 We're here in Mark chapter 16. We're gonna be looking at verse 14 as we continue our series in the Gospel of Mark. And as I've been mentioning to you, I will be reminding you of things that we've already looked at and bringing you to a place today that will follow after verse 14 here. I'm gonna be taking you to the Gospel of Luke again and share some things out of Luke's insight concerning what is taking place. And so I'll begin reading here at verse 14 and Mark 16. Share with you an introduction, give you some information, and then we'll be moving into our study. So I'll begin by reading at verse 14. Mark writes, later he appeared to the 11 as they sat at the table and he rebuked their unbelieving hardness of heart because they did not believe those who had seen him after he had risen. And so last time we were together, we had seen that the Lord Jesus Christ was ministering to two of his disciples. Now these two disciples had been impacted deeply by his death and they were on their way to a village called Emmaus, which was seven miles outside of the city of Jerusalem. And as they were walking together, they were speaking concerning the recent events. Now as they were talking concerning those things, the Bible tells us that Jesus drew alongside of them and began to walk with them. The identity of one of those who were walking is his name was Clappus. The identity of the other disciple is really not given to us and so we really don't know. So traditionally the other disciple has been thought to be a man, but there are scholars who believe that the other disciple wasn't a man but was rather the wife of this man called Clappus. Her name was Mary. And so the identifying of the disciple as Mary has been taught since the second century of church history. Now I'm not sure that that's true and I'm not presenting it to be true. I'm simply saying that that's something worthy of making mention of. Now the Mary that they're speaking of is the mother of James the last as well as Joseph. Mark 1540 tells us that this Mary was present at Jesus's death and John 1925 informs us that Mary is a wife of Clappus which is a variant of the name Cleopas. Now getting a little more complicated. James the last as father was a man named Alpheus. You see that in Matthew 10.3 and various other places. Alpheus is thought to be the Aramaic form of the name Cleopas and so these connections are well supported by church tradition somebody wrote. If Cleopas wife Mary was in Jerusalem for Passover it makes sense that she would have traveled to Emmaus with her husband afterward. It wouldn't have been unusual for a married couple to converse along the way about what they had recently experienced. The rabbi they had been following was dead but rumored to have risen and what it might mean. And so it's interesting to wonder perhaps and not to the point of being too consumed by it but I found it interesting to note that early church history had said that there's no reason that we would necessarily think it was simply two guys that it could well have been a woman and so I told you that today to prove to you that I study. With that said, verse 14 tells us that at first these followers of Jesus really didn't recognize him. You see in Mark 16 verse 12 that verse reveals that he Jesus had appeared in another form to them. I mentioned to you last time we were together the word appeared in the original language to be visibly manifested, made known or to be seen. Another form, Heteros Murphy speaks of a different external appearance. So Jesus visibly manifested himself to them but looked different to them. His appearance was different and they didn't expect to see him. Now, Mary had thought that he was a gardener. They thought he was dead. We know that Mary mistook him but they were restrained from seeing him. In Luke 24, 15 and 16 it reads so it was while they conversed and reasoned that Jesus himself drew near and went with them but their eyes were restrained so that they did not know him. So he asked them what they were talking about and they opened up to him. They thought that Jesus was Messiah but this Messiah whom they were following had been crucified and now they're telling him, people are saying he's alive and we really don't know what to think about this. And we saw at that point that Jesus began to speak to them about what had happened and as he spoke to them he began by rebuking them. Luke 24, 25, this is what he said. He said, oh foolish ones, slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken. Now imagine going to a church where the pastor begins by saying, hey fools, let me talk to you. Well foolish ones when it says foolish ones it means you're shallow, you're carnal, you're thoughtless. You're not thinking about what's taken place is what he's saying. When he says you're slow of heart that means that your heart has been dulled. Now these two were followers of Jesus. They would have been aware of his teaching so he rebukes them for their unbelief and their dull shallowness of heart. And he's basically saying this. He's saying, why didn't you believe what the prophets have spoken? Why did you grow comfortable in your lack of understanding of who I am? Why did you not search more deeply into the word of God for the answer and why are you so satisfied with dullness of heart and shallowness of faith? Now that's a good question I think that not only these disciples could have been asked by the Lord but it's a good question that even could be asked of us today in the 21st century, why don't we believe what God's word has said? We can make the mistake of thinking that if we got saved years ago that we must automatically be mature. I've heard people when they're speaking about when they got