Gone

Luke 24:51-53 (ESV) While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.

Luke’s Gospel ends in a rather ironic way. Jesus ascended to Heaven, and the disciples were really excited about it. Look at these words: “They… returned to Jerusalem with great joy.”  Suppose your fiancee just left you for a yearlong deployment overseas with no possibility of seeing you for twelve months. Would you feel “great joy” if you were truly in love? Yet, here we see the Savior of the world leaving his closest friends permanently (for this life), and they had great joy? Isn't this ironic?

The apostles’ emotions were certainly much different than they were at Jesus’ previous departure that first Good Friday. Their expectations of who Jesus was and what he came to do were shaken significantly by Jesus’ arrest, trial, and crucifixion. They did not expect him to die this way. Something changed when they saw the risen Christ, processed their doubts, touched him, and worshiped him. This is the first time Luke recorded the disciples worshiping Jesus. They understood who Jesus was and they understood what his real mission was. They also understood his mission was now their mission.

Notice also his physical departure did not mean a relational departure. They worshiped Jesus after he was gone. The joy came from embracing him as he was and embracing their part in his story. Luke continues that story in the Acts of the Apostles, and we can read how the once doubting and fearful disciples boldly changed the world with the message of Jesus.

Though Jesus is gone physically from the earth, he is still at work through those who worship him and accept his mission. He is not just an idea. He is alive. He alone brings great joy. I wish you that great joy for the coming year in every area of your life. 

Living Proof

Luke 24:38-40 (ESV) 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.

It may seem tough to believe that Jesus actually rose from the dead. Yet, this is the core doctrine of Christianity. The fact that Jesus conquered death is the basis of our hope of eternal life. Yet from the very beginning, people have struggled with believing the Resurrection actually happened. Even Jesus’ closest disciples struggled with doubt that first Easter, even while looking the freshly resurrected Jesus in the eyes.

Yet Jesus was not afraid of their doubts, nor did he condemn them for their questions. Jesus encouraged his disciples, as he does all of us who struggle with doubt, to check and see that he actually had risen from the dead. In his first appearance to all the disciples that first Easter evening, he invited them to check and see for themselves by looking at and touching the nail wounds in his hands and feet.

Even after the first touch, some were still wrestling with doubt (vs 41), so Jesus ate food in front of them (vv 42-43). Then he showed how his life and resurrection fulfilled Old Testament scriptures written hundreds of years before hand (vv 44-46). There was and is no shortage of hard evidence that Jesus rose from the dead, but the greatest evidence is touching him for yourself. It only took a few minutes for the once doubting disciples to worship Jesus (vs 52). Even then, they touched him before all their doubts were resolved. You and I do not need to have every question answered before experiencing Jesus’ touch and worshiping him. Reach out to him today.

The Other Christmas Story

John 1:1; 14 (ESV) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Like Matthew and Luke, John’s Gospel starts with the Christmas story. However, there are no shepherds, angels, or Magi. There is not even a manger or a star. Yet, John encapsulates the heart of the message of Christmas perhaps more clearly than any other Gospel.

Jesus is pictured as the Word, who was with God in the beginning and who was God (giving us a picture of the unique nature of the Trinity – relationship and unity). Jesus is the eternally existent agent of creation. Jesus came as light into a dark world, most of whose residents did not receive Him, but those who did (and do) become children of God (vs 12). The mystery of the Christmas incarnation is described in verse 14 as this eternally existent and divine Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us.

There has never been and never again will be a unique individual fully God and fully man. His incarnation gives us a glimpse of His glory, but also the glory of His Gospel: full of grace and truth. This and is a powerful one and demonstrates the necessity of Christmas. First, there is truth. That means there are also things false. The entire Bible communicates the consequences of choosing the false. The reality of truth also means that not all explanations of the world and our existence are equally valid. That can be a tough message to accept in a pluralistic, Postmodern world, but we can know the truth of many things, including who Jesus was and why he had to come. Because truth means consequences, we desperately need grace – forgiveness from our mistakes and access to an eternal relationship with God. This is the best news of Christmas. We needed a Savior, and Jesus (the only one who could save us) came, so that whoever believes in Him can become a child of God (vs 12). I pray you receive the greatest of all Christmas gifts today. Believe in Jesus. 

Unnamed but Not Unknown

Luke 24:13-15 (ESV) 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.

