It is Not Nonsense

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

IT IS NOT NONSENSE

Luke 24:9-12

9 When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. 11 But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. 12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.

NIV

Why would the Eleven and all the others not believe the women? Were they not present when Jesus told them all that was to happen? Didn’t they hear him, or pay attention at the last supper they had with him? Was it unclear to them when Jesus took the bread and broke it, telling them, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me”? Did they not understand when He took the cup and told them, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”? They saw him on the cross and knew that would happen, but did they think that was the end? Where was their faith in Jesus, especially Peter when he confessed that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. Did they not believe or just did not get it when Jesus told them he was going to prepare a place for them, and that he would come back to take them with him? There was so much he told them, they surely should have believed the women, but they did not. Even when Peter ran to the tomb and found it empty with just the strips of linen lying by themselves, he went away wondering what happened. How they were so dense just boggles our mind, yet there are people today, if we tell them all that happened in the scriptures and Jesus rose from the dead and ascended back to heaven, and answered our prayers, they will not believe us. Even if we let them read it for themselves, they would refuse to accept it, and discredit the word of God, saying it was only written by men in an attempt to control others. We wonder if when we tell someone about the gospel, the words we use just seem like nonsense to people. Are we using the wrong words? Maybe we are just using Christianese terms, then it might just be nonsense to someone who does not understand our language, like as if we are speaking a foreign tongue. We wonder if the women were too excited and could not formulate their words correctly. But then, of course, we are not like the women, for we don’t get very excited at all about Jesus not being in the tomb. At least it seems we live a sort of hum-drum kind of life. We know all the facts, we believe all the facts, and yet we would think we would be just a tad more excited about eternal life than we are. Have we gotten bogged down with all the hubbub of this world, getting weighted down with this life, that we have lost our focus and excitement about the world to come? Hopefully, we have not become like the Eleven, and not believe. No, we believe! We are not going to let anything, or anyone distract us from our enthusiasm for the truth, and that Jesus has arisen, and He is sitting at the right hand of the Father and they sent the Holy Spirit to live within us, so how can we not be excited. Let us live in the moment, expecting Jesus to come for us any time now because it is not nonsense.