Receiving Real Peace: Part 1

[Darris McNeely] In the post-resurrection stories about Jesus Christ, there's a great deal of information available to us. Information that really strikes at the heart of what you and I need in our lives to live successfully, to live with a comfort and an assurance of God's presence.

Christ appeared to his disciples in Luke 24. Suddenly, in the midst of them in a room, he stood in their midst, it says in verse 36. And, "Peace to you," were His words. Peace. Interesting. Christ appeared. They were worried. They were frightened. Verse 37 says, they were terrified and frightened and supposed that they had seen a spirit when He appeared suddenly in the middle of them. Now, Christ went on to explain that, "Don't be troubled." He said, "Don't let the doubt arise in your heart." He even showed them His hands and His feet. He said, "Handle me. I'm not a spirit or I'm not a ghost. Ghosts, spirits, don't have flesh and bones," as he said, "I have at this time."

So actually, Christ literally appeared to them in a human form so that they could see flesh and feel bones. And He wanted to comfort them. He wanted to encourage them. And He did something else that was rather interesting at this point. He said, "Do you have any food here?" And so they brought out some broiled fish and some honeycomb. And He ate with them. They give him a piece of the food, He took it and He ate in their presence.

Interesting thought here, "Peace," He said to them. They were upset. They were still trying to figure out what had happened with His crucifixion and now the empty tomb, and now all of the sudden He was in the midst of them, and they didn't know what they were seeing. And He said, "Peace be to you." So He sat down and He called for food. And it was in that request for food, setting down, perhaps sharing it with them that this calm came over the disciples and allowed them to take the next step in this story, to what is ultimately the goal of any one of us. When we face troubles, when we face difficulties, when we might feel just a bit terrified and uncertain about our life, where it's going, and what's happening, we want peace, we want comfort. But there's one other step that we need. Jesus is going to give that to them as we go through that story, and we'll look at that next time.

It's BT Daily, join us next time.