DR 21
December 21
Luke 24:36-43. Christ eats in the presence of his disciples.
During the course of the resurrection-day the Lord Jesus appeared to several of his people either alone, or when two or three were together. But he crowned the joys of the day by showing himself in the evening to a larger assembly. The apostles, the disciples from Emmaus, and others besides, were all conversing about their risen Lord, when they suddenly saw him standing before them. Nothing could be more comforting than the words he uttered, "Peace be unto you." All his salutations to his people that day had been full of sympathy and encouragement. To the weeping Mary he had said, "Why are you weeping?" to the joyful women, "All hail!" to the mourning disciples, "What manner of communications are these that you have one to another, as you walk and are sad?" To Simon Peter we know not what he said; but we are persuaded that He who sent him a gracious message, gave him a tender reception.
To his assembled apostles he said, "Peace be unto you." This peace he won by the pangs of death. Man lost it in Eden; the Son of man regained it on Calvary. He made peace by the blood of his cross, (Col. 1:20;) and he rose from the grave to bestow that peace upon his people. He still lives to bestow it on all who ask it. If there be any uneasy soul seeking for happiness, but not knowing how to obtain it, let that restless creature fall low at the feet of Jesus, and implore his blessing; peace shall sooner or later flow into that troubled heart. A sweet sense of pardon, a lively hope of heaven, and a fervent love to God—these feelings make up the peace that Jesus gives.
How touching it must have been to see the Lord showing his own wounded hands and feet to his disciples, and inviting them to touch his sacred person! God permitted these prints of love to remain after the wounds were forever healed. The apostle John, when he speaks of his Lord in the opening of his first epistle, alludes to the privileges he had enjoyed—"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, which our hands have handled, of the Word of Life."
The apostles enjoyed some privileges which we have never known. They heard that blessed voice, they saw that sacred form, they touched those precious limbs; but there are still higher enjoyments that we hope to share with them hereafter. The gracious Savior, who condescended to eat with his disciples after he rose from the dead, has promised to admit all his people to intimate communion with himself. There is no creature so lowly—no soul so ignorant—no sinner so lost, who shall, if he feel the desire to be with Jesus, be refused admittance to his presence. But not one being shall approach him in glory who has not loved him upon earth.
To all who love him not he will say, "Depart." How would the entrance of an enemy have marred the joy of the evening which Christ spent with his apostles! Judas was not there. No doubt, in former days, he had stirred up many dissensions among the little band. There shall not be one enemy in heaven to interrupt the harmony. The weak believer shall be there; the restored backslider shall be there; the sinner, plucked in the last hour as a brand from the burning, shall be there—but not one hypocrite, not one self-righteous formalist, not one worldly-minded person, not one who does not love the Lord Jesus Christ. Let each of us ask his own soul, "Shall I be there?"