Boo! - Luke 24:36-37

"And just as they were telling about it, Jesus himself was suddenly standing there among them. Peace be with you, he said. But the whole group was startled and frightened, thinking they were seeing a ghost!" After Jesus appeared to two of His followers on the road to Emmaus, He made another appearance to the eleven apostles and others gathered with them in Jerusalem at the very time these two were telling them about His appearance on the Emmaus road. The whole group was startled as if they were seeing a ghost--not that any of them had ever seen a ghost before. So Jesus tried to reassure them by telling them to touch Him and see the scars on His hands and feet so they would know it was Him in a physical, resurrected body: "Look at my hands. Look at my feet. You can see that it’s really me. Touch me and make sure that I am not a ghost, because ghosts don’t have bodies, as you see that I do" (vs. 39). When they still seemed unconvinced, Jesus asked them to give Him some food and He ate it while they were watching (vs. 41-43). In addition to these appearances, the Apostle Paul tells us that Jesus was seen by more than 500 of His followers in one appearance (I Corinthians 15:6). In spite of this clear demonstration of His physical resurrection body, our understanding of death, resurrection, and eternal life gets filled with misconceptions. Sometimes we think of the final state of God’s people as becoming like ghosts--disembodied spirits wandering around in an ethereal existence. However, Jesus depicted resurrection as corporeal or bodily existence. In other words, resurrection means our temporal, physical bodies will be transformed into what the Apostle Paul calls imperishable or immortal bodies (1 Corinthians 15:50-52). Bodily resurrection is a fundamental premise of the redemptive plan of God for human beings and for the created order. Instead of yelling "boo" at people, those who die and are resurrected to eternal life are going to be shouting, "Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne" (Revelation 5:10)!

Grave Diggers - Luke 24:5-6

"Then the men asked, Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead!" After Jesus was crucified one of the Jewish religious leaders, Joseph of Arimathea, removed His body from the cross and placed it in a new tomb carved out of rock. It was a tomb that Joseph had probably purchased as a family tomb in much the same way that we pre-arrange burial plots and funerals. Some of the women who followed Jesus took note of the tomb’s location because they would return on the day after the upcoming sabbath with spices and ointments to anoint His body. The spices were used to mask the stench of a rotting corpse. A dead body would be placed on a stone bench inside the tomb until the flesh decomposed. The bones would then be collected and placed in a small ossuary, or bone box, and placed on a shelf in the tomb. Thus, a tomb could be used for multiple family members over an extended period of time. Several of the women including Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James went to the tomb early on Sunday morning to prepare the dead body of Jesus. When they arrived the stone covering the tomb was rolled away and they inspected the inside of the tomb and found no dead body. They were puzzled about this turn of events when two angels appeared to them and asked why there were looking among the dead for someone who is alive! When tragedy strikes, we seem to look for answers everywhere and from everyone except the One Who Is the answer. We become like grave diggers searching the graves and tombs of the cemetery of this world trying to find hope and reassurance. "But shouldn’t people ask God for guidance? Should the living seek guidance from the dead? Look to God’s instructions and teachings!" (Isaiah 8:19-20). True hope is found in the words and life of the One and Only Who has been raised from the dead and lives eternally--Jesus Christ. He is our solace, He is our answer, He is our life. Look to the One Who has authority over life and death for guidance in times of trouble and despair. Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying" (John 11:25).

God's Vineyard - Isaiah 5

"The nation of Israel is the vineyard of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. The people of Judah are his pleasant garden. He expected a crop of justice, but instead he found oppression. He expected to find righteousness, but instead he heard cries of violence" (vs. 7).

In the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, Jesus told a parable about a landowner who planted a vineyard (Matthew 21:33-46; Mark 12:1-12; Luke 20:9-19). In the minds of its hearers this parable was a familiar Old Testament theme alluding to Isaiah’s song of the vineyard in Isaiah 5 (see also Psalms 80:6-16).

In Isaiah’s song of the vineyard, the nation of Israel is described as the vineyard of the Lord. Then God pronounces woes and judgments on Israel because of its wickedness and hypocrisy: "What sorrow for those who say that evil is good and good is evil, that dark is light and light is dark, that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter. What sorrow for those who are wise in their own eyes and think themselves so clever" (Isaiah 5:20-21).

Something To Live For - Luke 22:7-30

"When the time came, Jesus and the apostles sat down together at the table. Jesus said, I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins. For I tell you now that I won’t eat this meal again until its meaning is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God" (vs. 14-16). The Passover meal had as its ultimate goal the messianic banquet (see Revelation 19:7). Jesus’s death as the true Passover lamb (1 Cor 5:7) inaugurated the Kingdom of God that will be completed at Jesus’ second coming. When God came to Earth as the Man, Jesus Christ, the future age broke into this present age. This Kingdom has entered into this present age and is at work in this world to bring about its future consummation. Although this world of human beings has not completely submitted to the rule and reign of God, one day in the future God’s Kingdom will reign supreme on this earth. Dallas Willard says that the rule and reign of God has entered into the present age largely unseen, but is nevertheless actively at work occupying the human race. Jesus Christ is the undisputed King and His Kingdom rules and reigns over the universe forever. King Jesus has come to earth to proclaim and secure our redemption and He is coming again one day with formidable power to reconstitute the universe. However, God's Kingdom is not something to die for but something to live for. Jesus came to this world not only to die for our sins, but also to teach us how to live in His present and future Kingdom. This same Jesus, who will reign over God’s future Kingdom, will also rule and reign over your present life if you will only swear allegiance to Him as your Savior and King for all eternity.

