After - Day 24

“They were filled with Joy. . . “ 

I mean, why wouldn’t they be. But even with joy comes confusion at times. 

Jesus put out his hands in order for them to be able to see the wounds, which would have been a verification of what he had gone through. I wonder what they looked like? Would they have been clean? Would they have been just as bloody as they were when he hung on the cross? 

I know this is a gross discussion, but I have often wondered. When we were told that Jesus would bear his scars for eternity, I wondered what that meant. I mean, I was told that we would get a new body, like that of Adam, but Jesus would retain his earthly body. 

(You know, this sounds weird to say out loud right now. . .) I wonder where that came from? I think it was something that we were taught when we were in elementary school and I am sure it came from some extra biblical writings. Who knows, maybe it will be true.  I am all for having a body like Adam’s when heaven abounds. 

But for the disciples, this verification of his suffering must have helped them believe that they were really talking to him, and not an apparition or a ghost, or even something more sinister than either of those options. 

But when they recognized that it was Jesus, they were filled with joy and not dread. That says something. That says that they not only loved him, but fully believed that he had been raised from the dead and was present in their lives as a source of positivity, joy, and trajectory. They had hope seeing him, not fear. There was probably confusion, but the joy overwhelmed them! 

1. Have you ever had overwhelming joy? What was it from and how did it make you feel? 
2. What do you think you would have done when you saw his hands and feet? 
3. When do you feel the presence of God the most in your life? 
4. What did you understand about our bodies when we go to heaven?