Luke 24:44-53 (NRSV)
Read Luke 24:44-53 on biblegateway.com
Verse 44Then 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, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled." Verse 45Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, Verse 46and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, Verse 47and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. Verse 48You are witnesses of these things. Verse 49And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."
Verse 50Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. Verse 51While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. Verse 52And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; Verse 53and they were continually in the temple blessing God.
Devotion
The other night we watched “Jerusalem: Center of the World,” a program on Public Television. The documentary traced Jerusalem’s history, and why it is so important to the three monotheistic faiths of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In one segment on the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, there was pictured an object that was referred to as the “navel of the earth.” It seems to me that there has been too much “navel gazing” on the part of those who focus on this world’s city of Jerusalem, and not enough focus on the vision that Christ shared with his disciples at his ascension. “You are witnesses of these things…Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead…and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in (my) name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” (vs. 48, 46 ,47)
Prayer
Father God, your children –Jew, Arab, and Christian– have sullied your holy city with booth, after booth, after booth, while the poor, lost, and hungry have gone on begging. Send your Holy Spirit with a new fire to enliven your present day disciples to fulfill the commission you gave your church.
Amen.