Tuesday, March 31, 2015

In the Morning: Luke 24

In Summary:

He is risen! It’s that easy to summarize Luke 24: HE IS RISEN!


In Focus:

Risen indeed! The certainty of the resurrection of Jesus echoes throughout this chapter. Wherever we might focus, that is what we will find. Whether you look at the angel at the tomb, or at Peter and his sprint to the tomb, or the two on their way to Emmaus, we see Jesus alive. When we look at the fish by the sea in 24:42-43, we see that He is clearly risen! Not just appearing to be alive, but Jesus is fully and truly alive.

These appearances were needed to reassure the disciples, including the women involved, because they knew He was dead. They had been at the cross. They had seen the body. They knew where He was buried.

Yet after all the darkness and sadness of the human story that ends in Luke 23, Luke 24 puts the focus right here: Risen, indeed!

In Practice:

At this point, for me, I accept the Resurrection of Jesus as a settled fact of history. I revisit the narrative to remind myself of the glorious hope that comes from knowing the Risen Christ and to ponder this section—What does it mean “In Practice?”

What does it matter that Christ is Risen? Am I living in the light of that truth? First, for certain, it matters that we can live in salvation from the wrath of God. Everything proceeds from that point. Because I am saved from the wrath of God, I live in gratitude to God. In all things, therefore, I seek to further His honor, glory, and reputation. All this above my own. Because I know salvation from the wrath of God is possible, I seek to proclaim it as far as possible. At times directly, at times through supporting those who will proclaim where I will not be.

Second to those considerations is this one: that life as we see it is not the end, and therefore not the primary concern. If something is only of value for a few decades, then it must take a backseat to eternal considerations. If the world around us turns against our faith, turns against our practicing the truth as we understand it, then what of it? If death is no obstacle for the power of God, then humiliation, ridicule, difficulty are all even less of a true problem.

Because He is risen, risen indeed, we as believers are able to walk boldly in obedience, glorifying God through our actions. The real issue is not about what we can do, or what we cannot do, but what we will do.

In Nerdiness: 

Nerdiness? How about the running thread of “wrapped in cloth” that goes from Luke 2 to Luke 23, with the earthly life of Christ done in Luke 24 when the cloths are left behind?


Consider the possibility that Luke draws a metaphor for the Incarnation here—at birth, the fullness of God is wrapped in human flesh. At death, in Luke 23, He is more evidently wrapped in that flesh than any other time. Yet in Luke 24, in the end, He goes back to revealing the fullness of Divinity rather than shielding it any longer.

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