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Luke 24 9-12 MEETING THE RISEN LORD 01 08Mar2022 Luke 24 09 Our callousness must be broken
📖 Luke 24:9-12
01 – 08Mar2022 – Our callousness must be broken - Luke 24:09-12 - MEETING THE RISEN LORD - Bible reading: Luke 24:22-24
“Lord Jesus, we thank You that You do not want us to be doubting and speculative about Your resurrection. We need to be like the women who were so overwhelmed and captivated by Your resurrection. Forgive us Lord for our hardheartedness. Teach us to be childlike in our trust in You. In Jesus' name, we pray, Amen.”
Friends, we have completed the study of Luke 24:1-8 titled as JESUS HAS RISEN. We now start the study of Luke 24: 9-12, which we will title as MEETING THE RISEN LORD.
Luke 24:9-12 Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. (10) It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles. (11) And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them. (12) But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.
We realise that the women had a powerful encounter. The fact of resurrection had taken a grip on the women. They were transformed. They were beside themselves in joy and fear. It was a strange combination of emotions that the women displayed. The words of the Lord were all flooding into their consciousness and it was all clear to their understanding. The women were now on a special assignment from the Lord. This task was to tell the disciples of His resurrection.
Mark 16:7-8 But go, tell His disciples—and Peter—that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you." (8) So they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
Here are the changes that happened to the women. They went out quickly with the truth of the resurrection of the Lord, they fled with the task of telling the disciples, they trembled as they went, they were amazed, they did not speak with anyone else on the way for their mission had gripped them and they were also afraid, not in a negative way.
The underlying feature of these women was that they were surrendered to the truth of the resurrection. The women believed. The faith of the women was evident and could not be masked. Jesus being alive meant everything to these women. Life would never be the same again.
This was the response that the Lord longed for His disciples to have, not one of cynicism and scepticism. Compare the response of the women to the response of the disciples, to the truth of the resurrection of the Lord. The words of the women seemed as idle tales to the disciples and they did not believe.
The first big resistance to the truth of resurrection were the disciples. Isn’t that bitter to swallow?
Let us look, once again, at our two friends on the road to Emmaus. The disciples, not only heard the message of the women, but they would have observed their body language and realised that they were no more the same but were transformed by the truth of the resurrection. Yet, how did these disciples accept the message of the women?
Luke 24:22-24 Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us. (23) When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive. (24) And certain 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."
This is the level of apathy, hardheartedness and callousness that is being expressed by these disciples. This is disbelief.
The Lord longs from us a childlike response of trust in Him. Our callousness must be broken. Unless we have the trust of a little child, we cannot be a part of His kingdom (Matthew 18:3)
The Lord’s concern was for His disciples. The Lord was reaching the disciples for the Lord knew that they had a great responsibility upon them to reconcile all of creation back to God. We, in the 21st century, are beneficiaries of the work of the disciples but they were resistant at first.
Matthew 28:7-8 And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you." (8) So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word.
The situation remains the same, even now. The church seems to be reluctant to wake up to the reality of the resurrection of Jesus. The church is to be the healing balm of the nations (Isaiah 40:1). Whereas, we prefer our set forms of worship, which we can control. We are not willing to give ourselves to the unpredictability of the resurrected Christ.
Will we come to Jesus as a little child and be infected in the same way as the women, with the joy of the resurrection of the Lord? Will we allow our callous hearts to be broken?
Thought to ponder
Will you allow the resurrected Jesus to control you?