“While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.”Luke 24:51-53 ESV
Reflection: how can we be a blessing?
Before Jesus ascended into heaven, we read from Luke that he took his disciples on a last walk towards the town of Bethany, which was a couple of miles outside of Jerusalem, on or close to Mount Olive. And Luke writes that Jesus lifted his hands and “blessed” them. And then we read that the disciples in response “worshipped” him. But what does that mean – to bless and to worship? The word “bless” is all over the Bible, used 100s of times in various forms and ways. We see God’s blessing people, and people “blessing” other people and even blessing God. But in our current culture, even among Christians, it seems to have gotten a bit lost. We are more familiar with the word “worship”, like a worship service, or worship music, which we think of as singing praises to our God, often involving upbeat music and arms raised. But the act of “worship” actually means to “bow down” before God, such as one would before a king. It is a physical display of honor, of respect, of reverence. That is very different than what we see in churches singing “worship music”. Seems like the worship of God is being somewhat misused from the true meaning of the word.
To better understand the word bless (verb), or blessing (noun), we have to go back to the beginning. We read in Genesis, “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”” Genesis 1:26-28 ESV. God’s blessing over Man included the gift to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth and have dominion over the earth and subdue it, to care for it. The more general definition is a praise, a gift, a present, a treaty of peace.
Perhaps a more famous example of God’s blessing is found a bit later in Genesis, “Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”” Genesis 12:1-3 ESV. Here we see God blessing Abram (later became Abraham), and notice how God instructed Abram to therefore become a blessing to others. As God has blessed us, we can and should therefore
bless God and our fellow Man
With our praise, with gifts, with peace. The goodness, the mercy of our God, given to us, we can pass on to others. To thereby bless others. Think of the simple, practical example of how Jesus greeted the disciples with “shalom”, or “peace be with you”, which is a blessing by definition. As we have received the peace of the Lord, we can pass on that peace to those we come in contact with. To be an “aroma” like Jesus was, “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 5:1-2 ESV. Luke ends by writing “And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.” Luke 24:52-53 ESV.
Worship and bless; a model for us to imitate.
My hope is that these daily devotionals from the book of Luke have blessed you by giving you new insights and curiosity into the word of God. As always, feel free to reach out to me directly, with any feedback, thoughts, suggestions and questions.