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If God is For Us

“While they were still talking about this (the reports of Jesus’ resurrection), Jesus himself stood among them” (Luke 24:36)

I wonder if Jesus’ followers were scared when they saw him.

I know that the passage goes on to say, “They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost” (verse 37), but I mean, "Were they scared of Jesus himself and what he might do to them?”

Put yourself in their position for a moment. Jesus had been arrested three days earlier, put on trial and killed on the cross. When that happened, every one of the people in that dark little room, with the possible except of John and few of the women, ran away and left Jesus alone. In fact, Peter outright denied knowing Jesus three separate times. For all the teaching they had heard and miracles that they had seen, when push came to shove, they deserted the son of God.

Now, Jesus has returned from the dead and he is standing right in front of them. What is he going to do?

If the disciples were scared that Jesus had come back seeking revenge, they need not have been.

Notice how Jesus treats them. The account says that he “appeared” in the room. He did not kick the door down. He did not turn the table over as he did in the temple. He did not come in with “guns blazing” (so to speak). In fact, the first words out of his mouth were, “Peace be with you”.

Far from being disappointed in them, Jesus tells these followers that they are going to be his “witnesses” and that they are going to preach his message of “repentance (a turning around of one’s life) and forgiveness” (verse 47).

Did you catch that? After all that happened, Jesus wants them to hear (and speak about) “forgiveness”.

Have you ever thought to yourself, “Oh no! I have really done it now! God will never forgive me for this”? If you have, then you have the wrong picture of
God.

God is not “out to get you”. If the cross and the resurrection tell us anything, it is that God is just waiting for you to turn around, accept his forgiveness and come home (See Luke 15 for more about this).

After the resurrection, the disciples began to understand that God was “for them” and not “against them” and that makes all the difference in the world.

After all, as Paul said, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31)

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