From Peace and Joy to Purpose

When Jesus appeared to the disciples in Jerusalem after the resurrection, he stood among them, bid them Peace, showed them his hands and feet and ate with them to confirm that he was not a ghost. As they moved beyond their joy and amazement,

He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”

Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, “This is what was written. The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised, but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
Luke 24: 44-49 New International Version

Yes, they experienced joy and peace – but they were also challenged with a new purpose! They were to be witnesses to all that had happened! A witness is one who sees or knows by personal presence or direct knowledge – one who can attest to a fact or an event. They were to preach repentance and forgiveness of sins to all nations, in the name of Jesus, the Christ.

They were not to simply be passive recipients of this great sacrificial gift of an agonizing death on an old wooden cross. They were to be active recipients, by bearing witness to all that had happened so that the Good News would spread to the far corners of the earth. Not by their own power, but by the power of the Holy Spirit who would clothe them with courage, endurance and wisdom to witness in the face of persecution. No pain. No gain. No Spirit. No Power!

Our purpose in life is to join the host of witnesses that attest to the Risen Christ of the New Testament, that others may come to know Him as the fulfillment of all that the witnesses of the Old Testament foretold. The Messiah, the King of a new different kind of future, born in a stable, the obedient Son, the Savior on a Cross, the Risen Christ, would send us what Yehwah, God the Father, had promised………… his very own Holy Spirit to walk with us on the path of witnessing to His Presence among us.

Patricia McCann, Elder
for the Adult Discipleship / Membership Development Council