Luke 24:48 Commentary and Bible Study

So soon after being enabled to understand and lifted out of their doubts, and their faith being brought back to life, they are to be witnesses for Christ. Christ knows his own, and he had chosen these apostles according to divine wisdom. He would strengthen them to serve him and to take the gospel far into the world. Many of them would lay down their lives for his sake. Their period of doubting would even add to their faith, for they would look back and see the foolishness of it, and see how unnecessary it was, and how blind they were for a time. They would never want to return to that state again, and they would see that far from being a reasonable response, it was without any justification. What a privilege to be his witnesses! How much better than us he could proclaim the message, but he chooses to use faltering human beings, who have only just escaped from hell themselves, to represent him. It is not advantage to him, but a tremendous concession to us. An ambassador has honour according to the honour of the one he represents. He alone is present in front of that foreign power, but it is as if the one who sent him is there with him, and the reception he gets is not for himself and his own personal dignity, but is a response to his master. If he is slighted, it is an affront to his sovereign; if he is honoured, the honour is not due to him but to the one who sent him.Christ is no longer physically on earth, and has entrusted his people, his church, with the message which he came to preach. They are to continue what he began and to do it in the same spirit, with the same zeal, with the same intensity. How can there be churches which are entirely inward looking and make no attempt to reach children or adults who are outside the kingdom of heaven? Can we keep to ourselves and enjoy the blessing of God, and not share it with those who do not have it. When we are in heaven it will be too late to witness to them; they will be out of reach, and even if we wanted to, it will not be possible. The day will come when our lives end and the period of opportunity for us to speak will have come to an end. Our witness will have finished. How much will we have achieved for the Lord. We always depended on him, but how much effort did we make? The Day of Judgment will come when they are beyond help, by us or by anyone else. Their destiny will be sealed, and the determination of God for them before the foundation of the world will be revealed, and Christ will not wish us to continue any longer. But now we are standing in the fields ripe for harvest and as we look around at the ripe crop, we can reach out and touch the heads of corn. This is the role especially of the apostles: to be witnesses of the resurrection. Therefore Christ appeared particularly to them, and during the time of his appearing he instructed them, so that they were receiving their commission from the resurrected one. This was one of the qualifications of an apostle, and is a clear reason why there are no apostles today, for Christ no longer appears visibly to his people. They were to see the resurrection and to preach it, for it forms an essential element of the gospel.