saved, they said, well I got saved and then they give this date whether it's 2000 or 1990, whatever. They'll talk as if maturity and chronology are the same and it's not. Just because somebody raised their hand or went forward at an invitation 30 years ago doesn't mean that that person has matured over 30 years. Sometimes they haven't. Sometimes somebody who's gotten saved just a few years ago has more understanding in things of the Lord than somebody who's gotten lazy in the pursuit of the Lord even though they had gone forward 30 years before. In Hebrews 5, 12 through 14, the writer said, you have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others instead. You need someone to teach you again the basic things about God's word. You're like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. For someone who lives on milk is still an infant, doesn't know how to do what's right. Solid food is for those who are mature who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong. When our church was fairly young, I remember being challenged not to just give milk to the people, to give them what the Bible refers to as meat. And so I've been wanting to mature in how I present the word over these years. And so that's because I don't wanna be always just pouring into people just milk. I think that milk and the meat is important. And so Jesus there begins to give them a study and that's what he did. He gave them a study that spoke of him as Messiah. Now he'd been giving them biblical reasons to have hope in him. So what he did as we saw last time is he showed them in all the scriptures that things concerning himself. Now remember the scriptures point to Jesus Christ and the scripture is summed up and fulfilled in him. On one occasion the Lord was speaking in John chapter five verse 39 and he said this, he said, you search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life but he went on to say and it is they that bear witness about me. You ransack the scriptures because you believe that you're gonna find Messiah but you haven't understood that those scriptures point you to me and that's what Jesus had done. He had taught them and as he did so the scripture says their eyes have been opened and they knew him. Now when it says their eyes have been opened that means that the minds had been opened it causes someone to understand something. So Luke was telling us that his teaching had opened their eyes causing them to understand the plan of God. So after that conversation their hearts became inflamed with spiritual fire and they went back to Jerusalem that's seven miles and they went to the apostles and they told them what had happened. Now at first the disciples who were hearing this were not believing. Luke tells us in chapter 24 verses 33 and 34 that they rose up that very hour, returned to Jerusalem and found the 11 and those who were with them gathered together saying the Lord has risen indeed and has appeared to Simon. So I wanna look at something for just a moment here. Mark makes it clear that at first they didn't believe but Luke says that when they went and spoke to the disciples that they said oh yeah we know that he has risen because he's appeared to the apostle Peter. And for some that might seem to be a contradiction so I wanted to plant that in your mind and then just move on and leave you wondering. Actually of course not. Let me share with you what that's basically saying. In Mark 16 verse 11 the testimony that had been given had come earlier in the morning and they were grieving and the idea that he was alive was unbelievable but verses 12 and 13 of Mark speaks of what took place later in the evening and it speaks of their initial response to the two disciples testimony. Now they were saying that Jesus had appeared to them on the way to Emmaus. He also said that Jesus had vanished from their sight in Luke 24 31. Now how could Jesus disappear in Emmaus and appear to them in Jerusalem? So they couldn't believe that element of the story. This is unbelievable. Somebody said unable to comprehend this new mode of existence on the part of their risen Lord that he could be now here and now there. They were filled with doubts. So at first they can't imagine how Jesus could do such a thing. How can he be in one place, vanish and appear in another? How could he be seven miles away one moment and in Jerusalem the next? They're already dealing with this resurrection. That's something hard to understand. And now this it seems that these things are becoming now even more clear. Now Jesus had made a personal appearance to Simon. Luke 24 34. I want to develop something with you right here. The name Simon. The word Simon or name Simon can be translated by the word listening or hearing. That was his original name Simon. But in Matthew 16 18, Jesus gave him a new name. The name he gave him was Peter. You are Peter and upon this rock I will build my church. The word Peter is the Greek word Petros and also it is the word Cephas. It means a small rock. So when he's called Simon Peter, it literally translates the listening rock or the listening rock head. I don't know. Now it's interesting that he's referred to as Simon which is his old name. So it seems that Simon needed to remember something. He needed to remember that Jesus saw him as a rock. Not a mountain of granite but a smaller but still solid rock. I want to develop something. We share with you something that I didn't intend to share. I shared it first service. And I feel it's appropriate to share again second service. It may not make sense to some of you but then again it may make sense to some. You are who Jesus says you are. Remember that. You are who Jesus says you are. Your heart can tell you one thing but God's