Touched
We don't often have a clear vision until we see for ourselves, first hand.
Jesus stood among the disciples and said to them, "Peace be with you." They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, "Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?" They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence. Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you-- that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things." - Luke 24:36b-48
Even though Jesus had explained to them beforehand that the Messiah would be raised from the dead, they didn't make the connection.
In Hosea, chapter 6, we have a glimpse at what Jesus is referring to when he tells them this was written in Scripture.
“Come, let us return to the Lord; for it is he who has torn, and he will heal us; he has struck down, and he will bind us up. After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him. Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord; his appearing is as sure as the dawn; he will come to us like the showers, like the spring rains that water the earth.”
He had told them that everything written about him must be fulfilled. So, it is not just this one passage in Hosea, but all the references, in Psalms, Isaiah, all point to him and this moment.
When the women told them He was alive, they didn't believe them. It is only when they see and touch him that they believe. It is not what we are told that helps us understand, but what we experience firsthand.
We need to touch and be touched to see.
That is something we need to keep in mind as we go out and share our story with others. It is not enough to say that we have experienced Jesus. We need to show Jesus to them.
We can only do that if Jesus lives within us.
More to come...