Luke 24:44–49 (ESV)
Jesus Appears to His Disciples (Part 2)
44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand
the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
Jesus is with his disciples
and explains that he must fulfill all the prophecies and scripture. Then he “opened their minds” to understand the Scriptures. This is fascinating. Just like he opened the minds of the two on the road to Emmaus, Jesus opens their
minds so that they can understand what he has been saying all along. He immediately takes them to the heart of the Gospel, the heart of the plan of Salvation. When he opened their minds, he said “Thus it is written, that the Christ should
suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. He takes the disciples right back to the cross and shows them the plan of Salvation...
that he would suffer and die and be raised on the third day. The message of repentance and forgiveness of sin will be proclaimed all over the world (to all nations). He tells them that they are “witnesses” and he will send the “promise
of the Father” which is the promise of the Holy Spirit. This is coming up in the readings... we know it as Pentecost.
I pray: O Lord, you took our sins to the cross, help us to take others
to the cross so that they know that you died for their forgiveness too. Help us to proclaim this Gospel message to all the world. Help us to be bold in our repentance and proclamation. Help us to be witnesses to your Word. In Jesus
Christ name I pray, Amen.