Day 7: Luke 24:36-43

While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”

When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence.

We are the people of the resurrection.

For many of us, this hopeful reality is all about what happens when our earthly lives end. And this is logical. After all, our bodies don’t need to be resurrected until after we have died.

When Jesus appeared to his disciples after he had risen out of the grave, we are told they were “startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost.” It seems they weren’t entirely sure what they were seeing. This looked like their friend and leader Jesus, but didn’t he die a few days ago? Perhaps this is just his disembodied spirit?

To the contrary, Jesus shows them there is nothing disembodied about him. It wasn’t the spirit of Jesus that was resurrected from the dead––it was his body! His physical body was healed, brought forth, and made new.

This is the power of God at work. God brings dead things to life. God breathes life where it seemed there was no life. It’s what he did at creation, it’s what he did at the resurrection, and it’s what he continues to do in our world today.

God makes all things new. Ultimately, those whose hope is in Jesus will have new bodies...bodies that are fit for the new heaven and the new earth. But we do not wait passively for that day. Instead, we embody the new creation and, with God’s help, breathe his life into the dead places around us.

Brad Taylor | Executive Pastor