Dearest e-votees-
I hope and trust and pray that the beginning of your Easter season has gone well. May your ongoing celebrations of the empty tomb be blessed ones full of peace and faith.
Witness well.
Peace,
Karl
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Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence.
Then 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, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”
Luke 24:32b-48, NRSV
This text is much like our appointed gospel lesson from last week. Jesus appears to his disciples. The first thing he says is a word of peace in response to their lingering fear. He then goes on to show them his wounds.
This week he eats in their presence as well. The point of this action is that dead people (ghosts and such) don't eat. It is a way to prove that he is truly alive. That is likely why Jesus instructed the girl he raised from the dead to be given something to eat (see Mark 5:43; Luke 8:55). This is part of what makes a meal with the risen Lazarus in John 12:2 so very powerful.
After Jesus eats in the presence of his disciples he opens their minds so that they can see all that was fulfilled in scriptures with his life, ministry, death and resurrection. This is done so that they are witnesses. Witnesses exist in order to testify.
We are not so very different than the early apostles. We can succumb to fears and doubts. We can wonder if Jesus really has been raised from the dead or are these stories just too fantastic to believe. We can heap judgment on ourselves for even having such thoughts. Jesus still walks into our lives and speaks "Peace." As we breathe in that God-given peace we can offer it all those we encounter. We can testify to that peace.
We are not so very different than the early apostles. We can need very graphic and tangible assurances of God's presence in our lives. Thomas and the others seem to have need to gaze deeply into the wounds of Jesus. Jesus doesn't scold them but rather allows them to see what they need to see to believe. He is like a long-suffering saint answering questions of a small child about an apparent malady that polite society has taught the parents to ignore. Jesus doesn't hold back from us either but invites us to engage his wounds and the healing they work. As we linger in those wounds we are made whole. As we are made whole we can learn to be more forthcoming with our own scar stories. The word martyr evokes images of pain and suffering but it is really rooted in testimony and witness. We can testify to God's never-failing, ever-healing love.
We are not so very different than the early apostles. We might need a meal with our Lord to strengthen and encourage our faith. Perhaps it is a meal like in today's text where we are reminded Jesus is indeed alive again. Perhaps it is a meal of forgiveness and restoration like the breakfast at the beach in John 21. Perhaps it is a meal of remembrance (Seder/Communion) where we are reminded of the things that God has done that assure us of a place of welcome at the table. As we consume those meals we can be assured of hope and healing. We can invite others to take their place at the table too. We can testify to the joy of restored fellowship.
We are not so very different than the early apostles. We forget the stories and scriptures. We fail to make connections. We miss the mark. Jesus can open our hearts and our minds and our spirits just as he did so often to Peter and John and all the others. As our minds and hearts and spirts are open our faith is deeply shored up. We can in turn open our hearts and minds and spirits and even the scriptures to others. We can testify to the fullness of God's work in Jesus.
God, continue to work in us. Use us to testify in action, attitude and word that you are our Lord and that your love and salvation are for all. Amen.
I hope and trust and pray that the beginning of your Easter season has gone well. May your ongoing celebrations of the empty tomb be blessed ones full of peace and faith.
Witness well.
Peace,
Karl
----------
Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence.
Then 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, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”
This text is much like our appointed gospel lesson from last week. Jesus appears to his disciples. The first thing he says is a word of peace in response to their lingering fear. He then goes on to show them his wounds.
This week he eats in their presence as well. The point of this action is that dead people (ghosts and such) don't eat. It is a way to prove that he is truly alive. That is likely why Jesus instructed the girl he raised from the dead to be given something to eat (see Mark 5:43; Luke 8:55). This is part of what makes a meal with the risen Lazarus in John 12:2 so very powerful.
After Jesus eats in the presence of his disciples he opens their minds so that they can see all that was fulfilled in scriptures with his life, ministry, death and resurrection. This is done so that they are witnesses. Witnesses exist in order to testify.
We are not so very different than the early apostles. We can succumb to fears and doubts. We can wonder if Jesus really has been raised from the dead or are these stories just too fantastic to believe. We can heap judgment on ourselves for even having such thoughts. Jesus still walks into our lives and speaks "Peace." As we breathe in that God-given peace we can offer it all those we encounter. We can testify to that peace.
We are not so very different than the early apostles. We can need very graphic and tangible assurances of God's presence in our lives. Thomas and the others seem to have need to gaze deeply into the wounds of Jesus. Jesus doesn't scold them but rather allows them to see what they need to see to believe. He is like a long-suffering saint answering questions of a small child about an apparent malady that polite society has taught the parents to ignore. Jesus doesn't hold back from us either but invites us to engage his wounds and the healing they work. As we linger in those wounds we are made whole. As we are made whole we can learn to be more forthcoming with our own scar stories. The word martyr evokes images of pain and suffering but it is really rooted in testimony and witness. We can testify to God's never-failing, ever-healing love.
We are not so very different than the early apostles. We might need a meal with our Lord to strengthen and encourage our faith. Perhaps it is a meal like in today's text where we are reminded Jesus is indeed alive again. Perhaps it is a meal of forgiveness and restoration like the breakfast at the beach in John 21. Perhaps it is a meal of remembrance (Seder/Communion) where we are reminded of the things that God has done that assure us of a place of welcome at the table. As we consume those meals we can be assured of hope and healing. We can invite others to take their place at the table too. We can testify to the joy of restored fellowship.
We are not so very different than the early apostles. We forget the stories and scriptures. We fail to make connections. We miss the mark. Jesus can open our hearts and our minds and our spirits just as he did so often to Peter and John and all the others. As our minds and hearts and spirts are open our faith is deeply shored up. We can in turn open our hearts and minds and spirits and even the scriptures to others. We can testify to the fullness of God's work in Jesus.
God, continue to work in us. Use us to testify in action, attitude and word that you are our Lord and that your love and salvation are for all. Amen.
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