All posts by Luella Campbell

LUKE’S GOSPEL…THE PROOF! – 68

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Supper forgotten…left to grow cold… the two from Emmaus flew, on winged feet, back to Jerusalem, back to the frightened disciples cowering behind a locked door…their gloom and misery forgotten as they retraced their steps to the city where their Master had been crucified. 

“They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.”

What a story they had to tell! The disciples listened to their incredulous tale…skeptical, with dull ears, still afraid in their unbelief. It all sounded just too good to be true. Not even the glimpse of the wounds in His hands could convinced these men that the report they were hearing was the truth. 

“While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost.”

At that very moment, at the height of their spiritual darkness, something happened…as if Jesus Himself, invisible and listening to their conversation, stepped out of heaven into their sight…to confirm their story. The disciples were shocked…scared out of their wits…their unbelief so powerful that they had only one thought…a ghost! 

Did they really believe in ghosts? It seems so because, once before, when Jesus came to them on the stormy lake, the disciples thought He was a ghost. Really! Did Jesus make a habit of turning into a ghost in a crisis?  How foolish they had become at the height of fear!

What would convince these confused men that the stories they were hearing were true? First Peter, then these two from Emmaus, were telling them the same thing! It sounded so far-fetched that it could not possibly be true until…

“…Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

Finally…it was true! The fairy tales of resurrection melted into reality before their very eyes.  

“When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭24‬:‭40‬-‭43‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Not only did the skeptics hear His greeting of peace, not only did they see the gaping holes in His hands and feet, but He also did something no ghost could do…He ate real food in front of them. That clinched it. Jesus was alive, real!

Relief…amazement…joy flooded their souls. Everything He had ever told them, over and over again, about death…about rising again…about laying down and taking up His life…words that had bounced off their ears… were true after all. Their beloved Master was back…never to die again!

This is much more than a narrative…a legend invented out of unbelievable events. This is eyewitness truth. Some of the greatest legal minds, using all the  facts, evidence l, and logic they could muster, not disprove this report. 

Many thousands, especially among sworn enemies, have seen the risen Jesus, have held conversations with Him…and have turned from their unbelief to fervent faith, despite losing everything….parents, family, home, and community, just as Jesus had warned… They have found Him to be more precious, more convincing, more satisfying than everything they had lost.   

Yes! It is true! Jesus is alive!

To be continued…

LUKE’S GOSPEL…THE EMMAUS ROAD – 67

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“Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him. He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?” They stood still, their faces downcast.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭24‬:‭13‬-‭17‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Back home…to the old routine…to dashed hopes and broken dreams…to disillusionment, devastating and bitter! Their steps were slow, dragging, reluctant. They longed to stay in Jerusalem, to mourn with their fellow followers…but to home they must go. Life must go on. Much as they wished to reverse time, to go back to those moments when Jesus was still with them… it could not be. 

A stranger followed them, unrecognisable in the gathering darkness. He listened to the conversation…heard the gloom and despair in their voices…and hastened to join them. 

He slowed His pace, kept in step with theirs and, knowing full well what they were discussing, joined the conversation. 

“One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?””

“What things?” he asked. “About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭24‬:‭18-21‬ ‭NIV‬‬

All in the past tense! Unbelief in every word! Grief…disappointment…misery in their tone. It’s all over! “We had hoped…!” Nothing left in this huge, promising interim of Jesus among us. Now it’s gone! Our hearts are broken. Our hopes are dashed. Going back home to the old routine is bitter!

Jesus listened to their torrent of disillusionment, His anger rising with every miserable utterance. He could no longer keep quiet…hold back His rebuke…

“He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭24‬:‭25‬-‭26‬ ‭NIV‬‬

These were God’s covenant people. They knew the Scriptures. They were schooled in God’s Word from birth. Yet, they had never made the connection. How could they not see that His story was written on every page of their holy book?

“And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭24‬:‭27‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Finally…the penny dropped. They connected all the dots…and the picture that emerged blew them away. What this stranger was telling them made sense. The one they had watched…dying a humiliating death on a Roman execution stake, was truly their Messiah. 

So enamoured were they with this well-informed stranger that they invited Him home for dinner. Only as they sat around the table, as He lifted His hands in blessing, did the truth hit them like a thunderbolt. The hands… the open wounds…the nails…the cross! It was Jesus Himself at their table!

In a flash, He was gone! He did not tarry to socialise with them… He was still there, but invisible in the realm of the spirit. Enough that they had seen Him. Their faith had been lit, like a candle in the dark. They were now witnesses…with a story that, together with every other believer that He was alive, would shake the world. 

