EVANGELIST GEORGE MUELLER WROTE, “FAITH DOES NOT OPERATE IN THE REALM OF THE POSSIBLE. THERE IS NO GLORY FOR GOD IN THAT WHICH IS HUMANLY POSSIBLE. FAITH BEGINS WHERE MAN’S POWER ENDS.” THIS IS A POWERFUL WAY TO REMEMBER THE WORDS OF THE ANGEL TO MARY IN LUKE 1:37, “FOR WITH GOD NOTHING SHALL BE IMPOSSIBLE.”
THE EASTER SEASON REMINDS US TO CONQUER FEAR AND TO BRING OUR DOUBTS UNDER THE POWER AND AUTHORITY OF GOD. THE WORDS OF JESUS TO THOMAS IN JOHN 20:27, “STOP DOUBTING AND BELIEVE.” IN THE GREEK TEXT, JESUS IS LITERALLY SAYING, “DO NOT BECOME FAITHLESS, BUT FULL OF FAITH!”
FAITH IS ESSENTIAL! HEBREWS 11:1, “FAITH SHOWS THE REALITY OF WHAT WE HOPE FOR; IT IS THE EVIDENCE OF THINGS WE CANNOT SEE.” GOD IS GOOD. GOD IS JUST. GOD IS TRUSTWORTHY. GOD IS HOLY.
PROVERBS 3:5-6, “TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART; DO NOT DEPEND ON YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING. SEEK HIS WILL IN ALL YOU DO, AND HE WILL SHOW YOU WHICH PATH TO TAKE.” GOD’S PROMISES ARE CLEAR. HE IS ABOVE ALL THINGS; HE KNOWS ALL THINGS; HE CAN DO ALL THINGS. AND HE WILL NEVER LEAVE US NOR FORSAKE US.
THERE IS COMFORT IN KNOWING THAT WHEN JESUS APPEARS TO THE BEWILDERED AND CONFUSED DISCIPLES, HIS FIRST WORDS ARE, “PEACE BE WITH YOU.” ALTHOUGH THIS WAS THE COMMON GREETING OF “SHALOM,” IT TAKES ON A NEW MEANING NOW THAT JESUS IS SAYING IT AND OFFERING IT AFTER HIS RESURRECTION.
HE WAS BOTH GREETING HIS FRIENDS, AND ENCOURAGING THEM THAT GOD’S PEACE WOULD BE WITH THEM AT ALL TIMES. THE PEACE HE SPOKE OF WOULD BE PERMANENT AND SUSTAINING FOREVER. THE PEACE HE GIVES CONQUERS FEAR, DOUBT, DISBELIEF AND ANYTHING THAT CAN DISRUPT OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR HEAVENLY FATHER.
APPEARING SUPERNATURALLY TO HIS DISCIPLES TERRIFIED THEM AS THEY THOUGHT HE WAS A GHOST. JESUS OPENS THEIR MINDS TO THE SCRIPTURES. JESUS SHOWS THEM HIS HANDS AND FEET. HE EVEN TAKES PREPARED FISH AND EATS IN THEIR SIGHT. I REALLY LIKE WHAT JESUS TELLS THEM! VERSE 39,“YOU CAN SEE THAT IT’S REALLY ME. TOUCH ME AND MAKE SURE THAT I AM NOT A GHOST, BECAUSE GHOSTS DON’T HAVE BODIES, AS YOU SEE THAT I DO.”
IT WAS JESUS! HE WAS ALIVE AND HAD RISEN FROM THE DEAD EXACTLY AS THE TWO MEN FROM EMMAUS HAD JUST REPORTED. THERE COULD HAVE BEEN SHOUTING AND CELEBRATING, BUT INSTEAD, AN AWKWARD AND RATHER STUNNED SILENCE.
VERSE 41, “STILL THEY STOOD THERE IN DISBELIEF, FILLED WITH JOY AND WONDER.” THEY HAD SPENT SO MUCH TIME HIDING BEHIND LOCKED DOORS TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHO COULD HAVE STOLEN THE BODY OF JESUS FROM THE TOMB THAT THEY COULD ONLY STAND THERE UTTERLY SHOCKED. IF IT ISN’T A GHOST, IS IT REALLY JESUS?
IT’S INTERESTING THAT WHEN YOU TAKE THEIR “DISBELIEF” AND CONNECT IT TO“FILLED WITH JOY AND WONDER” IT REALLY MEANS THEY FOUND THIS ENCOUNTER “TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE!” THEY COULDN’T BELIEVE JESUS WAS REALLY STANDING THERE WITH THEM.
JESUS IS REAL! NOTHING IS LEFT TO CHANCE! HE IS LIVING AND RECOGNIZABLE. HIS HANDS AND FEET BEAR THE SCARS OF THE NAIL PRINTS. HIS PHYSICAL BODY IS EVIDENT AS THEY CAN TOUCH AND FEEL HIM. BY EATING FISH, JESUS GIVES FINAL PROOF THAT HE IS “REALLY REAL!” THEIR DOUBTS ARE NOW DISPELLED.
