Not to steal the name of the MercyMe song, but … I am reading the YouVersion plan “Bible in a Year,” and we have finished Luke and moved on to John. This verse is one of the last of the verses in the book of Luke and amazes me in so many ways.
Just imagine: You meet this man, unlike anyone. He performs miracles, he serves people, he loves them! You are devoted to him. Then he is betrayed by ONE OF YOUR OWN FRIENDS, is tortured and killed. You are devastated and afraid for your life. Women you know come to tell you he has risen from the dead and you roll your eyes. Then he appears to you! You delight in joy! You share a brief meal with him. You are so happy. Then he blesses you and LEAVES, again. But this time, you are left with hope and are filled with his grace.
Still, the sadness must have been unbearable. You miss him. You want him back. But you know that you will see him again. And, until that time, all you want to do is honor him by following his instructions of teaching and loving others.
At the end, these verses in chapter 24 also hold so much:
Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.You are witnesses of these things.I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
A couple of times in Scripture we learn that Jesus “opens” the minds of the apostles, which is to say that he opens the human minds to be able to understand the great mysteries. I know that our minds are still closed, and unable to fully understand these mysteries. What I wouldn’t give for my mind to be fully open. But as a flawed human loved by a forgiving God, could I really bear to know everything?