word tells you another. And my heart can condemn me but God is greater than my heart. I could look at myself in a certain way when in fact God's word teaches me that if I'm new in Christ then I'm a new creation. Old things he says are passed away. The old and everything is, well everything's become new. And sometimes I don't see myself for who the Lord says I am. And when you forget who you are in him you can very easily begin to act as you used to act prior to him. So I was speaking to my grandson Josiah and he didn't know this and this is actually a private thing that is really a family thing in my family that I'm sharing with you right now. And I had a great time visiting. I love my grandson so much and I was visiting with him just this weekend. And in my office I have a souvenir that I bought when I was in Spain. There's an area in Spain called La Mancha. Some of you are aware of it, perhaps you've been there. And I brought home a souvenir and it's the man of La Mancha. Now some of you won't know what I'm talking about. Some of you perhaps are old enough to know. This is ancient history. There was a play, actually a book. It's Don Quixote, the man from La Mancha. And I happened to be in Spain and I found this souvenir of the guy. He's got a javelin or a jousting pole and he has armor and all of that and I brought it home, I thought. And it became something to me over the years that was very, very important. I actually had embraced something that I brought that home to remind me of and it's this, if you don't know the story and I'm not gonna bore you with all the details of it. But the man from La Mancha, Don Quixote was a man who thought himself to be some kind of warrior knight. That's what he thought he was. And he even went out and he got himself somebody to be his assistant, his name is Sancho Panza. And so he's known as the one, Don Quixote, is known as the one who jousts or tilts with windmills. He's got an imagination about himself. And he goes about trying to conquer dragons and do these kinds of things, which is really something he's made up in his own mind and all of that. But here's the thing that I wanted to share with you and this is what I was sharing with my grandson just this last week. There's a scene where he has, he's in a tavern and there was a woman and some of you are aware of this, the name he gave her is Dulcinea. And so that's not a real name. That's what Don Quixote looked at her and called her Dulcinea and he used to call her my lady Dulcinea. And so at one part she's in a tavern and she ends up being dragged into a back room and abused physically. And she comes out and her clothing's all torn and she's been hurt. And in the words of Don Quixote he looks at her and he says, my lady, my lady Dulcinea. See, this is real personal. I'm having trouble sharing it. And she looks at him and she says, why do you keep calling me that? That's not my name. She says, you call me lady. I'm a whore. I'm a daughter of a whore. How come you keep saying that to me? And Don Quixote says to her, you are my lady. You are my lady. It's a heartbreaking scene. But years ago when I was still a fairly young believer I heard that story and I realized that that kind of person was me. Now Jesus is not Don Quixote, of course. But what Don Quixote, what he saw in her is what he wanted her to be. And a long time ago, and I was sharing with my grandson this, I said, I wanted my kids and Sian, and that's you too, to realize that you are more than you think you are. You're more than that. You are what God says you are. Not what your heart says. Not what people say. You are what he says you are. And you need to understand that. You see, Simon Peter, Simon Peter was a failure. He was a failure. He had memories of what he had done. Jesus was speaking to him and Jesus had chosen him and now Jesus has privately met with him. Listen, the last memories that the apostle Peter had of Jesus the last time he saw him would have been painful. You see, he remembers that in the Garden of Gethsemane he had forsaken Jesus, he had fled for his life and then he had made his way to the courtyard of Caiaphas and while he was in the courtyard of Caiaphas, he was warming himself by the enemy's fire and he had denied Christ for the third time and the Bible tells us that as he was there, Jesus passed by and the Bible also tells us the Bible also tells us in Luke chapter 22 that Jesus looked at him and I looked up that word look because in my scriptures here, the translation simply uses the word looked, but I looked it up in the original language. I wanted to see the strength of the word and it said he was staring at him. He didn't just glance at him, it was in a passing glance. Jesus stared into his eyes and when Jesus was staring into the eyes of the apostle Peter and Peter is realizing that he has denied the Lord even as Jesus had said he would. Well, the scripture tells us that he went out and he went bitterly, he was broken inside. This is the man who had said, I will never deny you. This is the man who said, if I have to die for you, I will die for you. This is the one who had taken out his sword and tried to do bodyguard Jesus, tried to take off the head of Melchus. This is a guy who is willing to die for Christ and yet he had forsaken him and the last time he saw him, face to face, Jesus stared in his eyes and he knew what he was and he wept out in the bitterness of his soul. He wept his heart out because he had denied him. He abandoned Jesus. He denied ever knowing him. He had arrogantly claimed that he would die for him. I love you more than all of these two. But instead of remaining faithful, he failed him. He was broken. I wonder how many of us can say the same. Instead of being