Read: Luke 24:36-53

Imagine being in the room with the resurrected Jesus.

That's what happens in the room where the disciples are held up, and ask the two Emmaus followers burst into the room with their Jesus encounter story. Poof! Jesus appears.

Luke is careful to highlight the fact that Jesus is present in body. It is not a holographic spirit or shimmering halo light - but a body with flesh and bones which the disciples can palpate, complete with nail scars.

Luke finishes volume one of his annals with Jesus leading a Bible study for his disciples. He is making sure they know that he has fulfilled every prophesy about the long-awaited Jewish Messiah.

After 40 days of appearances and Bible studies, Jesus is whisked away from earth, leaving the disciples in worshipful wonder, and a mission to go spread the hope.

And Theophilus is also left with a decision: what will he do with this Jesus?

Write
Have you come to decision about Jesus? Is he the Messiah - the Son sent by God, or a lunatic, or a snake-oil salesman?

Jesus' bodily resurrection is the prototypical experience of what he promises will happen to those who commit to relationship with God through him. As you think about your body - the parts that are not working so well, how may you be looking forward to your new body?

Do you know someone who needs to know about the hope of a new body?

Pray
What is God saying to you today?

Talk to God about the hope you draw from Jesus' bodily resurrection. In what way your faith on Jesus' identity is built on the mystery of his bodily resurrection?

Pray for yourself and your friend as look forward to a new and improved body.

Pray for a fresh experience of God's love, grace and mercy through reflecting on the hope of a new kind of life, new body, and new heaven and earth.