THINK TOGETHER.
Is Jesus still a person? What do you think?
READ TOGETHER.
Luke 24:36-42. 36As [the disciples] were talking about [the empty tomb], Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” 37But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. 38And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 40And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” 42They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43and he took it and ate before them.
It was really hard for the disciples of Jesus to believe that he had risen from the dead. In the verses above, it says that they doubted and disbelieved. So what did Jesus do so that they would believe? He appeared to them. Or as today’s verses say – He stood among them.
But they still had trouble believing, didn’t they? What did they think Jesus was? A spirit, or a ghost. But was the resurrected Jesus a ghost? No. He was the same person that he was before he died with the same body he had before he died. That’s why Jesus will show them his hands and his feet. What would they see on Jesus’ hands and feet? That’s right, they would see the holes from the nails on the cross. And just to make sure that they could tell that he was a living, breathing person with a physical body, Jesus ate fish in front of them. Yum.
All of this may seem unimportant, but actually, it is very important to what we believe as Christians. Some people think that Jesus never rose from the dead. Others think that Jesus only rose from the dead “spiritually” like a ghost without a body. But true Christians believe that Jesus rose from the dead physically, in his body. Why is that so important? Because it shows us that we who are trusting in Jesus will also be raised in our bodies. We don’t leave our bodies behind when we live with God forever. God loves ALL of us, including our bodies, and he wants to restore all of his creation, including your body.
Another important thing that we learn from this story is that the resurrected Jesus is forever a person, a man, a human being. Why is that so important? Because Jesus is forever both God and man. He’s one of us, therefore, he can be our king and priest that goes between us and God. Like the TV commercials say, “He gets us.”
When Jesus left Heaven and became a person, a baby in a manger, he was choosing to never stop being a person like us. But also, thankfully, not like us. Jesus is also God – we are not. But Jesus is exactly the God we need. A God who died for us as one of us. A God who prays for us as one of us. A God who loves us as one of us. A God who will come again to get us as one of us. And a God who understands us as one of us.
Because of Jesus we will live with God forever both spiritually and physically.
With Jesus we have a God who understands us.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Watch some of the “He gets us” TV commercials. What message are they trying to send? Would Jesus get us if he wasn’t a human being like us?
PRAY TOGETHER
Father, thank you for raising Jesus as a person like me. Jesus, thank you for understanding me and loving me anyway. Amen.
TLICfamily 