What Is the Lord Jesus’ Intention to Explain the Scriptures and Eat Bread After His Resurrection?
It is recorded in the Bible, “And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and broke, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?” (Luke 24:30–32). “And as they thus spoke, Jesus himself stood in the middle of them, and said to them, Peace be to you. But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said to them, Why are you troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit has not flesh and bones, as you see me have. And when he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said to them, Have you here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them” (Luke 24:36–43).
Looking at these passages of scripture, I was thinking: Since the Lord Jesus at that time was a spiritual body after His resurrection, He could take no food, yet why did He take food in front of the crowd, explain the scriptures and speak with them, and even more, allow them to touch Him? There are always the Lord’s thoughts behind each and everything He does. Then, what’s the significance of those things the Lord does? I had read through these verses countless times, but I never understood the Lord Jesus’ will at the time. It was not until I read Almighty God’s words that I understood His deep love hidden in the Lord Jesus’ seemingly ordinary actions. …
Almighty God says, “If the Lord Jesus had only spoken with people after His resurrection, if they could not feel His flesh and bones, but felt He was an unreachable Spirit, how would they feel? Wouldn’t they be disappointed? When people were disappointed, wouldn’t they feel abandoned? Wouldn’t they feel a distance with the Lord Jesus Christ? What kind of negative impact would this distance create on people’s relationship with God? People would certainly feel afraid, that they didn’t dare come close to Him, and then they would have an attitude of keeping Him at a respectful distance. From then on, they would sever their intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, and return to a relationship between mankind and God up in heaven, as it was before the Age of Grace. The spiritual body that people could not touch or feel would lead to the eradication of their intimacy with God, and it would also make that intimate relationship — established during the Lord Jesus Christ’s time in the flesh, with no distance between Him and humans — cease to exist. People’s feelings toward the spiritual body are only fear, avoidance, and a wordless gaze. They do not dare to get close or to have a dialogue with Him, let alone follow, trust, or have hope in Him. God was reluctant to see this type of feeling that humans had for Him. He did not want to see people avoiding Him or removing themselves from Him; He only wanted people to understand Him, come close to Him, and be His family. If your own family, your children saw you but did not recognize you, and did not dare to come close to you but always avoided you, if you could not gain their understanding for everything you had done for them, how would that make you feel? Wouldn’t it be painful? Wouldn’t you be heartbroken? That is precisely what God feels when people avoid Him. So, after His resurrection, the Lord Jesus still appeared to people in His form of flesh and blood, and ate and drank with them. God sees people as family and He also wants mankind to see Him that way; only in this way can God truly obtain people, and can people truly love and worship God.”
“Although the Lord Jesus was resurrected, His heart and His work had not left mankind. He told people with His appearance that no matter what form He existed in, He would accompany people, walk with them, and be with them at all times and in all places. And at all times and all places, He would provide to mankind and shepherd them, allow them to see and touch Him, and make sure they never again feel helpless. The Lord Jesus also wanted people to know this: Their lives in this world are not alone. Mankind has God’s care, God is with them; people can always lean on God; He is the family of every one of His followers. With God to lean on, mankind will no longer be lonely or helpless, and those who accept Him as their sin offering will no longer be bound in sin” (“God’s Work, God’s Disposition, and God Himself III” in Continuation of The Word Appears in the Flesh). After reading God’s words, I came to know God’s kind intention of doing so. When people saw the Lord Jesus appear to them in the spiritual body, they would be afraid and feel that He was difficult to get close to. They would as well believe that God is God and man is man, and that after all, there was a certain distance between them, and God was unapproachable and unreachable. Once they had an attitude of keeping Him at a respectful distance, the relationship — established during the time of the Lord’s incarnation, with no distance between Him and humans — would no longer exist. Their faith in God and knowledge of God would be the same as those in the Age of Law, and they would not follow Him anymore. So, the Lord Jesus continually appeared to the disciples after His resurrection, explained the scriptures, ate bread and fish with them, and allowed them to touch Him. All these things, which seemed so ordinary to people, made them verify that the Lord Jesus was really the incarnate God, and the appearance of God. He ushered in the Age of Grace, so that the disciples could spread the work, and people could have more faith in Him, knowing that He was still with them, leading and shepherding them and thus they could come close to Him and open their hearts to Him.
From the series of things that the Lord did, we can even more see God’s care and worry for us mankind. At any time, God’s will for all mankind remains unaltered, yet it is only that we cannot truly know or understand Him. God cares about our men’s childishness and inspects our hearts as well. If what we saw was the spiritual body of the resurrected Lord, we would feel a distance between God and us, could not get close to Him and would feel terrified and frightened. In order to keep us from fearing, staying away from Him or avoiding Him, God, after His resurrection, appeared to us in His form of flesh and blood, explained the scriptures, and ate bread and fish with them. The series of things that God did are filled with His care, and His kindness and affection toward us humanity, from which we can see God’s heart toward man is true and sincere. He makes us truly feel that at any time, He has never left mankind. Although we cannot see God in real life, as long as we can frequently depend on and look to Him, we will have His guidance and enlightenment, and enjoy His care and protection, feeling that He is accompanying us by our side.
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