Prof. Biju Issac

One of the greatest desires I have is to be a signpost to the living God - Christ Jesus, whom I serve. If I fail in that, I consider myself to be failing in all aspects of my Christian life. Do people around us get the impression that our God is alive Or when they see us behave in a trial, do they get the impression that our God is dead?

In the early days of Christianity, the disciples of Christ were ‘witnesses of the resurrection of Christ’ (Act. 4:33). Meaning, anyone who met them understood that they were serving a living God who has all authority in heaven and earth. The word ‘witness’ itself speaks of a ‘first-hand knowledge’, not knowledge by hearsay. Jesus said that, when we are empowered with the Holy Spirit, we shall be witnesses of the risen Christ in all places (Acts. 1:8). Only the Holy Spirit can show or reveal the ‘risen Christ’ to us (Jn. 16:15).

It is quite instructive to see the conversation of two disciples on their way to a village named Emmaus, immediately after the death of Jesus. As they walked along, Jesus (who is risen from the dead) joined them, and they never knew His identify, for their eyes were restrained. We understand the relevance of the ‘resurrection of Christ’ through this incident.

The gospel has two parts - 1. Jesus was buried for our sins. 2. He is risen and is alive (1 Cor. 15:4). Our sins can be forgiven and we can live a ‘half gospel’, without having a vision of the glorified and exalted Christ.

WHAT CAN BE THE RESULT OF SUCH A HALF GOSPEL?
1. They were sad:
Then he (Jesus) said to them, “what are these matters you are discussing so intently as you walk along?’ And they stood still, looking sad (Lk. 24:17). Sadness in life is never God’s will for us. It is God’s will that we experience the joy of salvation and be rejoicing in God always (Phil. 4:4).

Many folks speak and admire about Jesus, but they never have had any revelation about His authority in this Universe. God is the motivator and controller of all that is happening in our lives. Do we see the hand of God behind a trial? If not, we definitely would be sad! Who can harm you, if you are a child of God?.

2. They only admired a ‘great’ man:
Then one of them, named Cleopas answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who doesn’t know the things that have happened there in these days?” He said to them, "What things" “The things concerning Jesus the Nazarene,” They replied, “a man who, with his powerful deeds and words, proved to be a prophet before God and all the people; (Lk. 24:18- 19).

The two disciples only believed that Jesus was a prophet, mighty in word and deed. They never believed that “He is the son of the living God, Who is alive for evermore”. God wants us to be trusting in Him implicitly. Even though, Jesus was a mighty prophet, He was Almighty God Himself. Our inner eyes need to be opened to see that. We should never think that, somehow we can ‘believe’ in Christ. It is impossible for us to believe unless He gives us revelation. Many try to substitute ‘revelation’ with explanations and dogmas of Christian faith. They try to follow a ‘teaching and not God.

One of the prayers we need to pray is- “Lord, give me revelation of yourself, for I am blind”. I pray this consistently. We can have an academic knowledge of God and still be on our way to hell. When Peter confessed that Jesus is the son of the living God, the reply of Christ was -‘Flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father in heaven’. The best bible teacher can only be a pointer to Christ.

The prayer of Apostle Paul for the believers at Ephesus was - “I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, may give you spiritual wisdom and revelation in your growing knowledge of Him, - that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened- so that you may know what is the hope of His calling what is the wealth of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the incomparable greatness of his power toward us who believe” (Ephes: 1:17-19) The prayer focuses on all the three temporal aspects of our salvation- the past (calling), the future (inheritance) and the present (power toward us who believe). But for a person to understand this, Bible teaching or reading won’t help, only revelation from God!

3. They were without hope
Anyone without hope is truly severed from God. You can call God as- ‘the God of hope’. The two disciples said-But we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. Not only this but it is now the third day since these things happened (Lk. 24:21). In essence, now there is no hope left- Israel would be under bondage and three days have been past!

But Jesus had said earlier that He had come to set those who are in bondage free and to open the prison doors to let the captives out. They never understood that. Oh, the good news is that the ‘Lion of Judah’ is able to redeem you completely.

4. They were unbelieving:
Furthermore, some women of our group amazed us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body, they came back and said they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. Then some of those who were with us went to the tomb, and found it just as the women had said, but they did not see him (Lk. 24:22-24). The two disciples were informed that ‘Jesus is alive’. Some other disciples went and confirmed that the body was really missing. Yet they couldn’t believe that news.

When Satan suggest that we are beyond hope and the situation is hopeless, we need to speak back to him saying - ‘My Jesus is alive and is in perfect control of all things’.

Response of Christ:
So he said to them “You foolish people how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Wasn’t it necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and enter into his glory?” Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things written about himself in all the scriptures (Lk. 24:25-27).

• He called them foolish, because they did not believe in His resurrection. Fools say to themselves, "There is no God”. (Ps. 14:1) Are we becoming foolish in our day-to-day life?
• He exhorted them to know what the prophets have said. That means we need to know the word of God. Hence we should read and study it with God’s wisdom.
• He showed them the Scriptures pointing to Himself. We need to have a cry for the revelation of the risen Christ, as we read the word of God.

My heart’s groaning to the Holy Spirit is to ‘reveal the risen Christ to me!