Luke 24:36-49 NIV
36 While they were still
talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be
with you.”
37 They were startled and
frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. 38 He said
to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your
minds? 39 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.”
40 When he had said this, he
showed them his hands and feet. 41 And while they
still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you
have anything here to eat?” 42 They
gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it
and ate it in their presence.
44 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.”
45 Then he opened their minds
so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told
them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and
rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and
repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all
nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are
witnesses of these things. 49 I am going
to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you
have been clothed with power from on high.”
Jesus Always Comes Back
Jesus always comes back to us. He not only comes to us in the creation of
all things, he comes to us in the flesh as a baby, lives with us as a man, dies
for us in body, but he also comes back to us in resurrection. Again and again,
Jesus comes to us to be with us. God loves you. God loves me. God wants us to
be with him in eternity. Jesus always
comes to us and when we turn in fear, Jesus will come to us with a gift.
Jesus always comes back to us. Jesus comes to us with the gift of peace.
We don’t have to search for Jesus. My search for Jesus is pointless. Jesus
always comes to me and to you. I don’t even need to accept Jesus as my personal
Lord and Savior. No… Jesus accepts me and gives me all the faith I need to
believe, that Jesus always comes back to me and for me. It’s never about my
accepting Jesus. First and foremost, it’s about Jesus accepting me as his own
child. Jesus always does all the work. My first response is to sit in his
presence and be silent.
Jesus breaks through stone tombs,
locked doors and fearful hearts and minds. Jesus always comes back to us and
brings peace. “Peace be with you.” Jesus gives us peace and love. Sit back and
listen. Don’t jump up to do something. Listen to Jesus. We can jump later. For
now, realize that Jesus always comes back.
As Jesus comes back, take it in. Sit and fully take in the appearance of
his body. Feel the peace of his Spirit. Sit, first. This is the risen Christ
and he IS real! Jesus is visible and tangible. Look at how Jesus appeared to
his disciples in the Gospel passage. Sit. Take it in and see how real Jesus is.
Put yourself in the skin of the disciples. Sit and look at Jesus hands,
his feet, his side. See how real Jesus is. This account of the appearance of
Jesus is recorded for a reason. We too, along with the disciples, can look and
see through the eyes of the writer. Jesus is real! He’s not just your
imagination.
Jesus takes in a piece of broiled fish. Some accounts, such as the King
James Version, mention a honeycomb. The early church had a practice of giving
milk and honey to newly baptized converts. Not only that, I’m reminded of the
Israelites of the Old Testament crossing the Jordan into the Land of Milk and
Honey.
God has been taking care of his people, you, and I, and all creation, from
the very beginning of time. Jesus was present then, through all the times of
the Old Testament, and while he walked the earth in flesh, and even today. It’s
all real. The acts of God in Jesus and the Holy Spirit are so convincing that
people throughout time have witnessed to how real God is in life, death and the
world to come. You can’t make this stuff up.
Look at the facts, Look at the evidence.
Look at the accounts of people throughout time. Jesus is real. AND… Jesus
always comes back… Real… in the flesh real, and in Spirit real.
Yes! Jesus comes back to take us to the Promised Land of Milk and Honey.
This is the real deal stuff. Is this too
good to be true? No! It’s too good NOT to be true. Look at what took place.
Jesus suffered, died and was placed in the tomb. Yet… Jesus comes back!
Can evil be replaced with good?
See how it is today. Today we see poverty, homelessness, war, terror, addiction,
sexual immorality, gluttony, drunkenness, and many other harmful, dreadful
things all around us. Look at your own sins that you commit every day.
Will your evil be replaced with good, through anything you say or do on
your own?
Jesus always comes back. Jesus walks right through the evil of this
world. Jesus crashes through this sinful world. Jesus bursts through your own
tomb of sin and death. And what does Jesus do?
He greets each one of us with peace and love. Jesus always comes back.
And Jesus comes back to the world, to you, and to me, with Good News. Jesus comes
to us and spins us around from our sin and repents us. Repents us to be
forgiven by what he has done for us and to us. Sit first. Listen first. Be
repented by Jesus first.
As you sit and listen. Faith develops. Turn to Jesus the Word. Turn to
him, sit with him, look at him. Jesus IS real and he comes to you. As you sit,
listen, see and learn; you will believe.
And then…
Witness to the world that God sets you in. Witness to the people God
gives to you, in your place, in your life, where you are, day after day.
Witness to this free forgiveness. Witness to this love God has freely given to
you through Jesus.
Jesus IS alive. Yes, even today! Jesus IS alive, he IS real. See the
glory of God in the face of Jesus. No locks can hold him back. No stone, no grave,
no door, no, nothing can keep Jesus from always coming back to you, to me, to
the world that God loves.
God has been in the practice of granting free promises of salvation all
along. Jesus always comes back.
Gideon in the face of danger…
Judges 6:34 NIV
34 Then the Spirit of
the Lord came
on Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to
follow him.
And again and again, throughout Old Testament time.
With David…
1 Chronicles 12:18 NIV
18 Then the Spirit came
on Amasai, chief of the Thirty, and he said:
“We are yours, David!
We are
with you, son of Jesse!
Success, success to you,
and
success to those who help you,
for your God will help you.”
So David
received them and made them leaders of his raiding bands.
Perhaps
we think of Samson and how God helped him…
Judges 14:6 NIV
6 The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon
him so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might
have torn a young goat. But he told neither his father nor his mother what he
had done.
What’s the point? God is with us. God is with us and comes
to us in the flesh and blood of Jesus and in the protection and call of the
Holy Spirit. This protection and promise of God with us, has been going on throughout
all time. And this promise and protection, of God, through God will continue on
into eternity. This is God’s work.
As we see in this passage of Luke, the Church begins. The
Gospel is shown. Forgiveness is proven in the Words of Jesus and the evidence
of Jesus always coming back.
Yes, Jesus always comes back. Sit, listen, see and receive
all the faith you need to believe. Jesus always comes back. And yes, Jesus
graces us with a call from the Spirit. Jesus comes to us in peace and love and
breathes the Spirit into our lives…
So that…
We hear the call of the Spirit in our lives. We receive the
gifts we need from God to witness to Jesus’ life in you, in me and in all who
believe. Jesus is the vine and you and I are the branches that receive life
from the vine. Apart from Jesus, we can do nothing.
Yes, along with the tax collector, four fishermen and a
tent maker, and along the side of the multitude of saints that are before and
after you and I; we have been called by the Holy Spirit to use the words placed
within us to tell of THE WORD, the Jesus, the forgiveness of sin, the way, the life.
Who are we to tell?
All the world. All those God gives to us each day.
Tell them to be turned around. Tell them to be repented by
God. Tell them that all their sins have been wiped out. Wiped out for free without
any effort of their own. Tell them that the face of God is shining on them. Tell
them to stop, look, listen, sit and see Jesus… today… tomorrow… and forever.
Jesus always comes back!
And…
Even after death… Jesus will come again with a resurrection
of real bodies and come back to take us to be with him into the eternity of a
world beyond the destructive consequences of our sin.
Wow!
Jesus always comes back! Thanks be to God!
I leave you with this YouTube Video...
Listen to the Words (Peace be With You)
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