The ministries of the resurrected Jesus

 Luke 24:6 “He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,”

                                The tomb of Jesus is the only tomb that is empty in this whole world. The tomb acts as a testimony that it is empty inside as Jesus is risen from the dead. When the ministry of Jesus began in Cana continued till resurrection. As a matter of fact, the ministry of Jesus Christ still impacts each and every one of us till date. We read in John 19:30 ‘When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.’ We see here Jesus exclaims that it is finished with a sense of satisfaction that he has completed his ministry. But the ministry of Christ did not cease to exist at that point but it continued forever. We see Christ continued to give visions to people and to his disciples. He wanted them to live up to his expectations and he kept preparing them. Today, we will mediate on the ministries that Jesus performed exclusively for some people after resurrection and how that transformed their lives.

Grants zeal for Jesus

Mark 16:9 ‘Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.’

                We see Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene for the first time after resurrection. To understand why Jesus appeared to Mary, we should read in John 20:15 ‘Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou?.’ We see Mary was weeping because she loved Jesus so much. Mary witnessed the death of Jesus so closely near the cross. This we read in John 19:25 ‘Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.’ Mary witnessed how Jesus was persecuted and she saw all the bloodshed. Jesus knew why Mary was crying and he wanted to immediately visit her early the first day of the week.  In John 20:17 ‘Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.’ We see Jesus saw the tears of Mary and did not keep quiet. He instructs her to pass a message to his brothers. The moment Mary saw Jesus and heard his command, she immediately stopped crying and it transformed her life. Jesus appeared to Mary who was once weeping and changed her to be a zealous for him.  Even in our lives, the Lord God compels us to re-start our ministries. We all should start our respective ministries post pandemic. When we start doing the ministry with the zeal of God, our tears will be wiped out. If we need our sorrowful situations to be turned into a zeal for Christ, we should preach the good news like Mary Magdalene.

Grants spiritual growth

I Corinthians 15:7 ‘After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.’

                Here we see Jesus appeared to his brother James. Jesus wanted to appear to someone in his family with a purpose. We read in John 7:5 ‘For neither did his brethren believe in him.’ We see that until Jesus was resurrected again his own family and his own brothers did not believe in him. Jesus must have had a burden for his own family and which is why he decided to appear to his own brother. In order bring in a spiritual growth to his family, Jesus appeared to them. We read in Acts 16:31 ‘And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.’ This passage affirms that the salvation of one’s household is the promise of God. Even in our lives, we might have some relatives who are not saved in Christ. We should have that burden concerning our family to pray that the Lord Jesus should visit and give them a spiritual encounter in their lives. Just like how Jesus visited his brother, the Lord should touch and visit our families to lead in the path of salvation.

                In Acts 1:14 ‘These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.’ We see James who did not believe in Jesus, after experiencing the power of resurrection he joined along with all the apostles. This signifies a robust spiritual growth that the resurrected Jesus passed on to his family. We read in Acts 15:13 ‘And after they had held their peace, James answered, saying, Men and brethren, hearken unto me:’ In this passage we see James was found being a part of a counsel of the Apostles. The Lord’s vision changed his brother to play an important role in guiding the early church. We the children of God should pray to God to give us this spiritual growth.

Builds Faith

John 20:26-27 ‘And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.’

                In the above passage we see Jesus appeared to Thomas personally. When we look into the life of Thomas, we can categorize him with Peter who denied him quite explicitly. He was filled with unbelief and did not believe in the resurrection. But the Lord Jesus knew Thomas and his unbelief. The Lord Jesus did not chide him but appeared to him. Jesus showed him his wounds and proved his resurrection. In John 20:28 ‘And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.’ Our Lord Jesus builds the faith of Thomas. The response of Thomas signifies that his faith has been built. Even in our lives, we should pray that the Lord should build and strengthen our faith.  

Strengthens

Luke 24:34 ‘Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon.’

                In the above passage we see the Lord appeared to Simon. Every visit of Jesus had a purpose tagged along with it. Here to understand the purpose we can read Mark 14:72 ‘And the second time the cock crew. And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept.’ The Lord wanted to strengthen Peter.  We read in John 22:32 ‘But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.’ The Lord had divine plans on Peter and wanted to bring him in the right track. But what was Peter doing? He was warming himself only to deny him. But the Lord changed him and transformed his life.

We read in Acts 2:14 ‘But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:’ Peter who was once a betrayer, died as a martyr. He said that I do not deserve to die like Jesus but crucify me upside down. Even in our lives, the Lord Jesus can change our lives no matter how bad it looks like. Let us beseech God to streamline our lives according to the divine purpose of the Lord.