A Note from Pastor

lightstock_66626_small_user_43208133

The Bible can be pretty sparse with details at times.  In the Old Testament a sentence or a paragraph can cover centuries of history.  There are Kings of Israel who ruled for decades who are given just a couple of sentences in the book of Chronicles.  How would you like to have your whole life and career summed up by just a couple of sentences?  And that is for kings!  Imagine regular folks like you and me.  

So when we do get a detail like exactly what food someone ate for a particular meal we can be sure it’s there for a reason.  When Jesus appeared after his resurrection to his disciples in Luke chapter 24 it says he asked if they had anything to eat.  They gave him broiled fish and he ate it in front of them.  Now, Jesus ate meals everyday of his ministry and we don’t hear about most of them.  But this one is detailed to illustrate something. 

Jesus was flesh and blood.  He wasn’t a ghost, not a spirit, not an ethical system, not a moral philosophy, not a wise saying.  Jesus said, “Touch me and see.  For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”  Jesus is concrete, a real fact to be dealt with.  To demonstrate this, he did something very normal - he ate food.  But that is significant.  A spirit is something we can dismiss… relegate to the unexplained, the odd, and just put it out of mind. 

But Jesus in the flesh in the room with us, that has to change us, change our whole perception of the world.  We have to deal with this somehow.  It should mean being children of the light, changing, taking God seriously, reprioritizing everything, truly seeking God with our whole heart.  There can be nothing casual in our reaction to a dead man appearing and eating fish.  Our Savior lives, and is not a dead philosopher.  Our faith needs to live as well.