Meditation for Monday
But after I am risen again, I will go before you into Galilee. Matthew 26:32
As we sat down to write our history test, our teacher handed out the list of text questions on a sheet of paper. At the top of the page was the title of the test, followed by a bold statement telling us to read the entire paper before beginning the test. So, before beginning, I read down through the list of essay questions, dismayed at how difficult some of them were. But at the very bottom of the page was a short line that read ‘Please answer only one of these questions’. With a sigh of relief, I selected one of the questions that I knew well and began to write out my answer. When I finished, I rose, and took the test to the teacher, and left the classroom. None of the other students had finished yet, so I read a book as I waited in the cafeteria. After awhile one of the other students arrived with a sheepish look on his face. He told me he had answered four questions before he noticed the line on the bottom. Almost all the students missed that line completely and wrote far more than necessary. They were like the disciples who failed to grasp the good news that was in their Lord’s words in today’s text.
The disciples were dismayed about the news that the Lord Jesus was going to be betrayed, arrested, and crucified. They were having a difficult time accepting this. In our text, the Lord Jesus was already looking beyond the crucifixion and His death; He was plainly speaking of what was going to happen afterwards. He spoke of being risen again, and of His plans to meet with the disciples in Galilee afterwards. If the disciples had paid attention to this statement, they would have viewed the upcoming crucifixion in a much different light. Rather than viewing the upcoming events as a great tragedy and loss, they would have appreciated the great purposes of God and the role that the Lord Jesus was playing in those purposes. There are times when we are also filled with dismay and consternation because of circumstances around us. But if we are able to look beyond the circumstances and see the promises and purposes of God, we will be far less dismayed. The truth is that there are no bad circumstances that we encounter that God will leave us in. Every trouble and trial will have an end and a solution. There is a better day coming, and a better land promised. This assurance should give us courage to face the trials, and give us a proper perspective of them.
Yes, there is comfort and encouragement in the knowledge that the Lord Jesus has risen and will meet with us on the other side of all our troubles and pain. -Jim MacIntosh