Luke 24:35-48

The two disciples recounted what had taken place on the way, and how Jesus was made known to them in the breaking of the bread. While they were still speaking about this, he stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” But they were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost. Then he said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts? 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.” And as he said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed, he asked them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of baked fish; he took it and ate it in front of them. 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.” Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. And he said to them, “Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”

Where to start? This is such a wonderful Gospel reading.

We could begin with the obvious Eucharistic reference – they recognized Him in the breaking of the bread. Jesus had died and had risen. Yet, he does not leave His followers without Him. He is there, in the breaking of the bread – in the bread and wine that are no longer bread and wine, but His Body and Blood. There we recognize Him, and there we can turn to Him in prayer, adoration, desire, with our concerns and troubles and also our joys and thanksgivings.

Jesus asks, “Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts?” He must be kidding, right? Who would not be troubled? Who would not have questions? I can almost see the faint hint of a smile on His face when He asks these questions. The disciples are overwhelmed, but with joy and amazement. Yes, they wondered if they were seeing a ghost, but they quickly concluded, I think, that Jesus was not a ghost, that He had been raised, as He promised. But nothing like this has ever happened before. It would, frankly, be easier to accept the idea that Jesus was a ghost. Ghosts have come and gone, nothing new there (though, yes, frightening!). But this? This is something new. This is something never encountered before. Jesus is not a ghost wandering the earth for some unknown reason. No, He is risen – body and soul – from the dead. He talks to them, touches them, eats with them. How to take it all in no one can begin to imagine on this first day.

“Everything written about me in the law of Moses and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled.” This was the moment they had been waiting for. This was the fulfillment the Hebrews had been anticipating for centuries – the Messiah had come! But, while Jesus may have fulfilled the law of Moses and the prophets, He did not necessarily fulfill the expectations of the Jews of what their Messiah would be. Some were expecting a warrior Messiah, in line with King David, who would free them from the oppression of the Romans. Some were expecting a wise Messiah, in line with King Solomon, who would teach them all they needed to know to fulfill God’s Law. Some were expecting a prophet Messiah, in line with Isaiah or Jeremiah, who would call them back to faithfulness with God. Who among them, however, was expecting a suffering Messiah, who would offer His life, not for freedom in this temporal realm, but for freedom from sin and unrighteousness, to announce the coming of God’s kingdom and to reconcile them with the Father through His own sacrifice of Body and Blood on the Cross?

“You are witnesses to this.” This is the mission now that that suffering and risen Messiah was giving them – to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ risen from the dead for the sake of our sins and for the sake of our reconciliation with the Father. This is the mission given to all of us, as well. Though we did not witness the resurrection, we are blessed to believe even though we have not seen. We have experienced His grace, given to us by faith through the sacraments, to prepare us to live the life of the gospel and to testify to the gospel. In some sense, the disciples had it easier. They were witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection. We are witnesses to His grace having been poured out into our lives to transform us into men and women eager to proclaim the love of God and the good news of Christ with courage in the face of a culture and society eager to hear that God loves them, but unwilling to really believe it, because of what it demands of them.

May we be faithful to that mission, come what may. It is our hope for salvation.

Be Christ for all. Bring Christ to all. See Christ in all.