In Luke’s account, of the first two people to speak with Jesus after his resurrection on the first Easter, one is named Cleopas. The other is not named. They do not appear to be part of the core Twelve Apostles (actually eleven by that point, since Judas’ suicide had just taken place). Verse 33 says explicitly, “They returned to Jerusalem and found the eleven gathered together.” Yet, these two were part of Jesus’ inner circle. They were emotionally devastated by his loss. (vv 18-21) They heard the report of the women who first witnessed the empty tomb that very morning before they started the trip to Emmaus. (vv 22-24) Although we cannot say for certain they were at the Last Supper, they recognized Jesus as he blessed and broke bread in front of them. (vv 30-31; 35)

Luke spends a surprisingly large amount of time (21 verses) describing their journey and conversation with Jesus. This provokes a lot of questions. Why did Jesus spend so much time with these two otherwise obscure characters on the first day of his Resurrection? The journey and dinner must have taken several hours. Although Jesus appeared to Peter and later to the rest of the eleven, it does not sound like he spent nearly as much time with these who had the “title” and were recognized later as the first leaders of the church. (See Acts 6) Jesus seems to have intentionally sought out one man who was named only once in the whole New Testament and another who is not named at all to bring encouragement, understanding of fulfilled Old Testament prophecy, and reveal himself on this, the most significant day in history.

Although we are not told why, we can consider that any of us can be that unnamed disciple on the Road to Emmaus. It is not our titles, names, achievements, or prestige that compel Jesus to come to us. We do not even have to have a full understanding of who He truly is. Yet, if we walk with Him, listen to Him, search the scriptures with and for Him, and receive what He offers us, He will reveal Himself to us. I pray your heart burns within you (vs 32) as Jesus walks with you today.

Women First

Luke 24:9-10 (ESV) Returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now, it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles.

First Century Jewish women had a tough lot. They had few rights in both the official and unofficial laws of the land. They had no political voice. Their testimony was not even accepted in court. Yet, Jesus, the usurper, came to not only set us all free from the spiritual and eternal consequences of our sin. He broke many traditions of temporal bondage, too.

A group of women had followed Jesus and the twelve apostles closely throughout their ministry. They cared for their needs, both financially and physically (Matthew 27:55, Mark 15:40, Luke 8:2-3). They were at the cross when Jesus died and stayed long after the other disciples left. They followed Joseph of Arimathea to the tomb. They were the first to show up at that tomb after the Sabbath was over. Perhaps most surprisingly, they were the first to see that tomb empty. John tells us Mary Magdalene was the first to see and speak with the risen Jesus (John 20:15).

This was radical of Jesus to make his first appearance to women in a culture that gave them so little respect. It would have made more sense if Jesus had appeared to his disciples first. As it was, they did not believe what the women told them until the saw it for themselves (Luke 24:11).  If Jesus had appeared alive to the Jewish leaders who forced his execution, might they have changed their attitude towards him, brought the entire nation to faith, and spared themselves the grief of the horrible wars and destruction that came in the following decades?

Imagine if Jesus had appeared first to Pilate. He was next in line to Caesar. The entire Roman Empire might have responded. Yet, Jesus did not appear to any of them first. He appeared to women. What might be seen as evidence against the truth of his Resurrection is actually strong evidence for it. He did appear to the apostles several times afterward, but the fact he appeared to these women first and the apostles did not initially accept their report shows they did not make up this story. Self-deprecation was not in vogue in the first century. No one undermined their own credibility.

In the truest sense, women were the first evangelists (evangellion is Greek for Gospel or good news) of the Resurrection.  Women have had a vital place in God’s work ever since. Women were first on purpose.

Courageous and Generous

Luke 23:50-53 (ESV) Now there was a man named Joseph, from the Jewish town of Arimathea. He was a member of the council, a good and righteous man, who had not consented to their decision and action; and he was looking for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid.

It is unfortunately rare to find someone courageous enough to take his or her own position in opposition to the most elite and powerful group in the country, one that demands compliance from all its members. Joseph of Arimathea was one such person. He was a member of the Sanhedrin – the highest decision making body of the Jewish nation. Part of this council was responsible for handing Jesus over to the Romans to be crucified. Joseph had nothing to do with that. He was probably not invited to the meeting.

Joseph saw in Jesus something his colleagues were not willing to see. He saw the risk of losing their credibility by supporting Jesus was worth it in the long run. The Kingdom of God is far more valuable than the approval of people. Because he understood and believed, Joseph went out of his way in generous support of Jesus. He took a huge risk of public shame by asking Pilate for Jesus’ body. He had paid the huge expense to have a tomb cut out of rock then allowed Jesus to be the first set in it (ensuring he would be “unclean” by contact with another dead body). He even donated the linen shroud for Jesus to be wrapped in. This was no Walmart special.

Luke describes Joseph as a man “good and righteous.” Being courageously generous is a true demonstration of that. What might hold you back from giving Jesus your all? Is it a fear of what others might think or is it a fear of giving up something valuable?