By Mark D. Proctor
Pastor, Highland Park Baptist Church, Columbia
Focal Passage: Luke 24:44-49
The summer after my kindergarten year my grandmother taught me to crochet. I practiced and practiced and finally made a little pillow that I proudly took to show and tell in the fall when I entered first grade (I didn’t know back then boys could get beat up for stuff like that)! I meekly stood up and told Mrs. Banner’s class how I did it — and won “Best Show and Tell” for the week. I’m sure the school is still talking about it. But it wasn’t the pillow that won the award. The victory was secured because I understood it enough, and was brave enough, to tell about it.
Rewind the tape 2,000 years. Jesus speaks to His disciples after His resurrection and says, “Gentlemen, it’s time for show and tell — I’m going to show you how it all fits together and you go tell.” That’s the clear message our passage gives. And the message the student should hear should be equally clear: through Christ’s death and resurrection, you’ve won the right to understand and live the promises of God. Why wouldn’t you tell someone about that?
The celebration begins with understanding. Verse 45 says Jesus “opened their minds to understand.” It means Jesus caused them to understand. Take pause on that point. Jesus showed them what it all meant. It’s a real point to celebrate. We live in a hyper-intelligent world where knowledge is king. Understanding is closely kin to sweat — we understand that which we work to understand. Not so in this passage. The disciples had worked. They had no doubt pondered on the teachings of Christ; they’d invested countless hours in following Him, listening to Him, and watching Him put His teachings into practice. They stood with all the puzzle pieces but couldn’t create the big picture. It wasn’t until Jesus “caused” them to understand that the whole picture came into focus. He showed them.
The next part is just as exciting: the knowledge alone was not enough to empower them to go tell. “Knowledge is power” is good academic motivation but poor theology. Motivation is God’s business as well. “… Stay in the city until you are empowered from on high” (Luke 24:49). Luke supplements this thought in Acts 1:8, “… you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you … .” Both the “show” and the “tell” are God powered. God teaches us the truth of Scripture and empowers us to go tell others.
Church, it’s not our job to empower the show. And it’s not our job to supercharge the telling. It’s our job to facilitate the presence of God’s Holy Spirit as we worship and teach so He and He alone can empower us to see the big picture of His promises and go tell the world. That’s a victory to celebrate. Call it, “Best of Show and Tell!”