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Luke 24 (NKJV)

He Is Risen
1 Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. 2 But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. 3 Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. 5 Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, 7 saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’”
8 And they remembered His words. 9 Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles. 11 And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them. 12 But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened.

The Road to Emmaus
13 Now behold, two of them were traveling that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 And they talked together of all these things which had happened. 15 So it was, while they conversed and reasoned, that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them. 16 But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.
17 And He said to them, “What kind of conversation is this that you have with one another as you walk and are sad?”
18 Then the one whose name was Cleopas answered and said to Him, “Are You the only stranger in Jerusalem, and have You not known the things which happened there in these days?”
19 And He said to them, “What things?”
So they said to Him, “The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a Prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and crucified Him. 21 But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, today is the third day since these things happened. 22 Yes, and certain women of our company, who arrived at the tomb early, astonished us. 23 When they did not find His body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said He was alive. 24 And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but Him they did not see.”
25 Then He said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?” 27 And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.

The Disciples’ Eyes Opened
28 Then they drew near to the village where they were going, and He indicated that He would have gone farther. 29 But they constrained Him, saying, “Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.” And He went in to stay with them.
30 Now it came to pass, as He sat at the table with them, that He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight.
32 And they said to one another, “Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?” 33 So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, 34 saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” 35 And they told about the things that had happened on the road, and how He was known to them in the breaking of bread.

Jesus Appears to His Disciples
36 Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, “Peace to you.” 37 But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. 38 And He said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.”
40 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. 41 But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, “Have you any food here?” 42 So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. 43 And He took it and ate in their presence.

The Scriptures Opened
44 Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” 45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures.
46 Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 And you are witnesses of these things. 49 Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.”

The Ascension

50 And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. 51 Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. 52 And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen.
 
Happy Resurrection Day!

Praise His holy name!
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I once considered myself Christian, but don't any more, although I believe in God and do pray. So I hope it's still okay for me to comment. The Shack was difficult for me to read, partly for one of the reasons you've mentioned. I didn't care how God appeared, because he does have many faces. The level of forgiveness that was expected was just so great...I don't think I could ever truly forgive someone who had killed my child. And I guess it really bothered me that God even HAD a relationship with that twisted soul of a man; Knowing that it is not for me to question what God allows...it just frustrated me to no end I suppose. I'm probably not explaining this well, but I hope you got what I was trying to say. It was definitely a "thinking" book.

I would love to hear others' reactions to the book...
 
I'm an avid reader of all kinds of books and have been all my life. I can honestly say that The Shack was the most moving and eye opening book I've ever read. I've been in churches since I was a small tot and had never had things presented in this way....in a way that a light dawned and I had an "aha!" moment.

The level of forgiveness required was presented as a parent would forgive a child. To every bad and evil person in this world, there is a mother or a father who has to deal with their love for that child. As God is a perfect father, He has no difficulty forgiving his children for their misdeeds, no matter how horrible the deed. He sees the bigger picture and how all events are intertwined. We only see through a murky glass.

After I read this book I was able to see....finally see...that these people are just humans. Not monsters, not demons, not anything mystical or powerful...they are merely children travelling their own path on this world. As our understanding is as far from God's as the east is from the west, we cannot fathom how much love it would take to love someone that bad.

But I know this....if one of my children were to find theirselves in that dark place and inflicting hurt on someone in this manner, I would be disappointed, unbelievably hurt, angry, frustrated, sorrowful and ashamed. But I would still love them. I would still forgive them, no matter what. Would I still be devastated? Yes.

In forgiveness we find freedom to love again. I'm not saying that we should forget those who harm us or ours, but to hold onto that hurt and grief, to hold on to that incredible anger? When we do this, we lose more than we thought.

This book is about giving those hurts to God and letting Him bear the pain, He died for that pain and has already paid the price. Holding onto it only denies the sacrifice that He made.

I loved the book!
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Although I've been saved since I was 11 years old, my life was changed (in a good way
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) when I read The Shack. I read it 4 or 5 times. For the first time, someone put into words what my heart has been believing for so long. It's not about church, legalistic thinking, do's and don'ts, denominations...it's ONLY that God desires a love relationship with each of us.

I agree that it would be the most difficult thing in the world to forgive a person for killing my child...and I'm not certain that I would be able to. BUT, I know that God made all of us in His image and loves each of us equally. There is nothing we can do to make him love us more...and nothing we can do to keep Him from loving us. That is not the kind of love we can have with any other human being. None of us love unconditionally...although many of us say we do. Even loving to the degree of forgiving like that is beyond most of us and can ONLY be achieved through the help of God, our father and Savior. I also know that the person that knows me best, loves me most. He made me...He knows me...nothing ever occurred to God...what I do, or don't do doesn't surprise Him...or disappoint Him. To disappoint Him would mean that he fully expected one thing....and we did something else.

I do think He grieves when we don't love and trust Him...because He knows what is best for us and wants to be our ultimate fulfillment every day. But we aren't puppets...He gaves us free will when Adam and Eve disobeyed in the garden. He calls us to Him...but won't force us to come. He stands at our heart and knocks...but it's our decision whether we let Him in.
 
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