Discerning the Logos, Part Four

Only the Logos reveals Christ.

We have been following Peter in his search for the Logos. Peter is an everyman, quick to speak when he should be silent and quick to act when he should be still. We have traveled from Peter’s extraordinary catch to Christ’s crucifixion. Peter’s bitter weeping did not give him the courage to stand at the foot of the cross. He retreated with other apostles, afraid and not knowing what to do next. Their hearts were hardened and they no longer believed. Then, Jesus shows up and stands among them, but that did not change hearts. Jesus rebukes them. What happens next is unexpected. Many of us miss this.

Here’s the Thing: What Christ did next is essential for us to understand Him.

To miss what Christ did is to miss out on truly knowing Christ. You see, it’s not enough to study scripture, no matter how much we study, how many podcasts we watch, how many Bible classes we attend or how many passages we highlight. If we miss what Christ said to the disciples, we miss the Logos.

The apostles whose hearts were hardened doubted the authenticity of Jesus. If we want to use a modern term, the apostles’ faith had been deconstructed by Jesus’ death on the cross. How did they get it back? Contrary to what most believe, it was not by seeing the resurrected Christ. Nope. Instead, when Christ appeared, “the (apostles) were startled and frightened.”

They thought they saw a ghost, instead of, as the writer of Hebrews so eloquently wrote, “the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature… he upholds the universe by the word of his power (Hebrews 1:2).” The “glory” is the Holy Spirit; “his nature” is the Father; “the word” is the Logos, the Son. Jesus, the Mind of the Father anointed with the Spirit, shows us the Trinity of God. Through the Logos we move, live, and have our being.

What am I getting at? Christianity is not a propositional religion but a participatory one. Christ lives in us and through us. The Logos is alive and active in all that we do.

Most know that certain practices we adopt will help our prayer and study time. A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I removed a wooden storage cabinet from the bay window in our bedroom to open up a “hidden” place to study and pray. A custom of Jesus was to go to a hidden place, and He tells us to do the same.

Outside our window, the wisteria is blooming, and birds are singing. A bluejay makes a nest in a nearby tree.

All know that time is needed and that our minds and bodies must quiet to learn. Although a breeze blows the windchimes, and the sounds and sights fill us with peace, as good as all that is, it’s not enough. We must have one more thing, the thing that the resurrected Christ did for His disciples.
What are we missing? He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. When Jesus opened their minds for them to understand His words, He proved to them the reality of His resurrected body and showed them the scriptures that verified and testified of His actions.

Here’s the Kicker: The Logos is needed to open our minds to see the Logos.

I will use the term conceptualize to label what happened to the apostles and what must happen to us as we study and pray. The apostles had to encompass all they had learned in the last three years and tie it in with the threads of the Logos in the presence of the Logos.

The story of Christ is interwoven from the beginning of the Bible throughout all scripture and fulfilled in Christ and His followers.

And yet, the apostles’ hearts were hardened and their hope lost until Jesus revealed that He was the Logos fulfilling the story of the Old Testament. This concept had to be accepted and harmonized with all they knew and had experienced.

The Old Testament foretold Christ; the New Testament revealed Christ. We can know Scripture very well and still miss the Logos unless our hearts are softened and our minds opened to understanding.

Here’s the Thing: I can’t tell you how the Logos opens minds. I can tell you what the Bible says we must do for the Logos to open them. 1. We must believe that Jesus is Christ. 2. We must not harden our hearts. (See Hebrews.)

The apostles, even though they were told beforehand, did not anticipate Christ’s death on the cross. They were resistant�"hard-hearted�"to what Jesus told them. In addition, they had to understand that they were not just followers of Christ but participators in the Living Logos.

And we must understand that, too. The Logos shows us who He is within Scripture.

The disciples had thoroughly misunderstood Christ and had to conceptualize this new view of the Logos. In reality, this was not new at all, but as old as creation.

Finally, it clicked when minds were opened by the Logos. Jesus led Peter and the other disciples “out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them…. And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.”

If we understand by the help of the Logos, we, too, will be blessed, and joy will follow.

Christ is the Story, the Thread woven throughout the Torah, the Prophets, and the Psalms. Jesus fulfilled His part of the Story, but that was not the end. The new Story continues by Him in His disciples.

Find time, find your secret place. Calm mind and body. Open the Scriptures. Soften your heart. Allow the Logos to open your mind. Heed His voice as you read.

May we all do so. Our souls will be fed. Our spirits will be uplifted. He will ground and steady us for our day ahead. And joy will follow.

Amen.