The 125th
Anniversary Retreat
An Easter Kind of World
Luke 24:36-46
36
While they were still speaking about this, he stood in their midst
and said to them, "Peace be with you."
37 But they were startled and
terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost.
38 Then he said to them, "Why
are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts?
39 Look at my hands and my feet,
that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and
bones as you can see I have."
40 And as he said this, he showed
them his hands and his feet.
41 While they were still
incredulous for joy and were amazed, he asked them, "Have you anything
here to eat?"
42 They gave him a piece of baked
fish;
43 he took it and ate it in front
of them.
44 He said to them, "These are
my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything
written about me in the law of Moses and in the prophets and psalms must be
fulfilled."
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In this part of the Easter story we just heard, Jesus appears to the disciples and they are terrified because they believe he is a ghost. It is still hard for them to believe that he is real, they would much rather believe that they are hallucinating or that he is some sort of spirit. But he reassures them that he has flesh and bone just like they are. He wants them to touch him, to feel his body, to touch his hands and see that his feet are real.
In the second paragraph he asks them for something to eat and they give him a piece of baked fish. He figures that they’ll know that ghosts don’t eat, that the piece of fish would fall right to the floor if he were a ghost. He eats the fish right before their eyes.
What is happening here? What is Jesus trying to convey to them? These disciples know that Jesus was special, that he had special powers from God, that he spoke with authority, that he was direct and truthful, that he was not intimidated by those in power. These disciples know that Jesus is a holy man, a man of God, but only in time did the community of disciples come to the conclusion that his man was not only the Chosen One, the Anointed One, but the very Son of God, and as the Nicene Creed says, “true God from true God, begotten not made, one in being with the Father.”
For the disciples in the time
of Jesus, the message is that Jesus is not a ghost, but as real as they
are. For us, the message is that God truly has chosen to stay in our
world, that God is not a distant Being, up in heaven, in an other world which
has nothing to do with this world in which we live or the realities with which
we have to contend. We but need to
look back to what God tells Moses from the burning bush in the Book of Exodus: “7 I
have witnessed the affliction of my people in
God knows well what God’s sons and daughters suffer, especially when that suffering is caused by the greed and cruelty of others. God the Father never abandons his children as Isaiah the Prophet has told us:
Isaiah 43:1
1 But now, thus says the LORD, who
created you, O Jacob, and formed you, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed
you; I have called you by name: you are mine.
Isaiah 49:13-16
13 Sing out, O heavens, and
rejoice, O earth, break forth into song, you mountains. For the LORD comforts
his people and shows mercy to his afflicted.
14 But
15 Can a mother forget her infant,
be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will
never forget you.
16 See, upon the palms of my hands
I have written your name; your walls are ever before me.
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Jesus himself has said these words:
John 14:15-21
15 "If you love me, you will
keep my commandments.
16 And I will ask the Father, and
he will give you another Advocate to be with you always,
17 the Spirit of truth, which the
world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows it. But you know it,
because it remains with you, and will be in you.
18 I will not leave you orphans; I
will come to you.
19 In a little while the world will
no longer see me, but you will see me, because I live and you will live.
20 On that day you will realize
that I am in my Father and you are in me and I in you.
21 Whoever has my commandments and
observes them is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me will be loved by my
Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him."
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So a world in which God is truly present and working to transform it and which knows that God will never abandon it, is truly an Easter kind of world, a world that notwithstanding all that is negative in it, can nevertheless be joyful, can have a sense of fiesta!!!
Again, let me ask you a question for reflection and discussion:
How would you describe to a child that God
is in our world? What examples
would you offer that the child might understand?
Let us see the last little bit of the Gospel of Luke:
Luke 24:45-49
45
Then Jesus opened their minds to understand the scriptures.
46 And he said to them, "Thus
it is written that the Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead on the third
day 47 and that repentance, for the
forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations,
beginning from
48 You are witnesses of these
things.
49 And (behold) I am sending the
promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city until you are clothed with
power from on high."
50 Then he led them (out) as far as
51 As he blessed them he parted
from them and was taken up to heaven.
52 They did him homage and then
returned to
53 and they were continually in the
temple praising God.
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Jesus tells the disciples what
they are to work for, they are to ask people to repent their evil ways so that
their sins can be forgiven. They
are also told to teach the name of Jesus to all nations, beginning at
Now while in simple terms Jesus talks to the disciples about repentance and forgiveness of sins, it is clear that his real intent is to bring out the transformation of human beings. What is this transformation? It is to become a people of peace instead of a people of violence, a people of generosity instead of a people of greed, a people of humility instead of a people of arrogance, a people of courage instead of a fearful people, a people of prayer instead of a people of materialism and idolatry, in a word, a holy people and not an evil people. Again, one more question:
What would the world look like if this
transformation happened to more and more human beings? And what is our role, as disciples of
Jesus, in helping to bring about this transformation?