Knowing The Truth

Knowing the Truth

Luke 24:38-43, NLT

“Why are you frightened?” he asked. “Why are your hearts filled with doubt? 39Look at my hands. Look at my feet. You can see that it’s really me. Touch me and make sure that I am not a ghost, because ghosts don’t have bodies, as you see that I do.” 40As he spoke, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41Still they stood there in disbelief, filled with joy and wonder. Then he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” 42They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43and he ate it as they watched.

Setting the Scene

Jesus had risen physically from the dead. Suddenly he appeared in bodily form to the gathered disciples. At first they wondered what they were seeing: Was this a vision? An apparition? Jesus dispelled those notions and questions by inviting them to touch him. Jesus had a real, tangible body with flesh and bones, and his hands, feet, and side still bore the scars of the crucifixion. Then Jesus ate a piece of fish to show he was real and not a ghost or a figment of their imagination. We don’t know the actual makeup of Jesus’ body, though we do know he wasn’t limited by locked doors or walls. But his actions established for the disciples—and for us—that he had a physical body.

The Resurrection was not a fable or wishful thinking; it was the truth, a historical fact—and now the disciples knew it. They had seen Jesus, alive.

Getting Personal

What makes the Resurrection so difficult for most people to believe?

The fact that Jesus rose from the dead became the central point of the disciples’ preaching. Why is the Resurrection so important to Christianity?

How can the experience of these first-century Christ-followers and their strong witness give you confidence and hope?

The close followers of Jesus ran for their lives from the garden and then kept their distance from the trial and Crucifixion. Peter denied even knowing Jesus. Two of them walked sadly away from Jerusalem, hopeless of seeing Jesus again. Then this same group hid from the authorities in a locked room. But soon they would be boldly proclaiming the Good News about Jesus. What changed these confused and disillusioned men and women? The Resurrection! They saw Christ alive—they knew the truth—and their lives were forever changed. This is perhaps the greatest proof that Christ did, in fact, rise from the dead: the disciples’ changed lives.

Talking to God

Take some time to review the story of your own changed life, not just so that you are prepared to answer those who may ask you about it. Pray through the details of your transformed life, thanking God for his work in your life at every step and remembering the sacrifice of Jesus that made it all possible.