We are blessed for having faith.

Luke

{24:36} And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in
the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace [be] unto you.
{24:37} But they were terrified and affrighted, and
supposed that they had seen a spirit. {24:38} And he said
unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise
in your hearts? {24:39} Behold my hands and my feet, that
it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh
and bones, as ye see me have. {24:40} And when he had
thus spoken, he shewed them [his] hands and [his] feet.
{24:41} And while they yet believed not for joy, and
wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat?
{24:42} And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of
an honeycomb. {24:43} And he took [it,] and did eat before
them. {24:44} And he said unto them, These [are] the
words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you,
that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the
law of Moses, and [in] the prophets, and [in] the psalms,
concerning me. {24:45} Then opened he their
understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,
{24:46} And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it
behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third
day: {24:47} And that repentance and remission of sins
should be preached in his name among all nations,
beginning at Jerusalem. {24:48} And ye are witnesses of
these things.


Jesus said unto the disciples gathered together on that third day, the day He rose from the grave-- Peace be unto you.


Don't you suppose that if Jesus said 'peace be unto you' that peace would overcome you instantly? You'd think that's what would happen and yet once again Jesus allows our free will reign He doesn't manipulate us of cause us to feel this way or that not without our consent. We can consent to remain sad, scared, angry. We don't have to choose to allow Jesus to bring us peace and yet peace is what He want's to give us- not the peace of this world but the peace that is found in Him.


After Jesus said, peace be unto you the Bible goes on to say- 'But they were terrified and affrighted and supposed they'd seen a spirit.'


Terrified, that's a pretty strong word isn't it? They weren't just scared but terrified, why? Because they thought they'd seen a spirit. Spirits were and are obviously something that isn't conducive to being calm about, yet worth being terrified of. If spirits were good things and things desired then you'd think that they'd have been happy to see a spirit. Yet Jesus goes on and says, 'Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.'


He wasn't a spirit, He was flesh and bones, he wanted them to look at his hands and feet. What would they see there looking at His hands and feet-- the marks of His crucifixtion? This was the crucified Christ standing there before them and they were scared, no, not just scared but terrified.


Jesus didn't tell them to calm down but rather gave the reason to calm down, to understand He was no evil spirit and worthy of being terrified of.


He told them outright He was no spirit, he asked for food and ate it in front of them, and He talked with them wanting them to understand that all things in the Scriptures (Old Testament) the Law of Moses and the prophets that talked of Him had been fulfilled in Him. Jesus opened their understanding why? Because their understanding was obviously dim, they couldn't understand what Jesus was saying, they had fear in them and so He opened their understanding, read this again--

'{24:45} Then opened he their
understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,
{24:46} And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it
behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third
day: {24:47} And that repentance and remission of sins
should be preached in his name among all nations,
beginning at Jerusalem. {24:48} And ye are witnesses of
these things.'



Jesus opened their understanding to the reality of His being the risen Lord. He rose from the dead and this would be preached to all, His life would be preached. The fact He fulfilled all that was written in the Scriptures of HIm and He suffered, and then rose from the dead on the third day and because of this-- repentance and remission of sin should be preached in His name among all nations beginning at Jerusalem-- the disciples were witnessed to all these things.


There really is nothing like an eyewitness is there? As long as you can believe what they tell you. In our court system we have eyewitnesses who testify towards the happenstances that led up to their being in the court that day. They'll tell you they saw a person commit a crime and because of their testimony taken under oath swearing what they say is true people are put in jail, they're convicted of a crime based on eyewitnesses. The disciples were eyewitnesses to all Christ had done when He lived among them and now they were witnesses of His fulfilling prophecy and rising from the dead. The disciples were called to preach all this to others so that they could repent of their sins and be forgiven.


A lot of people want an eyewitness, not just a Holy book to reveal Christ to them and yet even should an eyewitness have been among them and they living back in the time of Jesus' death and resurrection the same people would refuse to believe the eyewitness.


No matter if it's a book or an eyewitness in the end you have to take what is said by faith and believe in it. The court system takes what an eyewitness testifies and believes in them and what they say. How often do you take the word of someone? We do it all the time. We ask someone to do something and we believe they will do it, we have faith.


Christ appeared before the disciples and they were terrified until He revealed fully that He was truly the Lord they loved risen from the grave.


The disciples in that moment didn't have to go by faith so much as fact because right before them Jesus lived, Jesus who had died was now living and they saw Him. Their understanding was being opened. We need to remember this verse-

John {20:29} Jesus saith unto him, Thomas,
because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed [are]
they that have not seen, and [yet] have believed.


We are blessed for beliving when we haven't seen.


We are blessed for having faith.


May God open our hearts and minds to understand all that we need to understand to be prepared and to help prepare others for His soon return. May our faith be strengthened, our hearts filled with love for one another, may the Lord guide us into all truth in Him and may His grace and mercy be real to us as well as His righteousness in our lives because it's only through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that we truly live- now and forever.


Amen.