Thursday 16 April 2009
- Bible Book:
- Luke
"Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, 'Thus it is written that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.'" (v.45-48)
Background
The Gospel-writer Luke has already told how the risen Jesusappeared to two disciples as they walked to Emmaus (
It seems odd that they should be "startled and terrified" and thinkthat Jesus is a ghost when they seem to have been so excited andconfident about the previous experiences of the risen Jesus. Lukeis at pains to show that Jesus in his risen form is not a ghost,but has a real tangible body, though it seems not to be subject tonormal bodily restrictions. This was important in establishing thatthe Resurrection was a real experience and not 'all in themind'.
Jesus takes time to explain how his suffering and death were fullyin tune with what the Old Testament, the Jewish Scriptures,foretold (Isaiah53). It was hard for those who normally equated God's blessingwith success to claim God's victory to be experienced now insuffering and death. Luke provides strong evidence that it is trueto the long term view of God's activity.
The final part of today's passage is a commissioning of thedisciples for their missionary task. Two things are important: themessage is to be taken into all the world, and the personal witnessof the disciples gives authenticity to the message.
To Ponder
Secularists recently produced a bus advert whichdeclared, "There's probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoyyour life." How did you respond? Do you find it easy to talk aboutyour faith or doubts?
Suffering for your faith became significant inthe early Church and martyrdom became highly respected. How farwould you be prepared to suffer for your faith?