More Word to the World

We have reached our final lesson in The Life of Jesus series. Thank you for following along on this long journey.

I often wonder why Jesus only appeared privately to his followers. Why not reappear on Pilate’s judgment porch? Why not make a sudden appearance before the Sanhedrin showing Himself for who He really was? Would not that witness have convinced all the Jews instead of just a few? That was not Jesus’ way. Jesus did not then nor does He now force Himself onto unbelievers. Instead He told Thomas this:

John 20:29 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed  are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.

But for His disciples, He made His identity so obvious no disciple could ever deny Him again. Jesus overwhelmed their faith—they had no reason not to believe. However, He calls us more blessed because we believe even though we have not seen Him.

The miracle of resurrection changed these fearful and unreliable followers into men who turned their world upside down. No more would they hide behind closed doors. They would be imprisoned for preaching Jesus in the temple and then after miraculous deliverance from prison, and despite the threat of death if they did so, they went right back to the temple to preach.

Remember that word irreversible? Well, God took care of that word. It is no fairy tale, although we like to hear stories where everyone lived happily ever after. This is a story that has a happy ending. God is not satisfied with the bad and sad way of living of this earth. He offers a happy ending to all of His children.

Two men plus 11 apostles

And while these two are talking with the 11 apostles, another startling event occurred:

Luke 24:36 And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.

It is a good thing that He started out offering peace because people always experience shock with unexpected divine appearances.

Luke 24:37 But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.

Jesus told them “touch me” and “handle me” and “have ye here any meat?” He ate a piece of broiled fish and a honeycomb to prove to them that he was not a ghost.

To a casual observer, it may seem as though Jesus was just having fun showing up and disappearing at a whim. The brutal torture imposed by the Romans of a few days past are but a distant shadow at this point. What was apparent that Jesus was not a victim but the Victor!

This kind of showing up and disappearing continued for six weeks. There were approximately a dozen such appearances.

Did coming back to life again remove the scars of Calvary from Jesus’ body? In one such appearance Jesus plainly showed his scars to the doubting disciple saying:

John 20:27 Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.

Perhaps He wanted to leave the scars as a reminder that it does not matter what your past did to you, you can still experience a miracle of resurrection. The most horrible event in history was turned into the greatest event in history. And there are scars to prove it!

There may always be evidence of your awful past on hand, but seeing Jesus bear those scars and moving about freely in Victory reminds us that we can do the same. Take hope. Scars don’t go away but the pain does.

Jesus made 12 appearances to make it very clear to His disciples, glory can follow humiliation, and that the victim can find victory; and that God’s not dead, He is alive! God wins! Death and the devil lose!!!

Eccl 3:11 He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.

I wish to consider this verse one more time. Because of our tunnel-vision and limited perspective on life, it is difficult for us to see the big picture when we are in the middle of something. Our focus is on the process when God is focused on the product. Just how many things do you think God has in mind when He selected the word, “everything”? Or as in Romans 8:28 when He selected the words, “all things”? That does mean ALL THINGS are beautiful in God’s timing. Unlike the donkey, God gives the farmer the hope of the future (“eternity in their heart”) that makes the current drudgery of plowing the field look pleasant because of the future hope of a harvest. The donkey needs no hope because he focuses on only a task at hand and he is ok with that. And with us, even though we cannot see the “whole scope of God’s work”, we can trust Him that today’s process will yield tomorrow’s product, and today’s plowing will produce tomorrow’s fruit.

Songs of slaves—hope of tomorrow

We are studying the beatitudes and how they offer hope. We only need to listen to the songs composed by American slaves to realize the importance of future rewards to those in suffering.

“Swing low, sweet chariot, comin’ for to carry me home.”

“When I get to heaven, goin’ to put on my robe, goin’ to shout all over God’s heaven.”

“We’ll soon be free, we’ll soon be free, when the Lord will call us home.”

These songs came from the mouths of the slaves who had little hope in this world but had a tremendous hope in the world to come. For them, all hope was centered in Jesus.

“Nobody knows the trouble I see, nobody knows but Jesus.”

“I’m gonna’ lay all my troubles on Jesus’ shoulder.”

What good does it do to hope for a better future? Is there any benefit in suffering through something difficult simply for the hope of a reward? What good did it do the slaves to believe that God was not pleased with a world that included cruel slave masters armed with bullwhips and lynching ropes?

Holding to the belief of future rewards gives purpose to the unavoidable and unchangeable difficulties people must face. That faith ties us to the knowledge that the long arm of the Lord is strong with justice. That faith reminds us that one day the proud will be overthrown and the humble will be raised up and the hungry will be filled.

To American slaves as well as to the early Christians who were held in cages awaiting their turn with the wild beasts, the promise of a reward was a cause of hope. And hope keeps you alive. No matter how things appear, the future hope is only in doing right.

To people who are trapped in pain, in broken homes, in financial chaos, in hatred and fear, in violence, to these, Jesus offers a promise of a better time to come. And that time will last far longer than this time on earth. And it will be a time full of health and wholeness and pleasure and peace. Reward time is coming—that is the lesson of the beatitudes.

Bro. Raul Buai (pronounced boy), the General Superintendent of the UPC in Burma/Myanmar, held a teaching seminar at Liberty Tabernacle this past week. He has a deep passion for the Burmese people in the U.S. And it comes out during his ministry. He seeks to establish the church solidly in Apostolic doctrine: One God, Jesus’ name baptism, Holy Ghost infilling, and holy living.

In his preaching Sunday morning, Bro. Buai made this simple but profound statement: Learn from the past, live for the present, hope for the future. Not only is that great advice for the persecuted and poverty-stricken Burmese people in his home country, but it is good for materialistic western peoples.

Learn, live, hope. A good motto for today.