Resurrection

Resurrection
Luke 24:36-44

36 And [de] as they [autos] thus [tauta] spake [laleo] , Jesus [Iesous] himself [autos] stood [histemi] in [en] the midst [mesos] of them [autos] , and [kai] saith [lego] unto them [autos] , Peace [eirene] be unto you [humin] .
37 But [de] they were terrified [ptoeo] and [kai] affrighted [emphobos] [ginomai] , and supposed [dokeo] that they had seen [theoreo] a spirit [pneuma] .
38 And [kai] he said [epo] unto them [autos] , Why [tis] are ye [este] troubled [tarasso] ? and [kai] why [diati] do thoughts [dialogismos] arise [anabaino] in [en] your [humon] hearts [kardia] ?
39 Behold [eido] my [mou] hands [cheir] and [kai] my [mou] feet [pous] , that [hoti] it is [eimi] I [ego] myself [autos] : handle [pselaphao] me [me] , and [kai] see [eido] ; for [hoti] a spirit [pneuma] hath [echo] not [ou] flesh [sarx] and [kai] bones [osteon] , as [kathos] ye see [theoreo] me [eme] have [echo] .
40 And [kai] when he had thus [touto] spoken [epo] , he shewed [epideiknumi] them [autos] his hands [cheir] and [kai] his feet [pous] .
41 And [de] while they [autos] yet [eti] believed not [apisteo] for [apo] joy [chara] , and [kai] wondered [thaumazo] , he said [epo] unto them [autos] , Have ye [echo] here [enthade] any [tis] meat [brosimos] ?
42 And [de] they gave [epididomi] him [autos] a piece [meros] of a broiled [optos] fish [ichthus] , and [kai] of [apo] an honeycomb [melissios] [kerion] .
43 And [kai] he took [lambano] it, and did eat [phago] before [enopion] them [autos] .
44 And [de] he said [epo] unto them [autos] , These [houtos] are the words [logos] which [hos] I spake [laleo] unto [pros] you [humas] , while [on] I was yet [eti] with [sun] you [humin] , that [hoti] all things [pas] must [dei] be fulfilled [pleroo] , which [ho] were written [grapho] in [en] the law [nomos] of Moses [Moseus] , and [kai] in the prophets [prophetes] , and [kai] in the psalms [psalmos] , concerning [peri] me [emou] . KJV-Interlinear

36 And while they were telling these things, He Himself stood in their midst. 37 But they were startled and frightened and thought that they were seeing a spirit. 38 And He said to them, 'Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 'See 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.' 40 [And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet.] 41 And while they still could not believe it for joy and were marveling, He said to them, 'Have you anything here to eat?' 42 And they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish; 43 and He took it and ate it before them. 44 Now He said to them, 'These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.' NASB

Mark 16:14
14 And afterward He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table; and He reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen. NASB

John 20:19-20
19 When therefore it was evening, on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst, and said to them, 'Peace be with you.' 20 And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples therefore rejoiced when they saw the Lord. NASB

It is now Sunday evening. The apostles are hiding behind closed and locked doors, yet people are still coming and going, namely Mary Magdalene, the other women, Peter and John, the two disciples, and probably others. They certainly had to eat, go to the bathroom, and such.

Seems like a lot of coming and going traffic, to a place where they would not want to attract a lot of attention to themselves. So they were not very discreet, nor appear to have much of a knack for making themselves invisible to the general public. Just as they carried two swords among them with little knowledge of their use, so too they did not seem to have a very good idea of how to hide themselves. But then no one was looking for them anyway. So their fears were for nothing.

It is Sunday evening. It is about five days now since the arrest, four since the crucifixion and burial of Jesus. What have the apostles been doing all of this time? Hiding. They haven't a clue as to what to do with their lives. They are totally lost, and as we saw in earlier prophecies, when Jesus was arrested, the sheep will scatter.

Sheep who lack a shepherd are totally lost and will eventually succumb to the elements of the world. The apostles and other disciples have not figured this out yet.

Now they have received three separate reports of the risen Christ. The first from Mary Magdalene. Recall that she is the woman who was possessed of multiple demons and freed from them by Jesus. After that she followed Him and remained loyal to Him. The apostles rejected her testimony, probably thinking that she is under some form of delusion or again possessed. Nevertheless they discounted her credibility.

Second they had a report from the 'several' women. Now we have multiple witnesses. But again they reject their testimony. They are just women after all !!!

