Luke 24
Read: Luke 24
You’ve made it to the last day! Over the past twenty three days, we have read about all the amazing things Jesus did. He healed people, showed compassion and love, demonstrated forgiveness, casted out demons, raised people from the dead, and all sorts of other things. Today, we read about his most amazing feat. Jesus was beaten and crucified to death, and three days later he arose! Jesus’ resurrection is so extraordinary that even his disciples didn’t believe it at first even though he had told them about it multiple times.
In light of that, today I would like to talk about doubt. Maybe you find the fact that Jesus rose from the dead to be a bit crazy. Maybe even from the beginning, the idea of Jesus being born of a virgin and then going on to do all sorts of miraculous things sounded pretty far fetched to you. That’s ok. In fact, it’s probably a normal response. We weren’t there, so all we have to go off of is the testimony of the scriptures and those who have passed it down over the past 2000 years. I do believe there is good historical evidence that it is true though. If you’d like to read more about that, see my post: Is There Any Evidence That Jesus Rose From The Dead? But at the end of the day, there will always be an element of faith involved in believing.
It is ok to have doubts and questions. God never answers every question we want the answer to. Some people think that you can’t have doubts and be a Christian. I think you can’t be human and not have doubts. But that’s where faith comes in. Even in our doubts, we can go to God and let him know we don’t understand. Look at the women who found the empty tomb or the guys on their way to Emmaus. They didn’t understand what was going on. Jesus was supposed to be their deliverer, and ended up getting himself killed. How could that be? And now people were saying he had risen? No one does that! That couldn’t be possible. But what did it take for the men to see? Jesus had to open their eyes!
If you are doubting something you read in Luke, tell God you don’t understand. If you are doubting because of a circumstance you are dealing with, tell God you don’t understand. Whatever your doubts are, don’t let them keep you from going to God. Ask him to help you understand; ask him to open your eyes. God does not want us to live lives of doubt; he wants us to live lives of faith. It’s ok if you don’t have all the answers. Just trust God to give you what you need. As you finish up the Christmas season, make sure to thank God for the resurrection and the gift of salvation, because it is true. Merry Christmas!