To be continued…

LUKE’S GOSPEL…THE THIRD DAY – 66

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“On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” Then they remembered his words.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭24‬:‭1‬-‭8‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The resurrection…vividly recalled by different people! Luke told the story of the women. Did he talk to them? Did he ask them the questions that they loved to answer, to tell their story again and again? 

According to their culture, the witness of women was unreliable. Why did Jesus choose to reveal Himself first to women? John’s story is tender…delicate…intimate. Mary Magdalene, a woman sorely harassed, demonised…a prisoner of her sin…set free to love and serve her Redeemer…was the first to see Him! Perhaps it was His way of restoring authenticity and dignity to His crown of creation. 

Luke’s story…the women, loyal despite the danger of association with Jesus, were at the tomb at daybreak, eager to add their ministrations to the work of Joseph and Nicodemus. Forgetting the problem of the stone, they sped through the dark streets to the burial place to give their love- gift to Jesus. 

The stone…they hardly noticed that the stone was gone. They bent down through the narrow opening, groping their way into the cave. In the faint light of dawn…but…the tomb was empty. Where was the body? The stone slab held only a pile of grave clothes as though the body it had protected had mysteriously vanished. 

Two men, their garments glowing with supernatural light, suddenly appeared beside them. Their message was riveting. “He is not here! He is risen!” As they spoke, the truth slowly began to dawn on the frightened women. The words Jesus had spoken to them…the words they had ignored…dismissed as fantasy…forgotten through unbelief…were real! He had risen…just as He had told them!

They remembered…and they ran…back to the city, back to the upper room, back to the disciples cowering behind a locked door…to tell their fantastic story…to a bunch of skeptics!

“When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others…But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭24‬:‭9‬, ‭11‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Only Peter…the impetuous, disgrace, heartbroken  Peter… ran to the tomb to see for himself…Could it be true? He saw…he looked…and he left, wondering, hoping…Was it possible that he would see Jesus again…fall at His feet and beg His forgiveness?

To be continued…

LUKE’S GOSPEL…THE BURIAL, SO FINAL – 65

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“Now there was a man named Joseph, a member of the Council, a good and upright man, who had not consented to their decision and action. He came from the Judean town of Arimathea, and he himself was waiting for the kingdom of God. Going to Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭23‬:‭50‬-‭56‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The hullabaloo was over! The mocking crowd has gone home, satisfied with a day’s work. The soldiers guarding the lifeless body of Jesus, the Son of God, dangling limply on the nails…the last drops of blood congealing on the remnants of His beard…the final trail of bloody liquid from His pierced side trickling down His torso…kept watch. 

The two criminals crucified alongside Jesus still lingered in their misery, perhaps for hours to come. How was it that Jesus’ suffering was cut so short?

What now? 

A lone figure made his way to Pilate’s residence…Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the council that had condemned Jesus to death…but he was not able to save Him. All he could do now was rescue the body of Jesus from the valley of Hinnom, the city dump where the bodies of criminals were burned. 

Pilate readily gave consent to Joseph to take charge of the man he had also tried to saved, surprised that His death had come so quickly. 

There happened to be a new tomb nearby, prepared for Joseph’s own burial…which he, a wealthy man, gladly dedicated to the one he had reverenced and respected. No fires of Hinnom for Him! 

Another Pharisee joined Joseph…Nicodemus, the one who had visited Jesus after dark. The two men watched as the soldiers took down the body of Jesus. With supernatural strength, they carried Him to the tomb and gently placed Him on the stone slab prepared for a burial.  This was the least they could do for the one who had taught them the truth and given them hope. 

Silently, carefully, they worked. Covering the mutilated body with herbs and spices, they wrapped Jesus in a piece of finely woven linen cloth, then covered His face with a separate cloth and, finally satisfied with their ministry to their Lord, they left the tomb and manoeuvred the heavy stone across the entrance. Wet with perspiration, and smeared with  the blood of their Master, they returned home to clean up and rest on the Sabbath. 

Their hearts were heavy with grief …these two men who had held such high expectations of this man…had buried their hopes with Him. They had believed that a new dispensation of grace and mercy had come. Jesus had opened their eyes to a new understanding of the Torah…of a Father whose love for His people was unlimited snd unconditional. He had done miracles that took their breath away. He had provided proof upon proof that He was who He was, the promised Messiah who had come from God to establish a new dispensation, the forgiveness of sins and the kingdom of God within them. Now He was gone! Dead…and all their hopes lay with Him…there, buried behind the stone…in the tomb…sealed and secure. 

