This Week I finished a paper on the discipleship of Christ found in the gospel of John. I had some hilarious mental pictures going on at the end of the book that I wanted to share.
The risen Christ's last moments with His disciples on this side of heaven show us that we can respond to Christ, pleasing Him through unique worship. John does not end his gospel with the ascension of Christ as the others do. He chooses to end his eyewitness account with different responses that the disciples and Christ-followers had when seeing Him anew after His death.
For Thomas it is a moment of doubt followed by the exclamation, "My Lord and my God!" (20:28, NAS) Awe and amazement come from Thomas.
Then, Mary, in good womanly emotion, clings to Jesus so that He must say, "Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father" (20:17). Mary wanted to never let go of Jesus, and I believe she probably clung to Him in her heart for the rest of her life.
Lastly, in pure Peter style, with boldness and quick action, he threw himself into the sea to swim to Jesus on shore while the rest rowed in the boat with the miraculous catch of fish. (I'm pretty sure it was a cannon ball or belly flop for emphasis.)
Just as John began with the glorified Christ in writing this account, He ends in the same way. The joy of Christ is made complete by those who were once dead in their sins, as they now are made alive in His presence and respond to Him with all of their hearts. Those He discipled are worshipping Him with the gift of their lives, each in their own unique way.
© 2006 by Kendra Hinkle.
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