Welcome to my first #series! For years I've heard it said that we need to get a 'personal vision' from God, and I guess that has come out in some of my other posts, but I would hope that those posts express that it's more about knowing #WHO you were created to be, rather than #WHAT you should be doing. Yes, the Bible tells us that "...for lack of vision, the people perish..." (#Proverbs29vs18). In other translations, the word vision may be changed to 'knowledge', 'prophetic revelation', or 'divine guidance'. The Amplified Version says it so well "Where there is no vision [no redemptive revelation of God], the people perish". My favourite translation of this scripture is The Passion Translation, which tells us, "When there is no clear prophetic vision, people quickly wander astray." Of course, this is only part of the proverb, the rest of the verse says, "But when you follow the revelation of the word, heaven's bliss fills your soul." With this in mind, I'd like to explore what, I believe is the greatest prophetic vision for us all, from Luke's perspective. (Luke 24)
Let me set the scene. (Consider this the sleeve on a new game you are interested in for your PlayStation or Xbox)
(Photo by Florian Olivo on Unsplash)
An eclectic group of people are sitting on the shore of Galilee and with them is a man who shouldn't be. A man who just days earlier had been hung on a tree and left to die. Once he was dead, he was taken down from the tree, anointed with spices and wrapped in linen and placed in a tomb. A rock was rolled in front of the entrance. He was dead and buried. The next day was the Sabbath, and he was left alone in the tomb. On the first day of the week, a group of women approach the tomb. They have come to dress him with spices and notice the stone has been rolled away. The tomb is empty, the man is gone! Jesus is alive and resurrected!
The day of resurrection and the days that followed must have been confusing for the followers of Jesus. They're grieving for their friend and mentor. Worried about what might happen to them if they're found out to be His followers. Their whole belief systems would have been shaken to the core and they were probably wondering if they had been misguided and duped. Then, the reports of Jesus' tomb being empty start to roll in. First, the ladies bring the news and it is dismissed as unreliable gossip, they probably went to the wrong tomb perhaps? 'Ah, what do they know? They're only women!' Peter goes racing off to the tomb to check it out for himself and sees that Jesus is indeed missing from the grave. While this is happening, Jesus is walking back to Emmaus with two of His other followers. They don't recognise Him and start to tell Him all that has happened to Him in the last 3 days. Meanwhile, the Eleven are still in Jerusalem, hearing the reports feeding back to them. Why were the Eleven not the first to find out Jesus had risen as prophesied?
Can you feel the blood and water flow over your fingers and run down your hand, over your arm and drip onto the floor?
It seems a rather fantastical story, could it possibly be true? How would you be feeling if you were there? Do you sometimes think that reports of what God is up to cannot possibly be true because of where the source information comes from? Do you think that perhaps you should really be the first to know what God is doing because of how long you've walked with Him, and darn it, you know Him better than that other person?
Suddenly, as these reports are filtering through, Jesus appears in your midst. He shows you His hands and feet, the places that the nails held Him to the Tree. You reach out your hand and realise it is reaching into the place where the sword pierced His side. Can you feel the blood and water flow over your fingers and run down your hand, over your arm and drip onto the floor? Are you prepared for that feeling? That emotion and place of recognition? He eats the fish you have been enjoying and it doesn't fall through His body straight to the floor, but He is digesting it right there in front of you. It all seems too much, surreal, but there is a place of knowing that it is the most real moment you have ever experienced. Jesus is talking to you about everything you have ever been taught about your history, revealing things to you as you eat and talk of the scriptures, everything from Moses and the Prophets and in the Psalms, highlighting His own story throughout time. So much falls into place and you see Him for who He is, who He was and will be.
"You are my witnesses and you need to go and tell my story.
Start here! Tell everyone of my love for them and that they need to repent and come to me! I will forgive them for everything they have ever done. I will love them and they will be my people and I will be their God! But just stay here and wait for me to equip you, then you can leave this place and go deliver my message to the ends of the Earth. See ya, I'm out." BOOM! He's gone, floating before you Heaven-wards.
Wow! What a cool picture, huh? How did you feel reading that? Could you see yourself there, feel what it may have felt like, taste the fish as He was eating it? Did your arm impulsively retract at the thought of finding it in His pierced side? What about that last paragraph? Could you imagine Jesus including you in that vision? Was that a directive from the High Commander in that new game you were looking at buying?
In this series, I will look at the stages of Luke's outline of Jesus' directions to us. I will be using the metaphor of a computer game and will explore each stage through the lens of A New Game Update, The Waiting Room, The Dressing Room and In The Game. I look forward to having you join me on this journey over the next few weeks.
Blessings xx
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