Jesus Prepares and Sends Disciples
Here is my reflection on this coming Sunday's gospel. This was shared with the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church via our weekly e-ministry.
Gospel: Luke 24:36b-48
36bJesus himself stood among [the disciples] and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 37They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. 38He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 40And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” 42They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43and he took it and ate in their presence.
44Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” 45Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, 47and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48You are witnesses of these things.”
So how in the world did the Christian faith grow and spread throughout the earth in the first place? These early followers of Jesus were not brave and faith-filled—at least not in the beginning.
In this Sunday’s gospel, we read of the fear and doubts of these first disciples. So again, how did the faith grow? Even though Jesus had repeatedly told his followers that he would die, be raised and ascend to His Father, they still did not get it, so Jesus opened their minds to understand him as Messiah. Jesus then convinced them that he had been raised. Finally, Jesus sent his disciples on a mission to proclaim the message of repentance and forgiveness.
This pattern has not changed. Jesus opens our minds and hearts through the Holy Spirit to understand God’s Word and to grow in our faith. God convinces us of the reality of Jesus’ resurrection. As Paul wrote, “…and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain” (1 Cor. 5:14). This is an essential tenet of our faith.
When we let the living and written Word of God capture our hearts, we can then respond to Christ’s mission for us—to be witnesses of God’s love and salvation. Now if God can do so much with a small group of imperfect people in the first century, just imagine what God can do with us.
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