Luke 24:52-53 Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. And they stayed continually at the temple, praising God.

We can do no more than imagine the depth – and breadth and height – of the disciples’ joy at this point. We have not seen the one we were sure was the Messiah be horribly mistreated and killed, and then have Him show up again, alive. If they had not gone through all the events leading up to it, having Him taken from them into heaven, as Matthew talks about in more detail, would have left them very upset. As it was, they probably felt like their own feet hardly touched ground, they were so joyful! This was what prepared them for the persecution that would soon come upon them, as well as for the frustrations of dealing with all the human interactions of daily life, such as what necessitated the appointment of deacons, in Acts 6. It is those who have been through deep suffering, of one sort or another, who are prepared to deal with all the lesser stuff, because they know that since God brought them through the deep water, the “kiddie pool” is nothing to get upset about. Many of us feel we are over our heads in the “kiddie pool!” That comes from failing to fix our minds and hearts on Jesus our Lord, as the Bible tells us to do many times. As the writer of Hebrews put it, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:2-3) We shake our heads at the deceived young people today who are supporting terrorists without really understanding what is going on, but we ourselves are sometimes just as disconnected from reality when we feel like our own immediate problem is so great as to negate everything else. We need to remember that we serve a risen Savior, and that should fill us with enough joy to get through anything!

It’s easy for me to sermonize on this, but I need to hear it too! I was just called down by my daughter for responding poorly to people to whom I should be expressing appreciation, and she was right. I too need to keep everything in context, remembering that Jesus took on our humanity, so He knows all our weaknesses, and then He let his human body be nailed to a cross, wiping out our sins, and then rose from the grave, leaving our weaknesses in the dust. With that assurance I should be living each day in unshakable joy and gratitude. I’m not there 100% yet, by a good measure, so I have no room for spiritual pride, and I need people like my daughter to remind me of that! I can’t tell others to “Look to Jesus” and fail to do so myself! After all, that was what Peter cried out to his wife as she was being crucified. My faith needs to be that strong!

Father, thank You for this Word, both through the reading and through my daughter. May I not just agree, but actually follow through and put this into practice, for the sake of the Body of Christ and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!