Third, they receive a report from one of their own 'men.' But they still reject their testimony, even when the two report that Peter too has seen the resurrected Christ. They seem to be running out of reasons for their disbelief.

Now while the two were making their argument, Jesus Himself simply appears in amongst them. Big shock. The door did not open and in through the door did Jesus walk. No. Jesus simply appeared out of thin air. So now they are terrified. Why?

Fear has been driving them for several days. They did not even leave to run home to Galilee, for fear that they might be picked up by the authorities and taken to the whipping block as Jesus was. They certainly had heard of the thorough beating that Jesus received. They were trembling scared. And now Jesus just appears.

Jesus calms them down by speaking to them, showing them His hands and feet. No doubt they all touched the scars where He was pierced. Ever have surgery, and what is the first thing that people ask? 'Can we see your scar?' And of course people just ooh and awe over your scar. As though they see the scar and then believe that you really did have surgery.

So now they all are beginning to realize that Jesus really did arise. He scolds them for their failure to believe the reports, for their failure to understand and believe the scriptures they 'should' have known, for just plain failing in their spiritual lives.

They were hiding behind locked doors. If the Romans wanted to arrest them, then locked doors would not stop them. Most likely they would have been very easy to locate. They were clueless as to what to do, and they let their fears totally shut their lives down. They did not trust in God, even though they had called Jesus the Son of the living God, saw His miracles, saw Him walk on water, saw Him turn water into wine, saw Him calm the storm, saw Him raise the dead. One would think that after three years of day after day of miracles such as these, miracles that have never ever been performed by mankind in history, that they would have a greater faith than they had.

But now to our principle. This lack of faith applies to us all even now. We read our Bibles, we study somewhat. We know the stories of the parting of the sea, of the ten commandments, of the crucifixion. Today we even have a very graphic movie showing the crucifixion. Yet how many of us get discouraged in life. We do what the apostles did. We focus on our problems rather than focusing on trusting in God.

Deut. 33:27
27 The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.
Isa 65:24
24 Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.
Jer 33:3
3 Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.'
Lam 3:21
21 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope
Psa. 7:10
10 My shield is God Most High, who saves the upright in heart.
Psa. 25:16
16 Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.
Psa. 31:2
2 Turn your ear to me, come quickly to my rescue; be my rock of refuge, a strong fortress to save me.
Psa. 37:3
3 Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture.
Psa. 48:14
14 For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end.
Psa. 50:15
15 and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me."
Psa. 121:5
5 The LORD watches over you-- the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
Psa. 128:1
1 Blessed are all who fear the LORD, who walk in his ways.
Psa. 138:2
2 I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your love and your faithfulness, for you have
exalted above all things your name and your word.
Psa. 138:7
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, you preserve my life; you stretch out your hand against the anger of my foes, with
your right hand you save me.
Psa. 139:1
1 O LORD, you have searched me and you know me.

These are but a few verses which you should commit to memory. Memorizing Bible verses helps you to focus your life, to recall His word, and this helps you to stabilize yourself when you face problems. The first thing you should do is make up a list of verses and commit yourself to memorizing them. Even if you memorize only one verse a week. In time you will have hundreds of verses and you will realize a definite change in your life.

Now for your first test. Did you read the verses above, or did you skip over them? Got ya!. You have to commit yourself to, and genuinely want to learn Gods Word. Without a commitment and a genuine desire to learn, you'll go nowhere in your spiritual life.

Second, you must keep yourself in fellowship. That is the sphere in which you should live your life. That is the sphere in which you have a relationship with God. That is the sphere in which your spiritual life functions. That is the sphere of refuge in which you have Gods protection.

Third, you need to study daily. You should note that by now, you are not going to learn some hidden secret about the universe that will let you invent the cool gadget of the century. Not going to happen. Gods objective is to get you into fellowship and to get you to learn His Word. He will do the rest. The spiritual life is a supernatural concept not an academic one.

Third, you need to learn what you study, come to an understanding of it, and then apply it to your daily life. These three things form a circle of wisdom. That circle continues over and over day after day throughout your entire life. Repetition is how you learn.

Fourth, God creates spiritual growth within your soul as a result of all of the above. All you do is listen, learn, believe it, and use it in your daily life. And that is really doing nothing more than what you should be doing in life anyway. God does all of the rest. You in effect are doing nothing.

The spiritual life is the simplest thing in life. All you have to do is want it.

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