Three Perspectives
Three Perspectives
Luke 24:36-48
This morning, I want to consider our text from three perspectives…
For a while now, we’ve been hearing Luke’s dominant theme: “Remember!” We followed the women to the tomb and marveled at their faithfulness and courage. We shook our heads in wonder when we saw that the stone was rolled away. We squinted and shook our heads when we saw the men in dazzling clothing. We stood at the very edge of our understanding in the presence of mystery but…what it all boiled down to for those women in that moment was, “Remember!” The angels came to remind them that everything they needed to know was already inside them.
“Remember!” Two people… a man and his wife?…are on their way home from Jerusalem. They meet a stranger who is the risen Jesus but they do not recognize him. He asks them to remember what happened in Jerusalem and tell him about those events. He asks them to remember what the prophets taught. All on their own, against all the odds, they remember to be compassionate to a stranger. They invite him into their home to join them for dinner. When Jesus takes the bread and blesses it and breaks it, they not only “re-member”—that is—re-assemble what had been torn asunder—they also “re-cognize” who the stranger was. Remembering and recognizing turns into a moment of repentance when they literally turn in a new direction and head to Jerusalem to proclaim the good news to the disciples.
Meanwhile, the disciples—the eleven that remain—are locked away in hiding in a room in Jerusalem. Nothing makes sense. Everything has boiled down to fear. Well, honestly, everything is a bit more complex than that. You see, the women sure seemed to have lost their minds but to tell the truth, the disciples could see that something happened. Why did it happen to the women and not to them? After all…weren’t they the disciples?
Later, the two folks from Emmaus came to tell their “good news,” too. What a lovely story they told! It was undeniable that their tale totally fit with the Jesus whom they new: the playfulness of a good conversation; the willingness to teach in the most attention-grabbing, life-changing way; the way in which he could do magical, transforming things around a dinner table. Their story actually rang true, which just made hearing it all the more painful. Why would Jesus show up for the women and for these two others without ever showing up to them? Had they failed so miserably that Jesus wanted nothing to do with them? I think the disciples were overwhelmed with… resentment.
“Remember!” People talk about being “blinded by rage.” I think grief can be an even darker blindness—leaving us with our hands extended in front of us, taking baby steps forward through the chaos. Into that darkness, the word that is whispered is simple: “Remember!” Remember what Jesus taught you about how, if you want to be first, you should go last, about how if you want to be a leader you should learn how to serve; how if you want to be his follower then you should learn how to humble yourself. Sometimes, being a faithful person means allowing life to happen in God’s own time. Every person who remembered before them, quickly went out of their way to let the disciples know. What they should have known was how much sense it made that Jesus would come to them last. What they should have known was the underlying message of everything that was unfolding: “Trust me…I will be with you soon.”
Here is perspective number two: believing is not easy—for anyone. Think about this…Jesus shows up for the disciples—he walks through walls and locked doors and does whatever else is necessary to get to them, not, it turns out to tell them what terrible disciples and friends they had been but to speak a single word to them: “Peace!” Honestly, even the disciples who hadn’t made it to the cross with Jesus had heard about Jesus forgiving those who persecuted him while he was dying on the cross and…well…that knocked the wind right out of them. Still, though, somehow this was even deeper and more profound than that. They were closer than anyone on earth to him and they had utterly and completely failed him in almost every way imaginable. And yet…he shows up not to shame them, not to berate them, not even to say, “I told you so!” No, he shows up to offer them peace. Imagine their joy…
However, joy isn’t all they felt. They were startled and terrified and were convinced that they were seeing a ghost. Think about that…if this is the risen Jesus in front of them then they are witnessing something wild and mysterious, something unknown, and most importantly, something deeply personal. It appears that their friend and teacher who died so publicly is now, finally, appearing privately to them. (Be careful what you wish for, right?) Instead of struggling with this reality, they immediately jump to a less wild, more domesticated, and most importantly, far less personal conclusion: “It’s a ghost!” After all, ghosts can be dismissed so much easier than can your friend and teacher whom you betrayed coming back to life.
