“Marching orders”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Sunday, April 14, 2024
Luke 24:36b-48 (Forward, p. 76) CEV p. 1098
Perhaps I was never ‘cut out’ to be in the military. Or at least, that is the conclusion I would take from my couple of years in air cadets. You see, I never did learn how to march properly. Three things tended to happen in terms of my marching. Either, on the one hand, I would be slow in responding, slow in obeying, or, on the other hand, I would anticipate an order and move before I was supposed to. And, on top of this, I was singularly inept and uncoordinated.
However, from this rather limited experience, I can say several things about this process:
a) Firstly, that the person giving the orders needs the backing of some sort of authority. After all, who is he or she to be giving the orders in the first place. Here Jesus, in giving orders to us, is in a class by
Himself, in two ways. Number one, He has been given all authority in heaven and on earth by His heavenly Father (see Matthew 28:18). And number two, He has given evidence of that authority by being raised from death and thereby conquering death and sin and the devil. No one else has ever had such qualifications.
b) Secondly, that the commanding officer gives clear and unmistakable commands or instructions. Here, in today’s passage, Jesus says that ‘all people of every nation must be told in my name to turn to God, in order to be forgiven.’ He tells His disciples, ‘Beginning in Jerusalem, you must tell everything that has happened.’ That’s pretty clear and unambiguous.
c) And thirdly, a commanding officer should be expected to provide his or her troops with everything they need for the appointed task. Here Jesus does this in two ways: He explains carefully how the Scriptures had predicted and commanded this—after all, He didn’t just make this up Himself—and He promises to send them the Holy Spirit as the operating power that would enable them to make all of this happen.
But of course, had Jesus not be raised from the dead, none of this would have any bearing or authority, and never would it make any sense. However, having defeated sin, the devil and death, He demonstrated that He was indeed our commander-in-chief, the very one who was uniquely positioned to give us, you and I, our ‘marching orders.’
Forward notes: “Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and he said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day” (verses 45-46).
“Jesus relates this vision of the scriptural basis for his pathway in a clear and straightforward manner. It involves suffering, death, and resurrection. He concludes with a blessing. His understanding, honesty, and courage offer encouragement for us to envision our own pathways.
“What I can say about my pathway is that I am going to die. I don’t know when or how. There may be pain and suffering, but I have confidence in the availability of support. It is my responsibility to continue working on issues relating to reconciliation and forgiveness and to contribute all I can in a positive way to the lives of others. I am not fearless, but I trust in Jesus’s assurance that God enfolds us in love.
“God enfolds us in love, now and forever. It is a ‘blessed assurance,’ as we sing in the hymn, ‘This is my story, this is my song.’ Jesus’s vision ends not with death but with life.”
Moving Forward: “How do you envision your pathway?”