He Opened Their Minds

The Incredulity of Saint Thomas - Caravaggio

Day 25: Your Part in God’s Story

Read Luke 24:33-49

It was the Sunday evening following the crucifixion. The disciples were meeting behind locked doors. Early that morning, some of the women had discovered the empty tomb, and Jesus had appeared to them and to Simon. As the disciples tried to make sense of these reports, Cleopas and another disciple arrived with news. It was true: Jesus is risen! They had met him on the road to Emmaus.

Suddenly Jesus stood among them and announced, “Peace be with you.” The normal Jewish greeting was filled with the promise of forgiveness for their desertion and denial. Jesus had come to restore the band of disciples, to show them his resurrection was real, to help them understand that the Messiah had to suffer and rise again, and to prepare them to take the good news to the world.

The disciples were afraid and could not believe what was happening. Jesus assured them he wasn’t a ghost. He showed them the wounds in his hands and feet. They touched him. He took a piece of broiled fish and ate. His body was real. The foundation of their faith will rest on that reality. Without the resurrection, Jesus died a martyr, not a “not a Savior. Now they saw his death in the light of his resurrection.

He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures—the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms—every major division of the Hebrew Bible. The whole story of God’s mission was building to the coming of Jesus, his death and resurrection, and the proclamation of the gospel to the nations. Once the disciples grasped these things, they were ready to begin their mission.

Their message of repentance for the forgiveness of sins was not new. It was John’s message, and it was Jesus’ message. John the Baptist, Jesus, and the disciples all share in the one mission of God, which is now expanding to include the whole world. The mission Jesus gives his disciples will show us “what the kingdom of God looks like now that Christ has come, died, risen and ascended to the right hand of the Father.

This is the fulfilment of God’s plan to deal with sin. The descendant of the woman has crushed the Serpent’s head. From Jerusalem, the Word of the Lord will go out to all nations, fulfilling the promise to Abraham that through him all nations would be blessed; and fulfilling the prophecy that the Servant of the Lord will be a light for the Gentiles and, through him, salvation will reach the ends of the earth.

There’s just one more thing …

The same Holy Spirit who came upon Jesus at his baptism will now fill his disciples with power to be his witnesses. Jesus doesn’t mention the Spirit by name. The Spirit is the power from on high. He is what the Father has promised. Mystery and anticipation surround this power and this promise. The disciples know that he is coming, and when he comes, he will be full of surprises.

In just forty days, Jesus transformed a defeated group of disciples into fearless witnesses and disciple-makers. Notice how he shaped them over the course of three years, knowing they would fail him. Through failure, they discovered the grace of God. Jesus restored them, he taught them, he gave them their part in God’s story, and he promised them the life and power of the Holy Spirit. This is how Jesus launched a missionary movement that will go to the ends of the earth. It’s his mission, and he shapes us so that we can play our part in God’s story.

An extract from Your Part in God’s Story: 40 Days from Genesis to Revelation, Day 25.