Dead Man Under!

While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.37They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. 38He said to them, ‘Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.’ 40And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet 41While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ 42They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43and he took it and ate in their presence.
44 Then he said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.’ 45Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46and he said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, 47and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48You are witness of these things.

Have you ever seen a ghost or what you thought to be a ghost? I remember in college sitting around talking with this friend of mine that promised he had lived in a house that was occupied by a ghost. The funny thing is that he never saw the ghost, only affects of what the ghost had done: Things like opening and shutting doors and drawers, furniture that was rearranged, and pictures turned over or moved. He also said that he heard strange voices/breathing and loud footsteps. The problem I had was that he said, that he never witnessed the ghost but felt only the presence of a paranormal being. This week we will explore the witness that the disciples had with what at first must have seemed like a "Ghost". To believe that someone is dead and then to have them stand in your presence has to leave one with a strange feeling. The disciples were witnessing the "dead man from under". Everything that he had promised them had come true. They had in essence had a ghost in there presence but it was the presence of the Holy Ghost. Jesus' appearance was a way of showing them that he had not left them alone. It not only showed that he was alive but it also reiteration that Jesus was leaving them the Holy Ghost to help them in there doubt and ministry. We have been given the same power as the Disciples did but the question is do we tap into that power? The other question stems from whether we really believe the promises that Jesus fulfilled and whether they really made a difference in our life. I love the quote from Sixth Sense were the child says, "I see dead people everywhere". You know Jesus may look at it differently. He may say,"because of my death I see living people everywhere." Join us this week as we explore how an event that happened so long ago in a locked upper room still mandated us today to become "living people".