what we wanted to be, we denied him. Kept our mouth shut when we should have opened it. Didn't do what we should have done and we knew we should have done that. And you're broken over that. When I was a young man right out of the service, I went on Cinco de Mayo to Mexico. I was a believer. I'd been a Christian two and a half years, three years. I was a young believer, but I was a believer. And I went for the weekend just south of the border, Zen'en Sonata, drinking for two days. I came home very hungover. I was sitting at the table with my sister Madeline and she asked me, how was your weekend? I said, man, it was great. We did this, we did that, we did this, we did that. And then I broke down and wept like a baby. I said, I've walked away from Christ. I've walked away. So we went to church that night at the invitation. I rededicated my life to Jesus. I've never repeated that kind of thing. You can feel broken, you can feel like I have failed and you have, but that doesn't mean that God can't restore you. That doesn't mean that God won't restore you. I can run a thousand miles away, but it only takes one step to come back. And that's what I did. And some of us perhaps in this room need to do that today. Peter arrogantly had said, I love you more than everybody. I will die for you, but instead he failed and was broken. And so in an expression of grace, Jesus had met with him and had ministered to him. It's not recorded, some conversations ought not to be. It's private, but the event was spoken of. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15 verse five that Jesus was seen by Cephas. So again, we don't know what was said, but we know that Peter needed to hear what Jesus said. And we're going to see in the future in another study that he needed even more assurance than this. So with that, that's your introduction. We're going to begin at verse 14 again and develop it. It says in verse 14, later he appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table and he rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart because they did not believe those who had seen him after he had risen. Now I want to begin with the obvious. Notice in verse 14 how he appeared to the eleven as they sat at table. At one time they were referred to in Scripture as the twelve. Judas has forsaken them and now that's the official title, the eleven. Now by calling them the eleven, Mark is using a technical term for the apostles. In Luke 24 verse nine, it says they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Acts 214, Peter standing up with the eleven. They were once the twelve, but now they're referred to as the eleven. Now in this case, Thomas was not present, but they're still called the eleven. So he appears to the eleven as they sat at table and notice he rebuked their unbelief. This unbelief is because of the callous condition of their heart. They refused to totally believe in spite of the sufficient witnesses. Now that's important to note, even though there were many proofs, it was still unbelievable. And this evidence that the resurrection was not something that they could really believe in is another proof that it wasn't made up. They had given up hope that he actually rose from the dead and for some reason were still grappling with their own doubts. And so I want to develop this by taking you, if you will, to Luke 24 and I'm going to show you something found in verses 36 through 43. If you'd like to open your Bibles to that, that would be good. I'll wait for a second. And for those of you who refuse to do that, your heretics. Now I'm playing with you, of course. I'm Luke 24. I'm going to begin reading to you at verse 36. We already had looked at the verses prior to this. I'll pick up at verse 36 and says this. Now as they said these things, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and said to them, Peace to you. But they were terrified and frightened and suppose they had seen a spirit. And he said to them, Why are you troubled and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 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. Now when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. But while they were, they still did not believe for joy and marveled. He said to them, Have you any food here? So they gave him a piece of broiled fish and some honeycomb and he took it and ate it in their presence. Now these people are seated at the table. Jesus is appearing to them. The disciples from Emmaus were sharing what had happened. And it says in verse 36, as they said these things, Jesus stood in the midst. So these disciples were already overwhelmed with concern. When you look in John 20 verse 19, it reads that they were behind closed doors for fear of the Jewish authorities. You see when Jesus had been arrested in the garden, he had protected his men. He had told the arresting officers who had come to take him. He said, I've told you I am he. If I am he, take me and leave these alone. Let them go. But Jesus was no longer there with them. So they're now afraid. And so as they're afraid behind closed doors, Jesus came according to John 20 19 and said, and stood in their midst and said, peace to you. So it's the same thing that Luke is saying, peace unto you. Now he didn't knock on the door. He simply entered into the room. So you can understand how you would feel if you were there. And suddenly there's somebody standing there that you didn't know was going to be there. And so the response of terror and fear is understandable. Verse 37, they were terrified and frightened. They thought they were seeing a ghost. Now they're already in doubt about Jesus vanishing and appearing. Now here he is. How do you get in here? And so as this is taking