Scripture Scribbles: April 14, 2024

the Gospel

Luke 24:35-48

The two disciples recounted what had taken place on the way,
and how Jesus was made known to them
in the breaking of bread.

While they were still speaking about this,
he stood in their midst and said to them,
"Peace be with you."
But they were startled and terrified
and thought that they were seeing a ghost.
Then he said to them, "Why are you troubled?
And why do questions arise in your hearts?
Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself.
Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones
as you can see I have."
And as he said this,
he showed them his hands and his feet.
While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed,
he asked them, "Have you anything here to eat?"
They gave him a piece of baked fish;
he took it and ate it in front of them.

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
and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled."
Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.
And he said to them,
"Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer
and rise from the dead on the third day
and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins,
would be preached in his name
to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
You are witnesses of these things."

the devotion

Reading today’s Gospel, my heart just overflows with the pure love and joy of the Lord. 
With His unending mercy and love for each one of us.

What a gift! 

To walk in the light of Christ. 
To experience, together with Him, His Resurrection. 
To know that He is resurrecting all of the broken, dark, or dead pieces within our very selves, as we speak. 

There is something about today’s Gospel that has me reflecting on the love that God has for us. 
He comes back to the disciples, while they are all there together. 

I can imagine His deep, overflowing joy, being able to see them, to show them, to reveal to them all of the details, to make sure they understand just how deep the goodness of the Father really is.

His longtime friends. His most trusting companions. His precious, beloved creatures. 

Oh, how he loves us! Do you feel it? 

“Touch me and see,” He says. 

He wants so badly for them to fully realize and comprehend the concrete truth of God’s goodness, standing right in front of them.

He has truly been raised from the dead.

But He doesn’t just want this for them. 
He wants it for you. 
Right now! 
Taste and see that the Lord is good! 

Just as He appeared to the disciples and asked them to come closer, to see, to touch, to feel His goodness, the reality of the Resurrection, He is asking the same today, of you and of me. 

Do you really believe it? 

The disciples weren’t totally sure yet. They were “incredulous for joy,” the Gospel tells us. This means that they were desiring to feel the full amount of joy that Christ’s Resurrection could mean, but they weren’t quite 100% sure if this were all really happening. They were feeling that giddy anticipation of accepting it, but it felt almost too good to accept as reality. Almost like… what’s the catch?

I love this, because isn’t that just like us today? When you begin to ponder how good God really is, don’t you hesitate… just a little? I know I do. The love is overwhelming. The mercy is unfathomable. It seems too good to be true, especially in the broken world we live in. 

Could these promises actually be real? Could God care about my individual life? Does He really see, know, and love every piece of me, unconditionally? Will He really forgive me, no matter how many times I fall? Can He actually resurrect the places of my heart, of my life, that seem broken beyond repair? Does He even want to?

Yes, He can. And He is. And He will. And yes, trust me, friend, He deeply desires to. 

But the question is: Do you believe it? Will you accept it?

Today I challenge you, like the disciples, to take a step closer. 
See and touch and feel it. 
Really, fully receive this truth. 
Examine every inch of it, up close and personal. 
Let your heart burst with the joy, love, and mercy He wishes to lavish you with. 

Allow yourself today to simply bask in the goodness of God and all of His creation. Of His beautiful, tragic, overwhelming, heroic, plan of salvation. 

His plan of salvation for you.

Today’s devotion was written by Rachel Smith