Remember What He Said

Last Sunday, as I was walking out of the church, my granddaughter, Madelyn, lost her balloon. I took off after it in an attempt to retrieve it for her, but the wind blew it away. Every time I reached out for it, the wind blew it off again. Time and time again, I was inches from having it in my hand, but it was whisked off. Then finally, it was within my grasp, and as soon as I touched it, it popped. Such is the quest for happiness in this life. We run with all our energy to catch that allusive happiness, and just when we think we have it, something whisks it off from us. Then when we finally catch it, it disappears. Pursuing happiness without knowing your purpose in life is futile.

What really changes our life is meeting Jesus. Jesus is the only person who has ever lived who has met death and conquered it. He was crucified on Friday and resurrected on Sunday. He promises us that if we put our faith in him, we too will experience resurrection one day. Each of the four Gospels presents Jesus differently because they wrote to different audiences from different perspectives. However, they all wanted everyone to get to know the Jesus they had known.

Matthew presents Jesus as Messiah, connecting the dots with Old Testament prophesies. He describes Jesus as the fulfillment of those prophecies. He wrote to Jews to convince them that Jesus was the Messiah. Mark presents Jesus as a man of action. He wrote to a non-Jewish audience. Matthew emphasized the words of the Lord, while Mark underscores Christ’s deeds. John presents Jesus to everyone offering evidence of certain signs which prove that Jesus is the Son of God. John confines his scope of Christ’s ministry to mostly about 30 days, and seven chapters are dedicated to only a twenty-four-hour period.

Luke was a physician, and his attention to detail shows. He joined Paul on his second missionary journey. He writes to Gentiles and presents Christ as the perfect example of humanity. In chapter 24, he tells three stories, first the women who went to prepare Jesus’ body, then the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and finally, the disciples together in Jerusalem. In each of the stories, Luke structures the stories with these elements: confusion, rebuke, direction, and transformation. In each instance, all are told to remember God’s Word. They did remember and how it changed them.

For example, the women are first to arrive at the tomb, and though confused, they have come to honor Jesus’ body for burial. Angels confronted them with a rebuke of “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” (Luke 24:5). The angel rebuked them, asking, is this really where you expected to find Jesus? Then follows some direction, “He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’” (Luke 24:6-7). Then “They remember his words.” What follows is their transformation as they become witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection.

It is evident in Luke 24 that Luke, like the other gospel writers, tells what happened. They never saw the resurrection, so none of them describe it. They tell what they saw, or others saw. Placing the women in the story as witnesses is proof they were not fabricating the story because women were not considered reliable witnesses. The story of the resurrection happened, and it changed them as it does every person who believes in Jesus.

(Parenting with a Long View) https://bovdbrooks.com/