No Ghost About It

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No Ghost About It

Acts 3:12-19

Psalm 4

1 John 3:1-7

Luke 24:36b-48

Fear is one of the most crippling feelings that one can feel. Fear can freeze you into a state of stress that can make you feel ill and make you feel that there will be no end to this feeling. Sometimes one can feel like there is no light at the end of that dark tunnel. This is certainly what Jesus’ friends felt after he died. They could not move and any noise they would hear from the outside would put them in a panic. The women were the only ones willing to take the risk to go to the tomb to fulfill their filial duty to care for Jesus’ body. When they found the tomb empty and reported it back to the disciples their fear still did not change. Then Jesus met with two followers who were walking on the road to Emmaus. They too reported back that they had seen the Lord. Yet his friends remained in fear and disbelief. Then finally something happens that make all of that change.

Jesus appears to them in that room of fear that they locked themselves into. He did not use a door as he was free to go where ever he wanted. When Jesus appears to them, their hearts were troubled and they believed that he was a ghost. It is interesting that even back then this superstition of ghosts was present. Satan has used this tactic from the very beginning to get us to believe in this paranormal side of the world so that we won’t see the truth. With Jesus however, there was no ghost about him. Jesus appeared to them in the flesh.

There are many people in our world today that have a hard time believing that Jesus bodily rose from the dead. Many of them say that he appeared to everyone in spirit as the whole back from the dead thing seems so unnatural and difficult to believe. I mean he entered a room of locked doors without using a door. Obviously only a ghost could do something like that. However, if that were the case then there are things that Jesus would not be able to do. Jesus is there in that room to do two things, the first is to calm their fears, and second it is to prove to them that he is in fact alive and not a ghost. He tells them to touch him and look at his hands, feet, and side where their pierced him and tells them not to doubt but to believe. This may still not be enough for them so he goes one step further. He asks them for something to eat and he dines with them. Why would Jesus go through all of this trouble if he was just a spirit? It is because Jesus is not just a spirit. He is truly alive and continues to live today.

After Jesus proves that he is alive the fear is gradually taken away until they receive the Holy Spirit and all of it is gone and they are empowered to speak and do great things in Jesus’ name. Our morning passage in Acts shares one of those amazing things. A man who could not walk is made strong in his legs and can now walk. The people are all amazed and are looking to Peter and is friends as him they have some kind of special power. Peter explains that it is not by his own power that this man is now made strong but it is by the power of the God in whom they and their forefathers worshipped. It was through this power in the name of Jesus that he was made well. Peter explains that this is the same man that they had condemned and had crucified. He also explains that Jesus is alive again. He acknowledges that they did all of this through ignorance so that the prophesies would be fulfilled. However, now ignorance will not save them from condemnation. Therefore, he calls them into repentance so that they may not be condemned.

His bodily resurrection means something for us though. His resurrection is a sign to what is to come for us. John claims that it reveals to us what we too will be like. He says that we will be like him in our resurrected bodies and we will see him as he is which is alive and glorified. Those who hope in this purify themselves as He is pure. Those who commit sin are guilty of lawlessness as sin is lawlessness. Jesus on the other hand knew no sin and was revealed to take away sin. Therefore, those who truly abide in Jesus do not sin those who sin have never seen him or known him. If we do what is right though then this is righteousness as he is also righteous. His resurrection gives us the opportunity to be freed from a life of sin. His resurrection gives us the opportunity to also be resurrected with a glorified body like that of Jesus. There will be no ghost about us either. We live because he lives too.

Do not let yourself get wrapped up in things like ghosts and the paranormal or psychics. These things come from only one place and that is the enemy. When we give in to these things, Satan is able to take a foothold in our lives and lead us astray. This is why Jesus rose from the dead and appeared in the flesh and not in spirit. It is because there is no ghost about Jesus. And even the Holy Spirit is a living part of God. Ghosts mean death but Jesus is life. If you have ever let these things take hold in your life due to ignorance well then you are ignorant no more. Therefore, repent and be saved. Let us follow our living savior who is alive forevermore so that we too will live forevermore. Jesus said that those who believe in him will live even if they die. Do you understand the impact of what this means? Jesus is alive.

When we let our daughters watch the Jesus film the other day, we unfortunately had to shut it off before it was finished because they had to go to bed. When we shut it off, Jesus had just died. This was all that Emma saw and understood. That Jesus died and that it was all over. But then I told her that this was not the end of the story. Jesus is alive, and when she heard this her eyes got really big and surprised. Living after death makes no sense to the natural structure of the world. However, Jesus us supernatural and I explained to her that He lives so that we can live too. Jesus is really alive and he is not a ghost. This is truth and we know that it is truth because there were witnesses to this truth. Let us witness to others as well that Jesus is alive and even as he appears to people in the world today in their dreams, he is alive and not a ghost. Amen.