Friday, May 26, 2017
Luke 24:52-53 And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.
JOYFUL RETURN
The disciples could return to Jerusalem without a visible Jesus but with great joy because He could still bless them even when visibly parted from them! We too often trust our own eyes to tell us whether or not Christ is with us and able to bless us, don't we?
But if we stand this day with the disciples on the Mount of Olives and see Jesus parted from us, but never stopping His blessing of us, then we too will be able to face to our tasks with great joy and comfort.
The disciples knew that nothing on earth could part them from the blessing of Christ, not the cloud, nor anything else -- for their minds had been opened to understand the Scriptures: "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and an the third day rise from the dead...."
The disciples had seen that not even the death and burial of their dear Lord had stood in the way of His blessing them with more than they were able to think or ask.
The disciples had seen, and so have we also seen through their testimony, that "neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39).
The disciples could return to a doomed Jerusalem with great joy because they knew, as we also know, that "Though devils all the world should fill, All eager to devour us, ... He’s by our side ..." Amen!
