Eastertide April 18, 2015
Scripture Reading: Luke 24:36b-48 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. –Luke 36b-42
What does bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ mean to you? We in the 21st century are scientifically removed markedly from the thinking of the first century. We live in a world where people are routinely resuscitated. Most of us have been trained to provide this help if necessary. I just watched on the news recently a report of a multi-kidney swap among various donors from families of various recipients all combined so that those who needed a kidney got one even if it was not a match within their family. It is amazing the amount of information contained on a small stick drive that can spill out and compare in a moment’s time matches of complex details that could bring these strangers together and extend the lives of the ones they love. Yet in spite of that knowledge or perhaps because of that knowledge many struggle with the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ.
On the other hand, it is easy to say all things are possible through God, but in reading the stories of God’s work in our world, God seems to function most often through people. The opening of the waters to allow the Israelites’ escape from the Egyptians comes to mind as a supernatural event. The story in 1 Kings 17:16 of the flour and the oil never running out is another. This God we worship is more often than not just outside the grasp of our understanding in the midst of our life struggles but we somehow know the Lord is there when we need God the most. In many instances in my life I have realized God’s acts in retrospect.
In the first century, it was apparently important that the followers of Christ encounter his resurrected body in real time, in real flesh with real wounds. We probably would not know his story today had this meeting and others like it not occurred and that makes the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ very important to me.
Prayer: Lord, we thank you for having the patience with us to address us in the most appropriate way at the most important time for our meager understandings. Help us always to be open to what we need to know to further your kingdom on earth. Amen.
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.