To be continued

LUKE’S GOSPEL…THE LAST STRAW – 64

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“The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.” One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!””

‭‭Luke‬ ‭23‬:‭35‬-‭37‬, ‭39‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Couldn’t they leave Jesus alone to die in peace! In the agony of His physical suffering, did He have to listen to these final words of abuse…rebellion…rejection of their Creator and Redeemer…in such a torrent of contempt?

This was mankind’s…humanity’s…God’s once perfect sons’ and daughters’, these representing the entire human race…absolute cancellation of their God! Wiping their hands of Him, they were declaring, “We are done with Him!” …spewing out of their mouths, the fountainhead of their hearts, the final words of contempt towards their Creator. They had finally and successfully rid the earth of Him…or had they?

In three short days, the tables would be turned. The one they ridiculed in death, believing that this was His end, would step out of the sealed tomb in an indestructible resurrection body and a glorified state that would forever condemn them to their place in the fires of hell. 

Jesus had warned them, many 

times, that judgment was coming…and that He would be the judge…but they did not believe Him. Exactly as they had repudiated His teaching, His assurances of mercy, forgiveness of sin, and eternal life, His declaration and demonstration of His Father’s covenant love and faithfulness, so they rejected that His death was an atoning sacrifice for sin. In their eyes, He was nothing but a blasphemer and He deserved to die!

The first day of the week, the first glimmer of dawn, peeked from the eastern horison, heralding the fulfilment of the greatest prophecy ever uttered.  A lone figure stepped through the massive stone barrier that had sealed Him in the tomb, into the increasing brightness of a new day…a new era…a new dispensation…the New Covenant! 

This day in history brought to light the truth and reality of the words He had uttered with His dying breath. In the midst of the cacophony of their ridicule and contempt…perhaps even lost in the hullabaloo of their fervent abuse, He prayed…“Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing!” 

Through His agony He spoke….Not for Him…that was settled before time. To the Father for them.  If it were not for mercy, they would have sealed their own  fate that day…but Pentecost was coming. A new day was about to dawn over Israel…over the world…when the blood that flowed from His broken body would become a fountain of forgiveness and cleansing for the whole world. 

“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.”

‭‭Zechariah‬ ‭12‬:‭10‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.”

‭‭Zechariah‬ ‭13‬:‭1‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The words of affirmation from the lips of Jesus would become the glorious reality of His claim on earth. 

“At daybreak the council of the elders of the people, both the chief priests and the teachers of the law, met together, and Jesus was led before them. “If you are the Messiah,” they said, “tell us.” Jesus answered, “If I tell you, you will not believe me, and if I asked you, you would not answer. But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God.” They all asked, “Are you then the Son of God?” He replied, “You say that I am.” Then they said, “Why do we need any more testimony? We have heard it from his own lips.””

‭‭Luke‬ ‭22‬:‭66‬-‭71‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The day of Pentecost came, the day of reckoning for His executioners. What He had predicted…what they had repudiated…happened! The Holy Spirit fell in power and authority to confirm and fulfil His every word. 

Peter wielded the sword of the Word and struck with truth. 

“Fellow Israelites, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. 

…But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.”

‭‭Acts‬ ‭2‬:‭22‬-‭24‬, ‭32‬-‭33‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Imagine the horror in the conscience of the many among the crowd that day who had bayed for His blood…who had poured contempt on His person…who had celebrated His death with sneers and insults. He was alive! He was exalted to God’s right hand! He was crowned king and judge of all!

One sentence, one prayer, uttered from a heart of compassion, from lips sticky and coated with His own blood…”Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing!” Did the Father hear Him…above the din?

“When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.””

‭‭Acts‬ ‭2‬:‭37‬-‭39‬ ‭NIV‬‬

The cruel death His tormentors had inflicted on the “enemy” of their position, their comfortable self-righteousness, their power and authority, turned out to be, for them…not judgment or condemnation but mercy and forgiveness!  

Three thousand turned that day…back to God’s path, to God’s way. The cross of suffering had become the gateway to redemption, to wholeness, to the bosom of the Father, to the everlasting love of the God they had scorned, never to be separated from Him again. .

They had no idea what they were doing when they, the representatives of the whole world, Jews and Gentiles,  condemned the Son of God to death and had Him nailed to a piece of wood.  They had opened the door to heaven and to the kingdom of God. 

Such is the marvel of God’s sovereignty!

To be continued…