” (Mark 15:39)

Jesus’ purpose was to reveal the truth—not to start a war (John 18:36-38). 
When Jesus was on trial before Pontus Pilate, the Roman governor, Pilate asked Jesus if he was “the King of the Jews” and “What have you done?” This famous dialogue goes like this,

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of    this world.

                          If my kingdom were of     this world, 

                             my servants would have been fighting,

                                   that I might not be delivered over to the Jews.

                       But my kingdom is not from the world.” 

Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?”

Jesus answered,     “You say that I am a king. 

 For this purpose I was born and

  for this purpose I have come into the world—

                                 to bear witness to the truth. 

                               Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” 

        Pilate said to him,                  “What is truth?”

What Pilate didn’t understand was that “truth” was more than an abstract philosophical concept. As a result, Pilate asked the wrong question. Instead of asking, “What is truth?” he should have asked, “Who is truth?” Even so, Pilate pronounced him innocent but let him be killed anyway. That was Friday. This is Sunday and we join the story in progress as late in the afternoon two disciples are on the road walking the seven miles to Emmaus.

2) The Crisis of Disappointment (Luke 24:13-24).
Easter may catch us in the crisis of our own disappointments just as it did the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Last week I mentioned the “troubling expectations” of the people in Jerusalem that week. Their ideas of what Jesus had come to do were inaccurate at best. And now, with Jesus dead and in the grave for three days it seems that the disappointment was overwhelming for these two men. We don’t know why they headed to Emmaus but put in the same situation, I would want to get away from the site of such a terrible injustice and might prefer to process my loss “on the road”.

Disappointment must be processed our it will process us. I recently spoke with a long-time supervisor of pastors and he said that he had found that the moral and ethical failures of those in church leadership almost always are related to…

1. Unresolved personal betrayal
2. Unresolved injustice
3. Unfulfilled expectations (e.g., broken promises)

These two disciples were not sinning by leaving Jerusalem, but it appears that they were separating themselves from the community—at least temporarily. In the wake of the betrayal by Judas, grave injustice at the hands of Jewish and Roman leaders, and their own unfulfilled expectations, what did these guys do? They split town. Were they going home or did they just need to get away after such a tragic loss? We don’t know for sure. We do know that God loved them too much to let them go.

Jesus, even as a child newly come into the world, it was for a purpose. Each year we

celebrate Christmas—the incarnation—with a Christmas tree; symbolic of all we have in Christ. But what we have can never be separated from the cross of Christ—our new name, character, purpose, family—see it coming from God’s love poured out at the cross. Now picture the same tree, with all of its lights and ornaments removed, and its beautiful branches pruned off. Perhaps that is how we feel today—ugly, stripped, without hope, good only for the fire. Perhaps that was how the two disciples felt. Let’s consider their story, their crisis of disappointment, and find hope for our own!

Luke 24:13-24 

That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus,

                                                             about seven miles from Jerusalem, 

   and they were talking with each other

                            about all these things that had happened. 

While they were talking and discussing together,

    Jesus himself drew near and went with them. 

    But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 

And he said to them, 

        “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” 

And they stood still, looking sad. 

Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?”

And he said to them, “What things?”

And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. 

But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.

Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened.

Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” 

They were absolutely stunned that there was someone who wasn’t feeling the way that they were feeling. There is currently a television commercial that makes use of the improvisational acting phrase, “Yes, and…” as a way to continue the story. In this biblical narrative, Jesus basically answered their question with a “Yes, and…” when he asked, “What things?” They then tell about the death of Christ and their own unfulfilled expectation, “But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.” (v.21) Apparently they didn’t want to stop with the “But we had hoped” point and in v. 22 they themselves used the “Yes, and…” phrase to segue into what was happening that very day.

They didn’t get it. Their world had caved in, their expectations crushed, & their hearts grieved. Even though things were happening in accordance with Jesus’ predictions they still didn’t understand. But God didn’t leave them there in their crisis. In our culture, we often forget about the caring will of the Father and must train our eyes to see his therapeutic love!

And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing

                   of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.

For this is the will of my Father,

                         that everyone who looks on the Son

                                                and believes in him 

                        should have eternal life,

                              and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:39-40)

In this case, the story is not over. Jesus came after them, like a shepherd seeking his lost sheep (Luke 15:4) and gently, relationally, Jesus begins to roll away the stone of their doubt.

3) The Stone of Their Doubt Was Rolled Way (Luke 24:25-34)

And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and

                                   slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 

Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things

                                                                  and enter into his glory?”

   And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets,

             he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

So they drew near to the village to which they were going.

             He acted as if he were going farther, but they urged him strongly, saying,

“Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.”

        So he went in to stay with them. 

   When he was at table with them,

              he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. 

And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him.

And       he vanished from their sight.

They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us

    while he talked to us on the road,

    while he opened to us the Scriptures?” 

   And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem.

   And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, 

        saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” 

Then they told what had happened on the road,

        and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

While much could be said about this narrative, let me just make a few simple observations about how Jesus rolled their doubts away, that first Easter Sunday:

• He listened to their story of disappointment (v. 19-24)
• He reminded them of Jesus’ purpose (v. 25-26)
• He opened the Scriptures (v. 27, 32) to show why it was necessary for the Christ to die.
• He opened their eyes (v.31) to see him for who he was. 
• He kindled their hearts to share the good news. (v.32-35)
• He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures (v.44-45)

"Opening" is a key theme in this passage. The Greek word translated “opened” is dianoigō a strengthened form of anoigo. It occurs eight times in the New Testament, six of which are found in Luke and three of them are here. I might add that belief is not narrow-minded, but disappointment can be very limiting. Jesus opened the Scriptures, their eyes were opened, and he also opened their minds to understand. I don’t know about you, but in my own crises of disappointment, I depend on the Holy Spirit to lead me out of the cave of my own unmet expectations. On that road to Emmaus, what was dark and confining was transformed into a life of renewed hope and purpose. These two disciples, Cleopas and the other guy (or gal), could not help but run and tell the others. They couldn’t keep the good news to themselves. The lifting of their disappointment also appears to have changed their heart towards the community. What is it in our lives that we can’t help but talk about? The answer is quite revealing.

4) “Thus it is written”: In His Purpose, We Find Our Own! (Luke 24:35-49)

 As they were talking about these things, 

Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” 

 But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. 

 And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 

                         See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. 

Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones

              as you see that I have.” 

 And when he had said this, 

                   he showed them his hands and his feet. 

And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, 

           he said to them, 

              “Have you anything here to eat?” 

 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them.

 Then he said to them, 

“These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, 

          that everything written about me in the Law of Moses

                                                           and the Prophets

                                                           and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 

 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 

        and said to them, 

                  “Thus it is written, that

                                           the Christ should suffer

                               and on the third day rise from the dead, 

             and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed 

                          in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 

 You are witnesses of these things. 

 And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you.

             But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

What had been written about Christ that “must be fulfilled”? First, that he would suffer and die and then be raised from the dead on the third day. Second, that the compassionate proclamation of the Gospel would be made to all nations. Thirdly, to fulfill this, Jesus called his followers (and us) into his purpose as the mantle was passed—“you are witnesses of these things.” Finally, Jesus was sending the promise of the Father— the Holy Spirit to not merely empower them and send them as he had been sent, but to connect them relationally to the love of the Father. This should sound familiar. Jesus invites us to share in his purpose. We don’t have to wonder why we are here. We are “witnesses of these things” and are commissioned to be a part of the compassionate proclamation of the Father’s love.

However, we may question our ability to be a part of such a wonderful cause. What if we have really made a mess of our life? Are we still included in this purpose? The answer is the same for all of us. We are qualified by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ alone. In addition, we have the example of Saul of Tarsus (aka Paul) who in his ISIS-like fervor to wipe out Christians was confronted by the risen Christ (Acts 9) and transformed into the great apostle of the faith. As he told it in his own words, in Acts 26:14-18,

Paul on Road (Ely Cathedral)

And when we had all fallen to the ground,

I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, 

‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?

             It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 

And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’

                               And the Lord said,

‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 

               But rise and stand upon your feet,

for I have appeared to you for this purpose,

                                to appoint you as a servant and witness

                                to the things in which you have seen me and

                                to those in which I will appear to you, 

                    delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—

to whom I am sending you to open their eyes,

                          so that they may turn from darkness to light

                                                      and from the power of Satan to God,

                              that they may receive forgiveness of sins

                               and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

Is It Not Necessary?

He came that we might believe in him and might have life in his name.

But we must respond to his love with our trust in him as our risen Lord. He is still seeking us--even on the road from our greatest disappointments. Will we tell him our story and listen to his answer?

Who is this Jesus of Nazareth? What had we hoped? It is important to realize that he cannot be merely a prophet or a good moral teacher for he claimed to be Lord. If he is not who he said he was then either…

• he knew that he wasn’t Lord and is thus a Liar, or
• he didn’t know that he wasn’t Lord and is thus a Lunatic.

There really is no middle ground. Will we allow him to open to us the scriptures that speak about him, to open our eyes to see him as he really is, to open our minds to understand, and finally to kindle our cold hearts to tell others what he has done for us?

I pray that we will do so today.