May 21 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Luke 24:49–53

Devotional

According to His humanity the Lord Jesus Christ is no longer on earth, but with His blessing He always remains with His people. He will not forsake nor forget them. He lives to pray for them unceasingly at the right hand of the Father. When they are unable to pray, He is there. His blessing hands have an everlasting and atoning power with God the Father, because blood flowed from them. His blessing is grounded in His blood.

What then is blessing? Is it a blessing when everything happens to His people just as they desire? No, that is not what a blessing necessarily entails. After the ascension of Christ the disciples had to return to Jerusalem and there they all either ended up in prison, were tortured, or were stoned. His blessing does not spare the flesh. But this is the blessing: these blessing hands accompany them everywhere they go. And where these hands are felt, men sing praises to God, even in prison. The blessing is to have God with them. That is, after all, the most important matter. That is everything.

Are you also under these blessing hands? Have you learned to need these hands, these pierced hands, to remove your guilt? Or do you still not know that without these hands God is against you? Oh, let then the day of Christ’s ascension become for you a day, spiritually speaking, of descent into hell! Realize that you were the one that deserved the curse for otherwise these hands will never have value for you. Think of how worthy of condemnation you are before God. Outside of Christ you are eternally cursed.

Child of God, this is a cause for you to become very small before God. Have you experienced what it means to have God’s blessing on your life? Then you cannot realize too much that any good fruit in your life is the result of the wounds in the hands of Jesus. Goodness in your life is not because of your own hands. It is not of your own doing, not even of your hands lifted up in supplication.

You will also have to be kept by His hands and these hands must also minister to you. If these hands would let go of you, you would be totally lost. These hands are, however, faithful to fill your empty hands. These hands will also draw you to be forever with Him. And with these hands He will wash away all tears from your eyes.

 

From The Everlasting Word by Frans Bakker, compiled and translated by Gerald R. Procee. Reformation Heritage Books and Free Reformed Publications, 2007. Used by permission. For further information, click here.