PLEASE READ THIS FIRST: Acts 13:26-31
What do you sense the Lord saying to you in this passage?
“The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognize Jesus…” (Acts 13:27)
This ought to shock us, how could God’s people not recognize the messiah?
The one that they had been waiting centuries for, waiting desperately.
Their whole history was moving towards this great moment, and they didn’t see it.
This is like saying the church today wouldn’t recognize Jesus…
There is a story about Jesus meeting a homeless man sitting outside a church.
‘Don’t worry’, he says, ‘they won’t let me in either.’
Would our church leaders (local or denominational) recognize Jesus?
Would his message fit into our confessions, or would we challenge his heresies.
If this sounds far fetched, this is exactly what happened to Jesus.
This challenge applies to me too. would I recognize and welcome Jesus?
I’m a religious leader, and I would like to think that I would welcome him.
As a Jesus follower, I need to make sure I know what Jesus is like.
The more time I spend with him, the more likely I will recognize him.
I need to spend my time WITH him, to grow LIKE him, to live FOR him.
PRAYER
Lord, I want to recognize and welcome you. Expose my wrong ideas about you, and shape me by your Spirit to be more and more like you.
“he was seen by those who had traveled with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses…” Travelling with Jesus – that’s what it is all about if I want to ‘see’ Jesus – his gift of the HS travels with me wherever I go – the more I travel down life’s pathway with Jesus – the more I get to ‘see’ – to appreciate of his gift of living with him. Lord, let me not travel alone – and when I have times when I do nudge me HS to come back to you and acknowledge the error of my mistake! Jesus was seen physically by those who travelled with him while on earth – the apostles – it is there witness – but it is also affirmed in my walk with Jesus through the HS and through creation and the written word!
After His resurrection, Jesus was seen by many people. Yet it took some time to realize that it was their risen Saviour. His followers, His witnesses continue to tell the story of their risen Saviour. I need to be that kind of witness also. I need to be a living letter, an epistle, read by all those around, that I serve a risen Saviour by my words and deeds. Christ in me and I in Him.
I serve a risen Saviour, He’s in the world today
I know that He is living, whatever men may say
I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer
And just the time I need Him He’s always near
He lives (He lives), He lives (He lives), Christ Jesus lives today
He walks with me and talks with me
Along life’s narrow way
He lives (He lives), He lives (He lives), Salvation to impart
You ask me how I know He lives?
He lives within my heart