devotional post # 2085

Luke 24:36-43

Luk 24:36 While they were discussing these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!”
Luk 24:37 But they were shocked and scared and thought they saw a spirit.
Luk 24:38 And he said to them, “Why are you distressed, and why do doubts emerge from your hearts?
Luk 24:39 Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. Because a spirit does not have flesh and bones like you see that I have.”
Luk 24:40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.
Luk 24:41 And even though they still disbelieved because of joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?”
Luk 24:42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish,
Luk 24:43 and he took it and ate before them.

mass historia

Some claim that the resurrection accounts are nothing more than mass hysteria — wishful thinking from disciples who desperately wanted Jesus to be alive. But the Scriptures tell a very different story. The disciples were not eager believers; they were reluctant ones. They did not dream the resurrection into existence — they resisted it at every turn.

When Jesus appeared, He had to urge them to look at His hands and feet, to touch Him, to watch Him eat. He invited them to examine the physical reality of His resurrected body because they were slow to accept what stood right in front of them. Their initial response was not zeal but shock, confusion, and fear. Far from inventing a resurrection, they had to be convinced of it.

And now that Jesus has ascended, this truth becomes even more precious: there is a human body in heaven — glorified, immortal, reigning. The same Jesus who walked out of the tomb now sits at the right hand of the Father. His resurrection was not symbolic. It was not spiritualized. It was not imagined. It was historical, physical, and permanent.

Because of that, His promise about His return carries the same weight as His promise about His rising. He told His disciples He would come back from the grave — and He did. He told His disciples He will come back to the earth — and He will. He has left us the record of His resurrection in the Scriptures so that we might trust His word and anchor our hope in His coming.

He is not content to remain a doctrine, an idea, or a memory.
He is a living King.
He is a returning Lord.
He is coming again.

So we pray:

LORD, we trust Your word, and we expect Your return.
Strengthen our faith in the risen Christ,
and fix our hope on the day when He appears in glory.