Too Good to be True?

What excitement there is in our last reading in Luke today (Luke 24:28-53)! The two guys, who just had their world turned around recognizing Jesus breaking the bread at supper, hightail it back to Jerusalem to tell the others. And right in the middle of "It is true! The Lord has risen" commotion, Jesus appears. And what does He say?  "Peace be with you."   Whoa, I'll say. The friends are so startled and frightened that He invites them to touch His hands and feet to prove He is not a ghost.

Then comes the phrase that I love; "they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement".  It is just too good to be true!  But the wonderful news for all of us is that it is true. He is alive!!!  (My, I could run exclamations to the end of the page :).

Our sweet Jesus ate fish in front of them to prove it to them physically, opened their minds on the scriptures about Him to explain it to them mentally, and then said to wait in Jerusalem for His gift of the Spirit so they could explain this Good News powerfully.  What more could He have done?

Let us respond as they did; " Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem (or our places) with great joy.  And they stayed continually at the temple (or His presence), praising God."

Burning Hearts

Yes!  We are to one of my favorite accounts in the whole record (Luke 24:13-27). Can you get the picture? Jesus - Jesus has just triumphed over sin and death and accomplished the mission He came for. He's got to be one happy and excited person. And He comes upon these sad faced two guys talking. He plays along with them and asks what they are talking about. They just look at Him and here is their answer; "Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?" Can you imagine! And still Jesus doesn't let the cat out of the bag, but says, "What things?" He listens while they go on about how He was killed and they were hoping for help and its been three days and some women said His body was gone and that He was alive.

Now its Jesus' turn to talk. He starts like my Daddy (who was a wonderful teacher) would have started. From their beginning. He starts with Moses and the prophets explaining how what has happened has been the plan all along. My..... Would not you have loved to have been there hearing the truth starting to light fires of new hope in their hearts?

Do that for us, Lord. May Your truth and grace give us all the fires of hope we need for this day. Give us burning hearts of love for You.

Unending Life and Love

That awful day finally ends when the Creator of the universe is crucified by His creation (Luke 23:44-24:12). But Love does not end. Jesus has meant so much to the women that they follow His body all the way to the tomb and then even go home and prepare spices and perfumes. He has meant so much to the women that after the mandatory day of rest, they come "at early dawn" on Sunday with the spices. The good news is that they weren't the first there. It seems like the Father was so excited about this event that He had not even waited for the sun to show up. The stone was rolled away, the tomb was empty, and we hear the two angels speaking those wonderful words, "He has risen".

And to think that the same Spirit who raised Christ from the dead "will also bring your mortal bodies to life through His Spirit who lives in you" (Romans 8:11). This is over the top!

Praise God for His unending life and love.

A Holiday in Paradise

Did you notice that in the midst of all the frenzied dance of evil in our reading today (Luke 23:18-43), there is one person who gets it? It is certainly not the demanding screaming crowd that just traded a savior for a murderer or the lamenting but misunderstanding women following and surely not the constantly mocking soldiers and religious leaders (who thought they had control now). It is not the abusive criminal hanging by Jesus who is despairing of life and any last chance.

But the other man. The criminal hanging on the other side. He still feared God and realized that he had done wrong and deserved this cross. And he knew something of Jesus ("But this man has done nothing wrong").  He still had some hope ("Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.").

This solitary mostly unknown criminal was rewarded with the words, the ticket, to a holiday better that he ever could have dreamed of.  Jesus said to him, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise."

Lord, help us to get to know You and never give up hope in Your saving grace.

Words of Life

In Luke 22:66-23:17 today, Jesus does come out and confess Who He is.  "And they all said, 'Are You the Son of God, then?' And He said to them, 'Yes, I am.' " And it sounds like this admission is the ticket to accomplishing the Father's will. "What further need do we have of testimony? For we have heard it ourselves from His own mouth." The good news is that the Father's will ends up (as we remember this week) in accomplishing resurrection and eternal life availability.

So I am again impressed with the power of our words. They do have the power of life and death.

Let's use our words this week (whether we feel like it or not) to bring hope and health and strength and life. It is what Jesus did.

 

Love in a Darkness Descent

Oh, how quickly darkness and trials descend on our Lord and His friends in today's reading (Luke 22:47-65). In just a few hours Jesus is betrayed by a close friend, arrested, deserted by most of the group, denied (not once, not twice, but three times) by His closest friend, mocked, beaten, and repeatedly insulted. As He told the persecutors: "this hour and the power of darkness are yours."

How does Love respond to this attack? The friends were ready to defend and used that sword Jesus had suggested in verse 36. But He says, "Stop! No more of this." Love is going through with God's will do matter what the cost.

And wouldn't that have been enough?  But no, Jesus has to pause and do it one more time. The victim of the sword, the head persecutor's slave, has just lost his right ear. Compassion still reigns and our gracious Lord "touched his ear and healed him."

You have to adore that kind of love.

Lord, help us to know the real You and fall hopefully in love.



 

The Thrill of God's Will

The evening is proceeding as usual in today's reading (Luke 22:24-46), as Jesus walks over to His normal camping place in the garden with His followers. But when He gets there He says something different; "Pray that you will not fall into temptation." And going a little farther, that is just what He does. But His words are sounding even more strange; "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done."
 It is then that the Father's will starts becoming evident as an angel appears from heaven to strengthen Jesus. I think in the crisis of the moment we often skip over that part. But an angel coming down in answer to prayer is a big deal! As Jesus went on to sweat blood in agonizingly fervent prayer, I know that angel from His Father was a huge encouragement.


I'm thinking that angel answers to prayer can be quite thrilling as we remember Who they are from. Let's not underestimate the possibilities of God's grace to answer prayer and get us through hard times.


Look out for the angel!