When Jesus realizes that they think he’s a ghost, he invites them to take a peak at his hands and his feet. "Check out my wounds! Last I heard, ghosts don’t have flesh and bones, much less nail holes.” That’s when Luke tells us something so critical: “While in their joy, they were still disbelieving and still wondering.” Jesus had told them three times while he was with them that he was going to be arrested and tortured and tried and die and rise again. The women had reported everything about the empty tomb to them. The two people from Emmaus told them about how they had recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread. Peter had reported what he had seen at the empty tomb. Finally, Jesus, himself had shown up and offered them peace and given them the chance to inspect his wounds and see for themselves and…it wasn’t enough. After all this, they could feel joy but they could not believe—not wholeheartedly. They were not doubt free. Even then, Jesus does not give up on them. Instead, the man who loved a good meal says, “Hey…can I have a bite of that fish?” Then, he reminds them of everything that he taught them and invites them to remember.
So, perspective one is the call to remember. Everyone has to wait. Everyone has to come to grips with the fact that God will do what God will do and it will be done in God’s own time. We need to remember what Jesus said about going last, about being a servant leader. We need to remember that the order in which God meets us is rarely a reflection of God’s love. We need to do what it takes to hold on to hope and remember all that we have been taught.
Perspective two is for everyone who has ever struggled with faith and wondered why it has to be so hard to believe. The truth is that struggle is not what precedes faith. Rather, struggling is what faithful people do: “I know God is in here somewhere. I’m just going to keep looking until I find God or God finds me!” Again, the disciples had every advantage: they knew Jesus of Nazareth personally; they heard his teachings and predictions; after he died, they got a “heads up” from others that the risen Jesus was showing up; they got to meet that risen Jesus for themselves. Still, they struggled mightily. It is possible to feel incredible joy at what we have seen and remain convinced that what we’ve just seen is too good to possibly be true. In this sense, the disciples aren’t some otherworldly saints. The disciples are just like the rest of us.
Here is perspective number three. In this text, Luke takes a whole host of fragments and stories that early Christians would have heard about Jesus’ life and death and resurrection and condenses them into a few verses. Let me give you an image for considering this…
It’s the Fourth of July. Wherever you are, you find a way, late in the day to watch some fireworks. In my favorite place in Northern Minnesota, you go early to watch the “independent” (illegal?) fireworks display by the locals that always precedes the official show. There are pickup trucks everywhere and constant, huge explosions. This is the battle zone! They are so huge that after a while you wonder if this might be the official show after all. Then, with one single rocket launch, the firefighters announce their presence with a resounding blast. The show amazes with every color and sparkle imaginable, along with actual smiley faces and hearts— however that works. It seems as if things couldn’t possibly get any better and then the grand finale’ begins…
Our text in Luke is the grand finale’ of his gospel. Every good grand finale’ includes a revisiting of the best of what has gone before. This is precisely what Luke is doing. He’s taking powerfully suggestive words and phrases and fragments and blending them into a single scene. Walk with me here…
In the Gospel of John, Jesus appears to the disciples who are locked away in a room and says, “Peace be with you.” In John, two disciples are missing at this point: Judas, the betrayer, who is dead and Thomas, the one who will become known as “Doubting Thomas” because he wasn’t there to see for himself. Jesus’ words, “Peace be with you” as he meets the disciples would have made people say, “I recognize those words. I know what’s happening here.”
What they would have expected next would be an account of Thomas’s doubt. However, for Luke, it’s all the disciples who doubt. Doubt isn’t that guy over in the corner’s issue. Doubt is the struggle of every believer. So, instead of Thomas demanding to see Jesus’s wounds, Jesus freely shows those wounds to every disciple. Luke’s gospel never mentions Thomas’s doubts at all.
Next, ask yourself this: when the disciples think Jesus is a ghost, what do you remember? What it brings to mind is Jesus walking on the water to get to his disciples who are stuck in the wind and the waves. The disciples see him coming and think that he’s a ghost. Here’s the interesting thing…that story appears in Matthew, Mark and John…but like the Thomas story, it does not appear in Luke. Instead, Luke offers us a hint of the story that people have heard before, but as one tiny moment in this finale’.
When Jesus eats, we are reminded of his prediction that he would not eat again until they all ate together in the kingdom of God. In John’s Gospel, Jesus has breakfast with Peter. In Luke, Jesus eats with the whole group and by doing so, presumably, announces that, despite their doubts and fears, the Kingdom of God has arrived.
After showing them his wounds, but before dining with them, Jesus says the most curious thing: “Look at my hands and my feet and see that it is I myself.” Another possible translation, “Look at my hands and my feet and see that I am.” Do you remember God’s response to Moses when asked whom he should say sent him to Pharaoh? “Tell them, ‘I am’ sent you” I am… Boom! Bang!
We look carefully and realize that the grand finale’ includes hints of all that was known about Jesus. Next week, we will remember together how every great finale’ ends…