THEY WERE NO LONGER MIRED IN DISBELIEF AND DIDN’T HAVE TO BE LEFT WONDERING ANY LONGER. JESUS TEACHES AND REMINDS THEM BY OPENING THEIR MINDS TO THE SCRIPTURES TO CAPTURE ALL THE HISTORY BEHIND THIS SACRED MOMENT WITH THE RISEN SAVIOR.
JESUS WANTED THEM TO UNDERSTAND THAT THE CROSS WAS NOT SOME UNFORTUNATE OBSTACLE THAT HAD TO BE HURDLED. IT WAS A NECESSARY PART OF GOD’S REDEMPTIVE PLAN FOR THE WHOLE WORLD TO CONQUER SIN AND TO DEFEAT DEATH.
JESUS SAID, IN VERSE 48, THAT “YOU ARE WITNESSES OF ALL THESE THINGS.” THIS MEANS THAT WE ARE NOT THE CHURCH IF WE ARE NOT LIVING AS HIS WITNESSES TO THE WORLD. JESUS HAS COMMISSIONED US TO TELL THE STORY OF WHO HE IS AND WHAT HE HAS ACCOMPLISHED IN OUR LIVES BY WAY OF THE CROSS.
THE COMMAND TO BRING THE MESSAGE OF JESUS INTO OUR WORLD AND TO TEACH OBEDIENCE TO CHRIST IS FOR US AS WELL. MATTHEW 28:19-20, “GO THEREFORE AND MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL NATIONS, BAPTIZING THEM IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND OF THE SON AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, TEACHING THEM TO OBSERVE ALL THAT I HAVE COMMANDED YOU….”WE KNOW WHAT TO DO! WHY WOULD THERE BE ANY QUESTIONS ON WHAT IS EXPECTED OF US? WHY WOULD WE FEEL ANYTHING LESS THAN OBLIGATED TO LIVE OUT OUR FAITH, TELL OTHERS, AND GROW DEEPER IN LOVE WITH GOD?
THE DISAPPOINTMENT OF OUR SCRIPTURE TODAY IS THAT WITH JESUS STANDING THERE RIGHT BEFORE THEIR EYES, THEY STILL HAD DOUBTS AND STRUGGLED TO COMPREHEND REALITY.
JESUS ADDRESSED THIS IN VERSE 38, “WHY ARE YOU TROUBLED, AND WHY DO DOUBTS ARISE IN YOUR HEARTS? THAT IS OUR QUESTION TODAY! HOW MUCH MORE PROOF DO WE NEED TO REMAIN FAITHFUL AND COMMITTED TO CHRIST? HOW MUCH LONGER WILL WE PICK AND CHOOE WHICH OF HIS COMMANDS AND TEACHINGS WE’LL OBEY? HOW MUCH MORE PHYSICAL EVIDENCE WILL WE DEMAND BEFORE WE’LL BECOME MORE COMMITTED TO HOLINESS AND LIVING OUR FAITH?
MATTHEW 6:19-21, “DON’T STORE UP TREASURES HERE ON EARTH…STORE YOUR TREASURES IN HEAVEN …WHEREVER YOUR TREASURE IS, THERE THE DESIRES OF YOUR HEART WILL ALSO BE.” WILL WE BE CONSUMED BY OUR KINGDOM OUR GOD’S KINGDOM?
LISTENING TO THE WORLD AND FOLLOWING ITS LEAD WILL DO NOTHING MORE THAN INCREASE OUR DOUBTS, FEARS, AND ANXIETIES. IT WILL DRAW US AWAY AND LESSEN OUR TRUST IN GOD AS A LOVING, JUST, AND MERCIFUL FATHER.
LET US HOLD TO OUR FAITH AND CONTINUE TO PURSUE A SANCTIFIED LIFE. LET US LIVE OUT OUR BELIEFS AS “FREE METHODISTS” (PARAGRAPH 157): WE CONFESS JESUS CHRIST AS SAVIOR AND LORD. BY FAITH, WE WALK WITH HIM. WE COMMIT OURSELVES TO KNOW HIM IN HIS FULL SANCTIFYING GRACE.
AS GOD’S PEOPLE, WE REVERENCE AND WORSHIP HIM. WE COMMIT OURSELVES TO CULTIVATE HABITS OF CHRISTIAN DEVOTION, SUBMITTING TO MUTUAL ACCOUNTABILITY, PRACTICING PRIVATE AND CORPORATE PRAYER, STUDYING THE SCRIPTURES, ATTENDING PUBLIC WORSHIP, AND PARTAKING OF HOLY COMMUNION;
WE COMMIT OURSELVES TO OBSERVE THE LORD’S DAY, SETTING IT APART FOR WORSHIP, RENEWAL, AND SERVICE;WE COMMIT OURSELVES TO GIVE OUR LOYALTY TO CHRIST AND THE CHURCH, REFRAINING FROM ANY ALLIANCE WHICH COMPROMISES OUR CHRISTIAN COMMITMENT. THIS WE DO, BY GOD’S GRACE AND POWER.”
LET US GO FORTH WITH THE WORDS OF JESUS,THAT WE WILL NO LONGER BE FEARFUL, FILLED WITH DOUBT, AND STILL WONDERING IN LACK OF FAITH. LET US BE FOLLOWERS OF JESUS CHRIST WHO ARE FULL OF FAITH!
