The Commissioning in Luke
Read Luke 24:36-53, another account of Jesus appearing to His disciples and giving them the call to preach to the world.
In this account, as the disciples gathered, the two disciples who met the risen Lord on the road to Emmaus joined them and shared their encounter. During their discussion, Jesus joined them.
Read this account. What were the first two things that Jesus did to help increase the faith of the disciples?
Notice, however, that Jesus did not stop with just giving them physical evidence, evidence that they could see and feel. No, that was only part of it. He then took them into the Scriptures, showing them from the Word of God that what had happened to Him had been predicted.
What lesson should Christ's use of the Scriptures here teach us?
We see an important principle here: Sure, experiences, physical manifestations, and miracles all have their role, and can have a major part in giving people what they need in order to have faith in Jesus. At the same time, however, Scripture must be the foundation of all of our faith. Despite the miracles, Jesus affirmed their faith, using the Scriptures to do it. He used the Scriptures to confirm all that had happened to Him, and buttress all that He had said to them. If Jesus Himself used the Scriptures to justify all that He did, how much more so should we?
Christ's words and actions here are a stinging, powerful rebuke against any and all attempts to weaken the crucial and foundational role of the Bible in the life of the church and in our work as disciples.
There are so many forces, even within the church, that work to weaken our trust in the Bible. What are some of these forces, and how can we protect ourselves from anything that calls into question the authority of the Scriptures?
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