place, and I find this interesting how it says in verse 38, they're afraid. He says, why are you troubled? Why do doubts arise in your hearts? That's kind of obvious, I would think. Why I'd be troubled and afraid. Well, you know, because you're here and I was like, I'm just afraid. I thought you were a ghost. Why are you troubled? Now when he has that question, when I share this with you, his response reminds me of what he had done earlier in his ministry. Matthew records how Jesus had sent his disciples across the Sea of Galilee. And the boat that they were on had made it halfway across, and they couldn't go any further because they were in the middle of a storm. And so between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m., the Bible says that Jesus went to them walking on the sea. Well, Matthew 14, 26, and 27 says, when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified. It's a ghost, they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus spoke up at once. Take courage in his eye. Do not be afraid. So he's asked that before. Why are you afraid? If I've been with you through storms, why are you afraid that I'm with you now? If I've been with you in the midst of when you thought you were going to die, why are you forgetting that I haven't left you? Why don't you understand that once again? As a believer, I can get to the point in my life to think that he's been with me up to a certain point, but he's no longer with me now. And so he can say, why are you doubting? Don't be afraid. I've got something I'm doing. Why are you troubled? Why are you doubting? You have sufficient witness. Now, we have witness from Scripture, and we also have the testimony of Christ as well as evidence. So instead of doubting, they should have been believing. And what does he do? Well, he says, behold, my hands and my feet, that is I, myself. One of the things I believe about walking with the Lord is that we have stages of growth that we go through. Some lessons the Lord teaches us one time he repeats later. He constantly reminds us of things we've gone through to prepare us for the things that are in the future. And I can be that kind of person that I don't learn sometimes the lesson the first time. And as I was thinking about this, I was remembering something again my earlier day of walking with the Lord. And I was thinking about it because the Lord administered to me something, you know, 40-some, almost 50 years ago, that I returned to. It's a story found in the Gospel of Mark. It's the story of the man who had a son who kept throwing himself into the fire in the water to kill him. There was a demon within this boy. And the father had gone to Jesus to try and find Jesus. And Jesus was at the Mount Transfiguration at that time. And so he had left behind some of his men. And so when Jesus came down from that mount, the father approached him and said, he said, I had brought my son to your men, but they could do nothing. He said, my son is severely demonized. He throws himself into the fire. He throws himself into the water. He's suicidal. I can't sleep. His mother and I, he's basically saying this, his mother and I have not had a night's rest for some time because he is suicidal. We can't take him next to the water. When we take him to the water, he may jump in. We can't get him close to a campfire or fire of any sort because he burns himself. And he's got a little boy. And it would seem to me that if the little guy had gone into the fire before, there must have been scars on this little guy's body. I've got a son. He's saying that it's going to kill himself. And I brought him to you, your men. And I hoped that they could do something for him, but they couldn't. And Jesus responds, they're the one who believes all things are possible for him. And the man says, Lord, I believe. And the King James helped thou mine unbelief. How many of us have said that before, Lord? I believe, I do believe. It's not the things that I know for sure. It's not the things that I believe. And you've demonstrated to me how true these things are. Yes, I do believe, but it's the areas of my life. It's the areas of life itself that I sometimes, I just don't see you. I just don't hear you. I don't sense you. God help me in those moments. And not the ones that are easy. The times that my real faith is challenged. Lord, I believe, you know, unbelief is one of those things that we ask the Lord, God help us, increase us, help us to understand. Lord show us something away. Now, his word declares who he is. I read his word and I'm supposed to trust this. And yet sometimes on top of that, the Lord will reveal some things in his word that help me to understand. So that's how you work. So that's what you do. This is how it works. Thank you, Lord. Thank you for taking away this because you had this for me. I don't know how many in this room have ever asked God for something that he didn't want you to have, but I'm going to assume all of us have. When I was a younger man, I had a desire to marry a young woman before I had met Marie, my wife, and I would pray every day, every day, and I did it for four years that the Lord would restore that relationship that we at one time had so I could marry her. And one day I was in a Bible study and the youth pastor read a scripture and then announced the engagement of this young woman to a friend of mine. I was sharing with a young man in between services today this story, that's why it comes to mind because this young woman had spoken to me prior to the engagement and had said to me, I think such and so this guy, I think he's cute is how she said it. And I said, oh really? No, that hurt me because I wanted to be with her. So I kept it in my mind and then maybe a week