Good News Of Great Joy: Lessons From The Gospel Of LukeSample

"Second Sunday after Christmas Day: Resurrection Joy"

Sometimes it is hard for us to rest in the peace that really is ours in Jesus. Even after Jesus said “peace,” the disciples were still troubled. It was the end of Easter Sunday, but they still had trouble believing in the resurrection. According to Luke, when they first saw Jesus, “they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit” (Luke 24:37). 

There is a tendency for people to think that physical existence is inferior to spiritual existence and that the body is something inherently evil that the soul is trying to escape. The Good News of Great Joy is not a ghost story, however. Our mortal bodies will be raised again. Even for all our weakness and suffering, which come as a result of living in a fallen world, our bodies have the blessing of God. 

Jesus proved the Good News of Great Joy to his disciples by appearing to them in the full reality of his resurrection body. The body that rose from the garden tomb was a marvelous, mysterious body with extraordinary abilities. It could appear, disappear, and pass through locked doors. Christ’s risen body transcended the ordinary limitations of time and space; and yet Jesus consumed physical food, for the disciples gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he ate it (Luke 24:42-43). 

This meal was Luke’s final proof for the gospel fact of the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. The apostle Peter later referred to this meal when he preached the Good News of Great Joy. We have been chosen as witnesses, Peter said, “who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead” (Acts 10:41). 

Are you as certain as Peter was? Do you believe the Good News that Jesus rose from the dead? Do you accept the bodily resurrection as well as the virgin birth and atoning death of Jesus Christ? What joy it brings to believe in the resurrection of the body, even if we, like the disciples, can hardly believe it. 

By the power of the resurrection, creation will be restored again. God will undo all that death has done. There will be a new heaven and a new earth. God will make everything perfect when we rise again. There will be no more sadness or pain, only perfect health and joy. This is Good News of Great Joy! Indeed, it is the Best News of the Greatest Joy.