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| LifeWORDS: "Go tell my brothers ...!" | 6.21.09 Home |
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Of all the terms Jesus could use to refer to His closest followers, "brothers" would not be high on most of our lists. They had betrayed, denied, and abandoned the Lord. The next two times Jesus will meet with them, they will be hiding behind locked doors for fear of the ones who crucified Jesus. They had been ...
Jesus wants to meet His followers in Galilee — the place of ministry, the place where they are known, the place where it all began — but Jesus will have to show them his scars twice, eat fish, break bread with them, and appear suddenly before them twice before they will get to Galilee. Even when they do go there, they go fishing — a return to their old way of life — and Jesus will have to commission them again!
Yet Jesus calls them "my brothers"!
This two word phrase is powerful with meaning. Using this phrase is one of Jesus' ways of empowering them past their faithlessness, failures, and fear. It is a reminder that Jesus sees them as "more than" they see themselves ... to be who Jesus saw them to be when He called them to follow!
For us, Jesus' brothers and sisters today, this LifeWORDS message is a reminder of two truths:
