That They Might Understand

Luke 24: The Resurrection and Some After Stories

• True Repentance (change of heart)- Is it true repentance if I keep making the same mistakes over and over?
• How can I allow my mistakes to make me more empathetic, more compassionate, and more firm and committed in the truth? 
• How did the disciples gain their own testimony in the absence of Christ?

In one of the account of this chapter, two believers of Christ are walking down a road, discussing the news they'd recently heard that Christ was back from the dead! Kinda a wild idea, if you didn't know it was coming. Unknown to them, they are joined by the savior himself as they discuss how they are feeling about the news. They were "walking by faith"- walking in the dark with Christ, not knowing who he was until after their conversation and time spent with him:

"Their eyes were holden, that they should not know him." (Luke 24:16)....then at the end of their conversation, "and their eyes were opened and they knew him." (31)

Likewise,we are given the information we need in the time we need (God's time) in order to grow and be fully converted for ourselves. If Christ had identified himself right away, they probably wouldn't have gained all the insights and answers they did when they didn't know who he was.
How did Christ promote the most effective learning environment for the two he was speaking with?

• Asked questions: DON'T STOP ASKING QUESTIONS to myself, God, AND everyone around me. Remain curious. Remain astonished by life.
• Encouraging them to share- verbalizing their own testimonies= GROWTH yo
• Started where they understood: Moses, other old testament scripture to solidify and testify of his role as savior and redeemer of the world.
• Recognized the Spirit as the true teacher. He created an environment where everyone felt safe, listened to, respected, and ready to receive. He spoke the words of God, and because of this, the spirit was able to confirm what he was saying as true.

The apostles had Mary and Martha tell them Christ had risen, Peter even got to see the empty tomb, and now the two fellas on the road are able to testify that they ate dinner with him. Would I have believed all these people at this point? Or would I choose not to, out of fear of being hurt again? Honestly, I feel like if I were there at that time, I would totally be a Thomas. Think of the incredible amount of pain and suffering the apostles had just been through. Think of the agony of losing one of their closest and dearest friends to such a violent and unjust death. I'd be furious, devastated, in mourning- I don't even know half of what I'd be feeling- but I know it would not come easy to believe all these accounts Christ had returned. Sometimes it hurts to believe. It's scary to not know if you're going to be let down, or feel naive for believing in something so wonderful.

Ohhh- I just connected it all together!! Christ is teaching others to find the doctrine of the resurrection for themselves! Whhhhat! Throughout the chapter, he points people to the scriptures- the dudes on the road he hung with, the apostles, etc. because they don't understand the doctrine of the resurrection for themselves.

"Ought Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself." (26,27) 

"And he said unto them, these are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you. that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and the in prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then he opened their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures. And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer , and to rise from the dead the third day." (44-46)

Until you understand the WHY behind something, you aren't going to believe it. And until you believe something, you aren't going align yourself to whatever it is you believe. In order for repentance to be true repentance, you need to believe in a true principle or doctrine. Once you align your actions with the doctrine or principle (repentance at it's finest, folks), your faith turns to knowledge, and eventually, you develop your own personal testimony of said belief.
It all starts with faith- with our hearts, our mindsets, and desires.

In order for repentance to be true repentance, I must first believe a doctrine or principle to be true. Once I believe it, I put that belief into action and test it out! During this trial period, I will mess up time and time again. And even after I feel like I have learned a specific principle time and time again, I'll still mess up. But that's what it take to truly learn for ourselves. It's like any sport- you only really understand the rules once you get out there and make a butt load of mistakes in the process. As much as I hate how cliche this saying is, it is totally true: You miss 100% of the shots you don't take. You can't grow if you aren't making mistakes!! That is a natural part of life! A wise person once said, if you aren't falling while you're skiing, you're not skiing hard enough. I think that was my dad. But who knows.
And yeah- you are going to get hurt- some injuries will take longer to recover than others. You will loose some games, and you'll win some too. But as you keep trying your best, you WILL improve over time. It will come naturally to dribble the ball down the court without thinking twice about how to dodge your obstacles. The things that used to take you hours to master will come in a matter of seconds. It becomes instinct- part of our nature, muscle memory, if you will. It doesn't happen overnight. It takes time, consistent practice, and patience with ourselves to get to where we want to be. Similarly, as we strive to align our hearts and actions with God, it is SO hard to make those initial changes. But it's not impossible. We are given all the tools we need. We just need to get out here and do it. Life. Ain't it great?

I sure do hope my thoughts are able to make their way from my jumbled brain to you in a way that makes sense- but I feel like I learned a ton today! I hope you are able to glean something from this brain dump ;)

Much love,
Emily

*I apologize for the lack of consistency in sticking to one sport for my analogy- it made sense in my head