God's Unfailing Mercy
Monday, April 05, 2021
by Dr. Paul Chappell
Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them.
Luke 24:39-43
When Jesus appeared to the disciples on the evening of the resurrection, they had already been told multiple times that He was alive again. Jesus had told them before He was crucified that He would rise from the grave. Mary and the other women who had gone to the tomb early that morning had told them that it was empty and that the angels witnessed that Jesus was alive. Peter and John had been there themselves and confirmed that the body of Jesus was gone. Then the two disciples who had been going to Emmaus and met Jesus on the road came back with the news that they had seen Him. Yet when Jesus appeared in their presence, they did not really believe it was Him. They thought they were seeing a spirit or a ghost.
Instead of condemning them for their lack of faith, Jesus patiently explained to them that He was indeed alive. To confirm what they were struggling to believe, He ate food with them, something a ghost could not have done. This is a wonderful demonstration of God's mercy to us. Despite the fact that we fail Him again and again and sometimes struggle to believe the promises He is fulfilling before our eyes, He still loves us and cares for us. David wrote, “Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust” (Psalm 103:13-14). God knows all about our frailty, and so He strengthens us over and over, giving us reminders of His faithfulness.
Today's Growth Principle:
God never forgets what we are made of, yet He loves us anyway.
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