30th Mar 26 | 13:54
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Luke 24 36-49 COMMISSIONED TO BE HIS WITNESSES 05 19Apr2022 Luke 24 38-39 Life, by returning to the Overseer of our souls
📖 Luke 24:36-49
05 – 19Apr2022 – Life, by returning to the Overseer of our souls - Luke 24:36-49 - COMMISSIONED TO BE HIS WITNESSES - Bible reading: I Corinthians 15:20-22
“Thank You, Lord Jesus, that You are showing to us the crucial truth of the resurrection. The world can come out of its state of death and come into life. This is the message that the world must hear. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.”
Luke 24:38-39 And He said to them, "Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? (39) Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have."
The Lord was standing in the midst of the disciples and He began by making a significant statement, “Peace to you”. The Lord went further and addressed the problem of the disciples. The disciples were terrified at the appearance of Jesus. He wanted them to feel Him and know for certain that He was with them in flesh and bones.
The Lord was making every effort to get the disciples to be thoroughly convinced that He had risen.
The Lord is concerned for us, that we are deeply rooted in the fact of the resurrection. We have nothing to live for and nothing to offer to the world around us if we do not understand the resurrection. We are no more living in the state of death. We have moved from death to life. This is the reality of the resurrection. We died, we were buried and we have now risen with Christ.
The disciples were at their houses, not even considering the possibility that Jesus would rise again from the dead. They were terrified by seeing Jesus because the resurrection of Jesus was not in their thinking at all. They had resigned themselves to a reality that the chapter with Jesus, was over.
Like the two disciples, journeying to Emmaus, they decided that it was time to get back to their previous lives. This was how quickly they had given up on Jesus. It was now just a matter of self-preservation from the authorities. Dispersing from Jerusalem would be the logical thing to do, which was what the two disciples of Emmaus did.
The woman had come to anoint the body of Jesus. They did all the preparation of the spices because they wanted to honour the dead body of Jesus, but they never expected that the Lord would rise again from the dead.
For the disciples and for the women the matter of the resurrection of Jesus was not on their radar. This was a pathetic state. Pathetic, because, the Lord had told them repeatedly about His crucifixion, death, burial and His resurrection. Yet, they were so… faithless.
Friends, let us realise that this is who we are. We are finite, we are of dust and we are fragile. The Lord does not give up on brittle persons like us but He comes reaching us, for He wants us to be convinced about His resurrection. We are to be witnesses to His resurrection.
Now, that the Lord had risen and He was in their midst, it was too bewildering for the disciples to process all that was taking place. He was reprimanding and challenging them to come out of their perplexity and get a grip on the fact that He had risen.
Why is the resurrection so critical in our journey with Jesus?
I Corinthians 15:20-22 But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
Jesus is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. Jesus died and He was buried. This is important. People have died, medically, and have come back to life. Jesus died and He was buried. The burial of Jesus is crucial for us to appreciate His resurrection. Jesus was buried and He rose again on the third day, by which time, the body should have been in a state of putrefaction. This is the miracle of the resurrection of Jesus.
(21) For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. (22) For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.
Jesus had to become man and give us the solution to the problem of death. All of humanity is in a state of death. Man’s death had to be solved. Jesus, therefore, took our death and He gave us life. This is the message of resurrection that the world must hear.
Genesis 2:16-17 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, "Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; (17) but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."
What did Adam and Eve do, though they knew the command of God?
Genesis 3:6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
The problem with sin is that Adam chose to go away from God and go His own way. This is sin. Sin brought upon us, our death, which is what God had said would happen. We are surely dead.
I Peter 2:25 For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
Reconciliation with God is about coming back to our Shepherd and the Overseer of our souls. Life can be had in returning and in being subject to our Shepherd.
Thought to ponder
Is the resurrection worn out for you or is the resurrection what gives meaning to your whole life?