Today, we continue in our 50 day Easter celebration with stories of the very newly risen Christ, and how the disciples understood their world and their faith in light of a Christ who was crucified, died, buried and resurrected.
The Gospel of Luke starts in the midst the dramatic first day after Jesus’ resurrection. Here’s what’s happened just before we pick up today’s reading.
The women go to the tomb, don’t find Jesus and instead find two men in lightning white clothes, who tell them Jesus has risen. They return to the other disciples, who don’t believe them. To see for himself, Peter runs back to the tomb, finds it empty, and wonders what’s happened.
So as of now in Luke’s account, no one has seen the risen Christ. The apostles in Jerusalem don’t yet know, hadn’t seen, and couldn’t yet believe in the risen Christ.
That same day, two of the other disciples were traveling to Emmaus. Jesus appears to them, but they don’t recognize him. They invite him back to stay with them, still not recognizing him. It isn’t until later that first day, when Jesus took bread and gave thanks, that then – only then – do they recognize him as Jesus. So those disciples, not part of the 11, quickly return to Jerusalem, to share what they’d seen, who they’d met, and how they’d come understood.
Still reeling from Mary’s claim of the risen Lord, Peter’s testament that the tomb was indeed empty, and now hearing of another incident of the risen Lord, Jesus appears in their midst.
The Eleven recognized him as Jesus but thought they were seeing a ghost.
No, Jesus assures them, look at my hands and feet. Look at my flesh and bones.
Then, further demonstrating he’s human, Jesus asks if they have anything to eat. Still in disbelief, they share broiled fish and once again share a meal with Jesus. Just three nights earlier they’d shared a meal with Jesus, what they’d since come to believe would be their last. And now, here they were again. Everything was back to normal. But nothing was normal.
It’s after they shared the meal, the Gospel tells us, that their minds were opened to the meaning of the Scriptures.
What is the Gospel in this story? What is the Good News?
One thing we know from this story is that Jesus returns with pierced hands and feet. Clearly, the wounds could have been healed; Jesus has been raised from the dead. So the fact that the wounds are present and that he pointed them out to the disciples must be important. Christ renews and restores us, and yet he comes back with wounds and scars. Maybe those lingering wounds are to tell us something about this renewed and restored life we’re promised. Christ is scarred and wounded at the hands of those he loved and served. Maybe the lingering wounds of Christ tell us that the wounds may happen, can’t be undone, but don’t define or limit us.
Richard Rohr, a Franciscan Priest talks about the difference between pain and suffering. He says pain is something that happens in this world. We are pained, and we can’t necessarily avoid it. But he says, suffering is something over which we have some more control. Suffering is what we go through because of the pain. It’s the replaying of hurts, the holding-on of grudges. Some suffering will always accompany pain. And some we perpetuate by holding on long after the scars are set.
The risen Christ suffered and was in pain. The scars are proof of that. And risen, there’s proof of the pain that occurred. And even with what he went through, the suffering is gone.
It is unlikely that we will make it through this life able to avoid all pain and suffering. And yet, scars and all, we too will be renewed, restored and forgiven.
The other thing I find striking is that Jesus and the Word are initially unrecognizable. Mary at the tomb didn’t recognize him until he called her name. The men on the road to Emmaus didn’t recognize him until he broke bread with them. The apostles had closed minds until he shared a meal and gave thanks and then their minds were opened.
These people knew him when he was on earth and they didn’t recognize him or understand. Clearly the risen Christ wasn’t exactly the same as the Jesus they’d known; something was very new and very different. Maybe at that at this point in his time on earth, Jesus who was fully human and fully divine, after his death and resurrection, maybe he was appearing to others on the divine side of that spectrum. Maybe they couldn’t recognize him because what they were experiencing was so far from their understanding or experience as humans, or of humans. What he was doing, rising from the dead, and appearing in the midst of a gathering, was so divine, they couldn’t clearly it. It’s only through very human interactional activities that Jesus is recognized. He calls Mary’s name. He shares a meal, and gives thanks. It’s when he again interacts with his disciples in human, relational ways, that they see and understand.
Be known to us in breaking bread, and do not then depart. Savior abide with us and spread, thy table in our heart. If these words sound vaguely familiar, they should. We just sung them.
Be known to us in breaking bread. One of the fundamental ways we recognize Jesus is through very human interactions with very ordinary things in very ordinary settings.
As Christians with a sacramental theology, we believe that through the Eucharist and Baptism, /through sharing bread, and wine and water, that we will surely and certainly experience God’s grace. Surely and certainly. And while those sacraments are a sure and certain way, they are not the only way. That is not the only place we experience God’s grace, where we meet Christ. We will also meet Christ through those other human contacts in the world. It is through and with other people that we will recognize Christ and understand the Word. In order to seek and serve Christ in all people, we must start by interacting with them!
In these stories and in our faith, Christ is recognized through bread, water, wine, the calling of a name, the sharing of a meal. None of these things are hard, or beyond us. We don’t need special equipment or experience.
To recognize Jesus in our world, we need to share a meal. Enjoy the fellowship, and the breaking of bread. We need to listen when our name is called. Sometimes, it’s an outside voice. Someone calling your name who needs your help. And sometimes it’s an inside voice, where God is calling you to do something. Listen. When I listen and respond, I can recognize Christ. Not every time, but I think that has more to do with me not listening, than with Christ being absent.
If we don’t engage, love and serve others, we risk missing Jesus in our midst or we don’t truly understand the scriptures, just like the disciples in today’s reading. It’s often through the interactions with others that we experience the redemptive power of Christ.
We need to get our hands dirty, to listen when our name is called, to break bread. This is not pain-free or without personal risk. And it is what we are called to do.
The reading from First John says that we are children of God. Today. Right now. And while being a child of God is a good thing, the promise of that reading is even better. It continues to say that what we will be has not yet been revealed. We don’t know what we will be. But what we do know is that when Christ is revealed, we will be like Christ.
So if you put it all together, today’s Good News goes something like this. We may not inherently recognize or understand Christ on earth any better than the disciples did that first day. Christ reveals himself to us in basic things and simple experiences we can understand. Through bread, wine and water. When someone calls our name, or asks for food, or when we share a meal.
And when Christ is revealed in that exchange, when we recognize Christ in that bread, wine, service or response to others, we begin to become what we were always designed to be – more Christ like. We will be love. We will have the ability to love Judas, to wash Peter’s feet.
This is not to say we will be unscathed. Resurrected Jesus had wounds. But through our connection with the risen Christ, we gain unconditional-love-in-action that overflows without regard to the impact to us or the worthiness of others.
Carroll Simcox, Episcopal Priest and theologian said, "We think of ourselves now as human beings. We really aren't that - not yet. We are human becomings. If you are living in Christ, believing in him and trying to follow and obey him as the master of your life, you are by his grace, becoming ever more and more like him."
Be known to us in breaking bread, and do not then depart. Savior abide with us and spread thy table in our heart. Amen.
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