Luke 24:36-48 (NRSV)
Read Luke 24:36-48 on biblegateway.com
Verse 36While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." Verse 37They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. Verse 38He said to them, "Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Verse 39Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." Verse 40And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. Verse 41While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?" Verse 42They gave him a piece of broiled fish, Verse 43and he took it and ate in their presence. Verse 44Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you-that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled." Verse 45Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, Verse 46and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, Verse 47and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. Verse 48You are witnesses of these things.
Devotion
Are we ever tempted to like our own words as the best? Or to think that our own talking makes reality what it is?
As Christians, we seek to use our capacity for speech wisely. But as Christians we also believe that God's words have much greater power to shape reality than our own words.
As the disciples talk in Luke 24 about what they have seen and heard, Jesus' words break in to redefine the purpose of their speech. As Jesus speaks, their minds are opened and their ears understand. Now they know exactly what their words are for. Because they have seen and heard, because they have been opened and understand, their words will now proclaim repentance and forgiveness to the entire world in Jesus' name.
The disciples' speech was made important only through Jesus' own. How true for us yet today.
Prayer
O Lord, may your words break through the clamor and self-importance of our own. May we, like the disciples, remember once again what our speech is for. Amen.