The Immortals - Luke 20:27-40

"Jesus replied, Marriage is for people here on earth. But in the age to come, those worthy of being raised from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage. And they will never die again. In this respect they will be like angels. They are children of God and children of the resurrection" (vs. 34-37). The Sadducees were a branch of Judaism that did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. To refute the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead, they posed an ad absurdum argument to Jesus regarding a woman widowed seven times. But Jesus's rebuttal proved to the Sadducees the absurdity of their own argument (vs. 40). Jesus first discredited their argument about marriage in heaven. He said that resurrected people are immortal like the angels and so there is no need for marriage (vs. 36). (Jesus does not say that resurrected people become angels, but that they are like angels.) According to Jesus, marriage is an accommodation for this earthly life. God instituted marriage and the family as a way for mortal people to enjoy His promises and blessings during their life on earth in this present age. But in the age to come, marriage is not necessary because resurrected people, like angels, are immortal and will themselves dwell in the very presence of God. Next, Jesus turned to the larger question concerning the resurrection. Jesus used the books of Moses, Genesis-Deuteronomy, which were the only scriptures the Sadducees recognized as authoritative, to prove the resurrection. Jesus pointed out to the Sadducees that when Moses referred to God as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob long after these patriarchs had died (Exodus 3:6), Moses was indicating that God was still their God and, therefore, they must have a continuing existence after their deaths. We have been set free from the life of sin and death by Christ; His resurrection life is now at work in our mortal lives through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit and we begin to experience His eternal life now. "For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever...For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die, our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies" (I Corinthians 15:52-53).

The Problem with Political Correctness - Luke 20:1-8

"They talked it over among themselves. If we say it was from heaven, he will ask why we didn’t believe John. But if we say it was merely human, the people will stone us because they are convinced John was a prophet. So they finally replied that they didn’t know. And Jesus responded, Then I won’t tell you by what authority I do these things" (vs. 5-8). One day near the end of His earthly ministry while Jesus was teaching in the Temple, the religious leaders challenged His authority. Jesus responded to the challenge by asking them by what authority did John the Baptist teach and baptize. It didn't make any difference to these leaders what was the truthful or right answer, but rather what was the politically correct response. That's the problem with political correctness--there's no conviction in it; you don't have to take a stand on anything. It's all about compromise. These leaders talked it over among themselves and came up with an answer that didn't hurt anybody's feelings or didn't make anybody mad, especially at them! In response to their pusillanimous reply to His question, Jesus told a parable to demonstrate how God's judgment would be on Israel's leaders for rejecting God's Son. Jesus told them that His way is not the easy way--but it's the only way. Therefore, He becomes an obstacle for compromisers: "The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone. Everyone who stumbles over that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone it falls on" (vs. 17-18). But even that story had no effect (except to make them more angry) because the leaders watched for opportunities to denounce Jesus by sending out spies to get Him to say something against the Roman government (vs 20). Jesus is still the only way: "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6). Therefore, following Jesus is not a compromise we make, it's a conviction we live by.

Handling the Truth - Luke 18:34

"But they didn’t understand any of this. The significance of his words was hidden from them, and they failed to grasp what he was talking about." What Jesus was talking about was His impending death and resurrection. Has this ever happened to you? A signficant work of God--even a miracle--occurs right in front of you and it goes completely unnoticed by you, until later! This happens to me more often than not! God is at work around me and I'm even praying for God's will and then I don't understand the unfolding of His plans because it's not what I expected or wanted to happen. All of us are familiar with the old saying, "Hindsight is better than foresight." That is what happened to the disciples here, as I am certain they understood the significance of His words after He was resurrected and appeared to them. While the saying may seem trite, it is often the way God works with us. We seem to understand and appreciate God's fortuitous circumstances only after they occur. God works this way with us for a reason that is best illustrated by a famous movie line. In a scene from the movie, A Few Good Men, Guantanamo Bay Naval Base Commander Colonel Nathan R. Jessep (Jack Nicholson) is under pressure by defense attorney Junior Grade Daniel Kaffee (Tom Cruise) during his testimony before the courtmartial of two of his Marines. Becoming unnerved by being caught in a lie, Colonel Jessep furiously declares "You can't handle the truth!" and dismisses Kaffee as disrespectful of a Marine doing his duty. The fact is, we can't handle the truth! We either deny it or refuse to accept it at least until it personally impacts us. Why don't we "get it" when God shows us what He is doing? If we fully processed all that God is doing around us, then we might try to take things into our own hands. Certainly, God uses human beings to accomplish His will, but when His will affects us personally then we can find ourselves working against God's plans either because we don't like the plan or because we think we can accomplish it better than God can! Sometimes miracles need to remain unnoticed until after they occur when we can fully understand their significance from God's perspective. That's how we learn how to trust God!