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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; He rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.
Mark 16:14
While they were still talking about this, Jesus Himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at My hands and My feet. It is I Myself! Touch Me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”
When He had said this, He showed them His hands and feet. And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, He asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?”
They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and He took it and ate it in their presence.
He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”
Then He opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”
Luke 24:36-48
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!”
After He said this, He showed them His hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you.”
And with that He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
John 20:19-23
This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
The women on their way to tell the disciples about Jesus being risen and alive, free from the tomb.
Mary Magdalene on her way to do the same.
Two men on the way home to Emmaus after spending the Passover in Jerusalem and witnessing all the events that led up to the crucifixion.
All received appearances from Jesus after His resurrection.
All went to report to the Eleven to report what had happened who then refused to believe them.
So what did Jesus do about that, about His most faithful, hand-selected disciples who rejected every single report that He was alive?
Well, as we see in this fourth message from the six message series on appearances Jesus made after rising up from the dead, He took out the middle men (and women) and went to the Eleven Himself (minus Thomas the first time).
John’s account tells us the disciples had locked themselves in, afraid that the Jewish leaders who did in Jesus would come for them next. Their plan did well to keep out their adversaries but it wasn’t as successful in keeping Jesus out.
For as they were still talking about the reports they had heard while having dinner, the scriptures tell us that Jesus appeared and greeted His faithful Ten, saying “Peace be with you.”
But the disciples were feeling anything but peace at this point. They were terrified, thinking that Jesus was nothing more than a ghost, an apparition that had no substance but more like a vapor with clearly defined shape. He was right there with them but they had their doubts that what they were seeing was real. John’s Gospel tells us that Jesus rebuked them for having a lack of faith and stubbornly refusing to believe those who reported they had seen Him.
So how did Jesus break through the disciples’ refusal to believe He was real?
The scriptures tell us He invited them to touch Him, showing them His hands and feet so they could see He was far from a ghost because ghosts didn’t have flesh and bones. The disciples still needed more proof before they could believe and so Jesus asked them for something to eat and they gave Him a piece of broiled fish which He ate right in front of them. No ghost has a fully operational digestive system so Jesus was proving to His faithful followers that He was a man just as much physically alive as they were. John’s Gospel tells us the Ten were joy-filled over seeing that Jesus was with them in the flesh, a once dead corpse now very much alive.
Now, this was the physical side of proof but Jesus wasn’t satisfied with just that being shown. No, He was interested in His disciples’ spiritual side as well. And so He opened their minds so they could fully understand the scriptures before reminding His followers that they were witnesses to Jesus’ Gospel spreading work, a work they would be expected to carry on after His ascension. Indeed, Jesus lets the Ten know here that they are being sent to pick up where He left off and indeed they do just that in the Book of Acts, a book we’ll be looking at by week’s end.
So the Ten disciples present had seen Jesus in the flesh. Indeed He was alive and well, just as the women reported after visiting the tomb, just as the men from Emmaus had testified. Now, Jesus just had to get through to Thomas and as we’ll see tomorrow, there a reason this particular disciple was tagged with the nickname, Doubting Thomas. We’ll see Jesus make a second appearance to His faithful ones and address the absent disciple then.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
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