Luke 24- He Is Risen Indeed

Reading the story now, knowing in advance how it will end, it's easy to quickly skim through the painful parts, like the crucifixion, comforted by the knowledge that it's all going to turn out okay. We know the story- Jesus doesn't stay dead. We've heard the story so many times; it's easy to forget how painful, frightening, and confusing those days must have been for his followers. They were living through it; they didn't know how it was going to end. I'd say they thought it had ended- the man they had left everything to follow, the man who they believed to be their Messiah, had just been crucified like a criminal. He was dead. How bleak and hopeless it all must have seemed. How many doubts and questions they must have had.

Twice in this chapter a resurrected Jesus appears to his followers, who are sorrowful over the events that have taken place. He had tried to tell them before what was in store for him, that he would suffer and die and rise again, but they just didn't get it. None of it made sense to them. But now, Luke says that Jesus "opened their minds to understand the Scriptures." Now, after the fact, it was painfully clear and undeniable that Jesus had, in fact, suffered and died. And here was Jesus, standing before him, making it clear- he had risen again.

But why? What was the point of it all? This is what Jesus says:

"Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem."

So many people have been taught to believe in a God who is harsh and condemning, a God who is just waiting for us to mess up so he can punish us. So many people think they aren't good enough for God and therefore he could never love them. And you know what- we aren't good enough. That's true. We are completely unworthy, on our own, to stand before a perfect God. But God loves us anyway. He put skin on and made the ultimate sacrifice necessary so we could finally be reconciled to him. He's not eager to punish us; he's eager to forgive us and to have a relationship with us. And that is the good news- love, grace, mercy, forgiveness.