Welcome to Easter-tide or the Great 50 Days of Easter. We’re looking at some of the post-Resurrection meetings by Jesus and his followers. Last week we considered the interaction between Thomas and Jesus. Despite the very verbal doubts expressed by Thomas, Jesus comes and gives him the proof he needs. God shows up for us in just the way we need.
This week, the Gospel reading is from Luke (24:36b-48). This
is Jesus first appearance to his disciples as told by Luke. Just before this, the
travelers to Emmaus have returned to Jerusalem with the astounding claim that he
had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread. While they are
still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them,
“Peace be with you.”
Despite the simple greeting, those gathered thought that they were seeing a ghost. Jesus shows them his wounded hands and feet and invites them to touch him. As further proof he asks for food. They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate in their presence.
Jesus then goes on to remind the disciples of the scripture
promises about Messiah. Luke says, he opened their minds to understand the
scriptures…You are witnesses of these things. This was a real flesh and
bone human who could eat and talk just like before his death.
What would it be like to be in a closed room and suddenly
have Jesus there?
We want Jesus to come in a way that is understandable—not
through closed doors or in the face of a neighbor. We want, as Julia
McCray-Goldsmith notes, “…the Holy enshrouded in fabric un-rent…not my neighbor
perspiring the aroma of Christ.” (found in Daily Prayer for All Seasons,
2014, pg. 104) But that’s not how God works. God is among us. That is
the very truth that the Incarnation and Resurrection emphasize. No matter where
we are on our journey and whether or not we feel close to God—God IS right
there. God is, in fact, in our neighbor and me and you and the stranger and
even the enemy.
Jesus is with us at every moment, not just the ‘good’ ones
where we have our act together. How does it make you feel to recognize God is
right there when you are angry or cruel and when you are loving and kind?
Frederick Buechner noted, “Jesus is apt to come into the
very midst of life at its most real and inescapable. Not in a blaze of
unearthly light, not in the midst of a sermon, not in the throes of some kind
of religious daydream, but … at supper time or walking along a road. This is
the element that all the stories about Christ’s return to life have in common...
He never approached from on high, but always in the midst, in the midst of
people, in the midst of real life and the questions that real life asks.”
(originally published in The Magnificent Defeat.)
Life “at its most real” is not neat and orderly. Being “in
the midst of life” means accepting all the messiness of life including
unanswered and unanswerable questions about disasters and war and sickness.
And, that’s where God is found—in those questions and in the tragedies and
joys.
Can you embrace, and let yourself be embraced, by the God
who is right there “in the midst of life,” eating fish with his friends?
