Readings for today: 1 Kings 15-16, Luke 24:36-53
I love Jesus. I love how Jesus is not afraid to meet us in the midst of our fear. In the midst of our confusion. In the midst of our doubts. In the midst of real life. In our passage today, the Risen Christ is appearing to His disciples. He is making Himself known in all His resurrected glory. And the initial reaction of the disciples is disbelief. They simply cannot wrap their hearts and minds around the fact that Jesus is alive. They cannot believe their eyes. They cannot believe their ears. So Jesus encourages them to touch Him with their hands. “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.” (Luke 24:39) He encourages them to watch Him eat. “And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them.” (Luke 24:41-43) Jesus knows resurrection was the last thing anyone expected. Jesus knows they have no categories to help them process His rising from the grave. Jesus knows their weaknesses. Jesus knows their doubts. Jesus knows their fears. Jesus knows their disbelief. And rather than judge them or condemn them or dismiss them, He meets them where they are and helps them understand.
Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. His compassion is the same. His love is the same. His tenderness is the same. He meets us in our fear. He meets us in our doubt. He meets us in our weakness. We are such fragile creatures. Yes, we are made in God’s image but that image has become defaced and deformed by sin. Yes, we are beloved by God but we struggle to accept that love, thinking it must be earned before it will be given. Yes, by faith we are adopted as God’s children but we wrestle to accept our new identity in Christ. It seems to good to be true. The grace of God too amazing. The love of God too wonderful. The idea of God dying and rising again in order to secure our salvation too mysterious for us to ever truly understand. So we doubt. We disbelieve. We wonder, down deep, if it’s all just a myth or fairy tale or something we made up to make ourselves feel better.
Thankfully Jesus is faithful. He meets us where we are. When you think about it, God could have saved us in any number of ways. God could have made Himself known through a vapor trail in the sky or some other miraculous manifestation of His presence. In fact, the Old Testament is littered with such appearances. The problem is we struggle to trust miracles. We struggle to trust anything outside our own experience. This is why God made Himself known in Jesus Christ. All of us can understand babies. All of us know what it’s like to grow up. All of us know what it’s like to experience hunger and thirst and heat and cold and pain and suffering. And God experienced it all and more. He came to be with us. He came to meet us. He came to help us cast out our fears, settle our doubts, answer our questions. We can actually walk where He walked. We can see the places He’s been. We know where He died. We can see where His body lay. These are facts of history not stories we make up. They are living reminders that the faith we cling to is not just another human philosophy or code of ethics. It isn’t based on rational thought or warm feelings. It is based on a real, living, breathing Person who became one of us.
So come to Jesus. Bring all your doubts and fears and anxieties and hopes and dreams and questions and frustrations. Jesus is not afraid of these things. He’s a big boy and can handle it! Let Him show you the wounds in His hands and feet and side. Let Him show you the proof of His great love.
Readings for tomorrow: 1 Kings 17-18, John 1