Today in God’s Word

Today in God's Word—August 2023

East Tallassee Church of Christ

August 17, Luke 24

It’s fun to watch the 24-hour cable news channels as news is breaking to see how they react to every scrap of information, trying to make meaning of it live on the air. Even when they’re reporting something tragic, there is an almost comic side of the confusion that often accompanies the first reports of a story.

It is sometimes necessary to tell people who’ve been in an accident or suffered some other trauma the same things over and over again until the confusion clears. When we receive news either too bad or too good to believe, we want to hear it again, and maybe a third time, giving us a chance to make sense of what we’re hearing.

I sense some of that in the disciples’ reaction to the first reports of the resurrection. The angels’ announcement and Jesus’ own words to witnesses of his resurrection were messages of reminder and reassurance. Jesus had told them in advance he would be put to death and raised from the dead. He told them about it more than once. In the aftershock of the crucifixion, the disciples needed reorientation. They were broken-hearted and disappointed that their Master had been killed. Their hopes and dreams of the kingdom were shattered. Their hearts had a hard time trusting their ears and eyes when they heard and saw that Jesus was back.

Why did the risen Lord conceal his identity for a while from the two men on the road to Emmaus? Perhaps it was to give the men time to process the interpretation of the Scriptures and grasp the necessity of the suffering before they were bowled over by the reality of the resurrection. Why did he vanish as soon as they recognized him? Maybe it was to get them up and back to Jerusalem within the same hour with the report of what they had experienced.

When Jesus appeared that same evening to the little nucleus of disciples, he greeted them, asked why they doubted and offered convincing

proof that it was really him and he was really alive. He opened their minds to understand, and promised to empower them to go and tell the news among all nations.

Do you need reminding from time to time? Are you ever slow to believe what he’s told you? Is there sometimes an apparent disconnect between what you hoped for and what happened? Do you long for him to open your mind to understand the Scriptures? Then take heart in this account of the disciples’ first reactions to the resurrection. Rejoice in the good news that Jesus’ resurrection was real. Know that your resurrection is assured by his. Imagine sitting down in heaven someday with these men and women and hearing their stories first hand. I don’t know for sure if that kind of thing will happen in heaven, but the reality of the resurrection makes it a possibility.

From The Abiding Companion: A Friendly Guide for Your Journey Through the New Testament, Copyright © 2010 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.