Closer Day By Day

Bible Passage:  Luke 24

The last chapter of this gospel book.  We’ve been here many times.  What goes through your mind as you read today’s passage?

As I was reading today, I could not help but think….

In the last chapter of Matthew, we hear the grand commission given by the Lord Jesus to His disciples…

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen

Matthew 28:19-20

In Mark, the same commission was repeated…

And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.

Mark 16:15-16

In John 21, we read about the other commission of Jesus…. to pastor the flock of the Lord.

Two great commissions of the Lord Jesus - preaching the Gospel and pastoring the Church… rightly given at the climax of each of these Gospel books.

But somehow in Luke… I do not read of any of these grand statements that Jesus mde in Matthew, Mark or John. It’s like something was missing from Luke’s recording…

But as I pondered over the words of Luke 24, this thought came to mind.

Luke 24 was a complement to the recordings in Matthew 28, Mark 16 and John 21.  Let me try and explain this.

A famous incident found in Luke 24 is the two disciples walking on the road to Emmaus.  We allo know that although the two were talking about Jesus, they did not recognize Jesus when He walked and talked with them.  And Jesus had to explain, beginning from Moses and all the Prophets, all things concerning Him (Luke 24:25-27).  Only later did they realize that it was Jesus!

Later, they told the other disciples that the resurrection of Jesus was true and that He had walked with them.  But… the others were still skeptical and were startled when Jesus suddenly appeared in their midst.  And Jesus had to once again prove that He was indeed alive.

And He opened their minds so that they could understand the Scriptures and know that everything written in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and Psalms refered to Jesus.

Jesus spent His last few days on earth teaching and teaching the disciples about the Scriptures and how it talks about Him.

Even though the discples know Jesus and what has happened, they did not really know Jesus - until Jesus opened their eyes and heart - and it was revealed to them from the Scriptures.

What struck me was this…

In wanting to be good disciples of Jesus and keep His commission to preach and pastor, there is a need first to really know Jesus through His Word.

We need to know Him personally and know what the Scriptures say about Him.  We have to not just know… but also to believe.

Some of those disciples heard that Jesus had resurrected from friends they could trust.  But when Jesus appeared in their midst, their reaction showed that they did not really believe it.

What is our faith like?

Today is a good day for us to reflect on this question.  We want to move on and improve in our spiritual lives.  We want to do work for God - to evangelize and take care of our fellow brethren.

But there is a need to establish our own relationship with Jesus first so that we know Him.  We need to read and study the Word of God so that we know what He wants us to do and be convinced that we are to do it.

Let us continue on with our Bible reading and commit to knowing God more and more each day.