or two later we stayed, this young man that you had mentioned and I stayed overnight at a friend of ours house and so we had pillows and blankets and we're sleeping on the floor and the lights were all turned off and out of the darkness he speaks and he says, you know, I think that this girl is really cute. This is the same kind of thing in the go. And he says, and I'm laying there and it's a moment of truth. I could say, oh, she hates you but I said, why don't you ask her out? Because she'd already told me she liked him. Why don't you ask, oh, she would never go out with me. I said, why not? Can't hurt to ask. Anyway, at their wedding he walked up to me and took me by the hand and he said, she told me what you had done, David. Thank you so much. Now me, I went to my house at the end of the wedding and put on some music and cried myself to sleep and like King David I got up in the morning and washed my face and never thought of her again. She wasn't for me. Now at that moment I didn't know that but on their wedding day I believe it was the next week and I was free out for the first time. And that's how it works for me. And the Lord told me, and I hate to say it like that, it sounds so mystical, but the Lord, in my heart I had the sense you were praying for this but this is the one you really needed. I have never one day looked back ever thinking anything, anything, you know, for that other person. I don't, I have no memories of them. Why? Because God had something for me that I didn't realize that was abundantly above. All I could ask or think, he gave me my why. And I wanted this but he said, no son, that's for somebody else. This is one for you. And I really believe that, I really think God help me not to try and make my life what I want it to be. Lord, I don't know sometimes what you may want for me. What I'm asking is for you to help me be in the center of your will and may I know your word well enough to know that you have something for me that is abundantly above all I could ask or think. And see, these people are going through this hard time. It's like, we don't know what happened. You know, he's dead. And yet he, there he is. And he says, now you're afraid. He says, why do you doubts arise in your hearts? Behold, verse 39, behold my hands and my feet. It is I myself handle me. See, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have. Now, Jesus reveals his wounds to them he's showing them that those wounds are on a real physical body. It's really him. He wants them to understand he's not a phantom. He's not a ghost. He's standing before them in a physical resurrected body. It is solid and real enough for them to touch. He's not a spirit. And also he's showing them his wounds to reveal the depth of his love. He loved them so much that it hurt. I have somewhere, I've mentioned this before in my office. I have boxes of things that I don't always put up but I do have them still and I have a plaque and it simply says, I asked Jesus, how much do you love me? And he said this much and he stretched out his hand and he died. That's how much he loved you. How much do you love me? I love you this much. And he died on a cross. The Bible tells us in Isaiah 53, 4 and 5 surely he has borne our griefs, carried our sorrows yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God afflicted. He was wounded for our transgression, bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon him by his stripes we are healed. So he shows them his hands and his feet. This is the same body that had been hanging on a cross and his resurrection body retained the wounds that he had received. He is the lamb that was slain. Like it says in Revelation 5, 6, I saw a lamb looking as if it had been slain standing at the center of the throne encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He was in a phantom. He was physically resurrected. And in verse 41 it says, while they still didn't believe for joy, marveled he said to them, have you any food here? So they gave him a taco. No, they gave him a piece of boiled fish and some honeycomb and he took it and ate it in their presence. Now this isn't a disbelief. It's a joy over something beyond belief. This is just too good to be true. So to prove to them that he's not a ghost or phantom, he eats. They give him simple food that they've been eating. The main dish, honeycomb as the dessert. He didn't eat the fish to sustain his life. He ate it to prove he was physically alive. A ghost won't eat a physical meal, but Jesus did, proving it was him. Jesus demonstrated to them. One of the things that I'll close with this thought that I've discovered about the Lord and it's scriptural is this, that at the right moment he gives you the right understanding. They needed at that moment this understanding and he gave it to them. He meets us where we're at. He meets us in the level that we are in our spiritual walk. He doesn't overwhelm us with things we can't comprehend. He had said that. He said at this moment you can't understand, but later you will. No, he will take you step by step to the place where you're actually deepening in your faith in Jesus Christ. He'll walk you and take you into layers that are deeper and deeper as you follow him. And so he's doing that with his men right now. He's saying, I just want to prove one thing to you. I'm alive. And no, I'm not a ghost. So I'll eat this fish and this honeycomb demonstrating to you, I have a physical body. I don't need this food to sustain my life. I eat this to demonstrate to you that I am alive. And that's something that just impacted them so much, but there's more that we'll look at next time we're together. I want to take you into a little bit deeper next time we show up. So let's pray.