Earlier,
I suggested that we try to put ourselves in the place of one of the disciples
at the Passover meal before Jesus died. I would suggest that we engage in that
same exercise again, this time imagining what it would have felt like for one
of them after his death.
The
next day it was still the Sabbath. Normally you would have been with Jesus at a
synagogue service, but you and the others dared not go out. It was the longest
day of your life. The Sabbath ended at sundown. You slept fitfully that night.
The morning of the first day of the week started with the others in awkward
silence. No one seemed to know what to do or what to say. The word was that
some of the women were trying to find the tomb where Jesus’ body had been
taken. You had a vague feeling you should be doing something, but you were too
numb to act.
Suddenly,
the silence was broken by the excited voices of Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the
mother of James and others with them. You caught only bits and pieces. “The
stone was moved.” “His body was gone.” “Two men.” “Shining clothes.” “He is not
here.” “Raised on the third day.” You and the others were too smart to believe
these silly women. It was all dismissed as nonsense. But the truth was,
everyone’s curiosity was aroused. Peter and John decided to make a
reconnaissance trip to the tomb. Because you didn’t know what else to do with
yourself, you agreed to run an errand to the village of Emmaus
The
“unreliable” testimony of the women turned out to be true. He was risen! Your
friend Thomas missed the first appearance, but when he saw the nail prints, he
believed. This didn’t help just Thomas, but all of you. You saw him the first
time, but you needed more, and thankfully, you saw him again and again. Here
was the absolutely amazing thing: in spite of your failures and your confusion
and your desertion, he was still smiling at you and telling you how you would
be used in the kingdom. And you believed him.
it's encouraging to be able to walk through the events. My mind fills with peace, knowing that Jesus is who He says He is. I often wonder what it would be like to get the chance to go back in time and walk with him in person.
ReplyDeleteI walked around my block wondering, "God give me something to study or read. I just have no idea what to pick up in the Bible." Felt stale and I didn't want to just study life altering topics to get God to spit out a job to me like an ATM machine. I watched the last 45 min of Passion of Christ last night. I thought, "what did Jesus do after he arose and in Caviziel like fashion proceeded out holey hands et al.?" Well I turned to Luke and begun my reading at the road to Emmaus. I will prayerfully embark on a study on Cleopas (and the other dude). My question is: Yeshwa spent all that time on the road going form Moses to Psalms explaining thru scripture how it was meant to be? Wow that was a long walk! If I could only be a fly on the wall (turbin) I'd love to eavesdrop on that.
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