The Wedding Feast (~19.49) - Moriel Ministries

Special Interest – Continued
Most of us have favorite verses, favorite
passages. Even little children have
favorite bedtime stories in the Bible like
“David and Goliath” or whatever, and that
is OK. But a favorite is not inclusive. ALL
the Scriptures. Three times (including Lk.
24:32) His complaint is it is the Scripture,
the Scripture, the Scripture. He is the Word
Incarnate; He is the “Logos.” The Bible is
Jesus in print – the Scripture.
He was walking with them but they
did not know it. He was trying to explain
the Scriptures to them but they did not
grasp it. He was indeed risen, but they did
not quite understand it was even true. And
so we have a situation where we have His
own disciples not understanding the Scripture,
not really grasping the fact that He
was walking with them, not really seeing
Him, not really hearing Him, yet He was
with them. HE was with THEM, but they
were not really with HIM.
I am sure that Jesus is with me, but
the question is how much am I really with
Him? He is there, but am I seeing Him?
Not if I am not understanding the Scripture.
He is there and He is talking to me,
but am I understanding what He is saying?
Not if I am not grasping the Scripture. I
always tell people who I lead to Christ that
when they pray they talk to God, but when
they read the Bible He talks to them. It is a
two-way conversation.
So I walk with Him and I come to
church and I hear a sermon like this, but
when I am stuck in a traffic jam, and I want
to shoot that driver – that guy with a cell
phone in one hand and a cigarette in the
other, Jesus is with me but do I recognize
Him? Would I pull the trigger if He were
visibly sitting next to me? But that He may
not be visibly sitting next to me does not
negate the truth that He is still actually next
to me. He is hearing what I am saying, but
am I hearing what He is saying? He sees
me, but am I seeing Him? He is trying to
explain to me, but am I listening?
Am I Living & Walking in the
Power of the Resurrection?
The point is Jesus is indeed someone
who was dead. I have no doubt as to the
historicity of the crucifixion of Jesus. I have
no doubt He died in my place, I have no
doubt He was crucified – no doubt. What I
do question is how much of Jacob Prasch
– how much of me, how much of my own
self, is dying with Him? That He went to the
cross, this I am clear about; but how faithfully
am I carrying it and walking in His
footsteps like Simon did? That is the issue.
He had risen, but these people were
having doubts. Did He actually rise? I have
no doubt that Christ has risen – that is not
the question. I absolutely am convinced
beyond any doubt that He has risen. The
thing I question is, am I living and walking
in the power of the resurrection with Him?
That is my question. That He died and rose
I am sure; but have I died and risen? This
is the issue. The Scripture is there, but how
well am I understanding it? He is with me,
but am I seeing Him and do I recognize
Him? Am I hearing what He is saying? But
notice, He manifests Himself to them in
the breaking of bread. He had to eat with
them.
In the Bible the reason we see somebody
eating after they are raised from the
dead is to prove it literally happened. When
He wakes up the little girl He says give her
something to eat (Mk. 5:43). And we see
Lazarus eating with Him (Jn. 12:2).
God knew about Jehovah’s Witnesses
before there were Jehovah’s Witnesses
trying to say that the resurrection was not
literal and physical. Ghosts do not have to
eat. He was literally eating because there
was a literal resurrection. We only see His
eating because it proves a literal, physical
resurrection. But it is in the breaking of
bread that He manifests Himself.
Notice He acts as if He was going to go
further. He was going to just continue on
the road. “Here is where I get off, see you
later, I am going to continue on the road.”
And they have to say, “No, no! Come in,
come in!” “Stay with us!” “We want to
hear more!” “Explain more of the Scripture
to us!” “Explain more of Your Word
to us!” “Explain more about Jesus to us!”
“We want to hear more!” “Please stay!”
They had to invite Him in.
The Need to Invite Him In
It is no different today. If there were
ever a group of Christians still walking
on the road to Emmaus it is the Christians
of Laodicea. And He says, “I stand at the
door and knock” (Rev. 3:20). And He says,
“Look, you are not seeing Me; you are not
really hearing Me. You do not see your nakedness
for what it is; you do not see your
true spiritual state for what it is. You are
deluded by materialism, by affluence. You
think these things are the barometers of
blessing?”
They are blessings, but they are not
the plumb line; they are not the litmus test.
They just do not see, neither do they hear
(Rev 3:17-18) except those with ears (Rev.
3:22). That is what He says…
‘Behold, I stand at the door and
knock; if anyone hears My voice and
opens the door, I will come in to him
and will dine with him, and he with
Me.’ (Revelation 3:20)
Most people like me usually use this
verse in the course of evangelism, and it is
fine we do. We usually use this – I usually
use this – for witnessing to unsaved people
and that is acceptable. It is a valid application,
but that is not what it is primarily
talking about in its exegetical context. He
is not mainly talking to unsaved people
even though it applies to them in some
sense; He is talking to us. “Let Me come
in and sup with you.” “Let Me dine with
you.” “You sup with Me and I will sup with
you.” “I will explain these things to you.”
He was going to go further, He was just
going to continue on the road. He acted as
if He was going to continue. They had to
ask Him to come in. It is only when they
asked Him to come in that He manifested
Himself; then they understood the Scripture;
then they saw His presence for who
He was; then and only then they understood
His Word for what it was; then and
only then did they really see; then and only
then did they really hear.
Yes, He has risen, but are we walking
in the power of that resurrection? Yes, He
died, but did we? Yes, His Word is true,
but three times He tells His own disciples
they were foolish because they did not understand
it. They could not see, they could
not hear. We are walking on the same road
with Jesus. He is perfectly intent and perfectly
content to continue on the road by
Himself, but He will never turn down an
invitation to dinner. God bless.
NOTES: permission given by Theodores World,
www.theodoresworld.net/archives/2009/05/jew_
hatered_at_uc_irvine.html
This is a copy from front page of the Muslim Student
Union website as Google captured it on May 7, 2009
10:59:31 GMT
Featuring: George Galloway \\ British MP, co-founder of
Viva Palestina, Cynthia McKinney \\ former Congresswoman,
Green Party Candidate, Reem Salahi \\ Lawyer,
Bridge Fellow at ACLU, Amir Abdel Malik Ali \\ Activist
for Justice, Jim Lafferty \\ National Lawyers Guild, Anna
Baltzer \\ Author, Fulbright Scholar
16 Moriel Quarterly • December 2009