Luke Chapter 24
In this final chapter of
the Gospel of Luke, we read about the resurrection of Jesus. God’s power gives Him new life so He could
communicate with His followers and others.
The women went to the
tomb, hoping to dress His body with their herbs and oils, but found the tomb to
be empty. They wee astonished and when
two angels appeared to them outside the tomb, they were told that Jesus had
risen.
Jesus encounters two men walking
to another town and he listens to their conversation, which was about what had
happened to Him. The scripture says that they did not recognize Jesus until he
sat with them at their table to eat.
Jesus then visited with His
disciples, who did not recognize Him at first. When they finally did recognize Him,
they were reluctant to believe that it was actually Him. He reminded all these people that what He had
taught … that all the things told in the Old Testament had to happen. That He
had to be killed, so He could be resurrected and ascend to Heaven. Everything else that occurs can only happen
after these events happen. Jesus left
their presence saying Peace be with you.
The Disciples and the
women returned to Jerusalem to tell what they knew. The message of Jesus … salvation through the
forgiveness of our sins … is to be told around the world and it began that day
in Jerusalem.
In twenty-four chapters,
Luke tells us everything we need to know about the life and the message of
Jesus. Luke leaves us with the knowledge that God is great and merciful and
that we should thank God for the gift of his Son. The Jesus Movement continues.
My take-away from this
chapter is that I should not be surprised that people struggle as they come to
salvation. The followers of Jesus …
people who had been with Him through His ministry … couldn’t believe their eyes
when they saw Him after He had risen. He
had told them over and over what was going to happen. It had been prophesied and was written in the
Old Testament, but they clearly did not believe Him. Finally, they believed and could share the news.
Let’s Cook!
Let’s look at meals for
Dr. Luke. He really did seem to enjoy
weaving his writings around meals. On
this Christmas Eve, as you read my post, search “Easter” in my blog and you’ll
see several posts about my family’s Easter Dinners.
A couple dozen people
have followed these blog posts about the Gospel of Luke. Some have sent me text messages and others
have sent emails telling me that they needed to have this to read this season.
I wrote these because I needed to write them
this season. Christmas is not an easy
holiday for folks who have things going on in their lives … things that cause
them to have trouble finding the Christmas spirit. We know who we are. If reading my posts helped in any little way …
I’m glad.
I think the overall
take-away from the Gospel of Luke … in the big picture of life and living … is
to be assured that what we experience in this life was carved in stone at
the beginning of time. That is hard
to imagine that God planned all these things for us … the good and the
bad. I don’t dwell on it, but I believe
it … and I believe that everything that happens really does happen for a
reason. I also believe that we might
have to get much older and wiser to discover the reasoning, if we ever do!
I’m also certain that the
birth of that little Baby in that stable in Bethlehem was a glorious miracle
that launched a movement that changed the world. We probably need to be reminded of that these
days, but we can be assured that in the midst of all the political bitterness …
in all the evil and danger we see daily … there is a Heaven. I’m not sure where it is … maybe up there,
may right here in another dimension, but it is a place waiting for
us, when the right time comes.
We should celebrate
Christmastime all year long. I think I
do! Merry Christmas!
