Dear Emanuel Members and Friends –
But on the first
day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that
they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when
they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this,
suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were
terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, ‘Why
do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember
how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be
handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.’
Then they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb, they told all this
to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the
mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles.
But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But
Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen
cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened. Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, ‘What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?’ They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, ‘Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?’ He asked them, ‘What things?’ They replied, ‘The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.’ Then he said to them, ‘Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?’ Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.
As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, ‘Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.’ So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?’ That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, ‘The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!’ Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread. Luke 24:1-35
Of course, it would be the women who were the first to witness the
resurrection. In the passion story, Jesus’ male disciples
are unimpressive to say the least: Judas had betrayed Jesus; Peter denied ever
having known him, and at the crucifixion, all but the beloved disciple had abandoned
him. But the women stood by Jesus, even
at the cross. And in their moment of
grief, the women were still faithful, going to the tomb to anoint the body of
their teacher and friend, who had been arrested as a blasphemer and executed as
a threat to Roman power. And so the
women became the first messengers of the gospel, acting as apostles (eyewitnesses
and messengers of resurrection) to Peter and the other men whom our tradition
names as apostles.
Luke’s Gospel describes the day of resurrection as an action-packed
day indeed. The women went to the tomb,
didn’t find the body of Jesus, but did find angels, and returned to the disciples
in Jerusalem. Peter retraced the journey
of the women, as he, too, went to the tomb, saw the empty tomb and linen cloths
by themselves (though there was no mention of angels speaking to Peter), then
returned to Jerusalem. Meanwhile, two
followers of Jesus traveled to Emmaus, met Jesus along the way, though they didn’t
recognize him, invited him to dinner – and after they finally recognized Jesus
in their midst, Jesus vanished, and the two returned to Jerusalem. And Luke told us that when all had returned
to Jerusalem, Jesus appeared in their midst.
A theme that runs through Luke’s resurrection account is vision – knowing what to look
for, and knowing where to find it. At
the grave, the angels said to the women, “Why do you seek the living among the
dead?” I’d invite
us to ponder these words with regard to our own lives. How often we seek life from that which is not
lifegiving. We spend time and resources
in pursuit of possessions or sensations or experiences or relationships that we
think will enhance our lives, will make our lives complete, only to be let down,
disappointed, time and again, when whatever we gain or experience adds neither years
to our life nor life to our years. While
the women looked for Jesus in the wrong place, the two disciples on the road to
Emmaus found Jesus – or rather, Jesus found them – but they did not recognize
Jesus. All they saw was a mysterious stranger
who turned out to be an engaging conversation partner, a conversation partner who
heard their sad tale of the state-sponsored execution of their teacher, and told
their story back to them in tones of hope and expectation. Only as this mysterious stranger took the
bread, blessed and broke it, were their eyes opened to see the resurrected Christ
in their midst. Likewise, God meets us
in our Emmaus road moments, in our moments of fear and loss, transforming
despair into hope. So we need vision
both to know where to look for God’s saving actions in our midst, and to
recognize God’s presence when we encounter it.
Another theme that runs through Luke’s resurrection account is the
importance of remembering. The angels at the tomb told the women, “’Remember
how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be
handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.’
Then they remembered his words.” Later,
when Jesus appeared among them, he told them, “This is what I told you while I was still
with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the law of
Moses, the prophets and the psalms.”
He was calling on those gathered to remember what he had taught them. It’s so easy to get caught up in the busy-ness
of our daily lives, so easy to be knocked off balance by the raging currents of
the events of our day, as the disciples were knocked off balance by the events
of Good Friday. We can forget those places
where God has met us in the past, can forget who we are and whose we are. We need to remember.
While they were talking about this, 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.
Then 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, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then he
opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, ‘Thus it
is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the
third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in
his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these
things. And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in
the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.’ (Luke 24:36-49)
In order that we may see and to remember, God must open our eyes and our minds. While the disciples on the Emmaus road
initially did not recognize Jesus, Luke tells us that at the table, “their eyes were opened, and they recognized
him.” After this appearance, the
disciples said, “Were not our hearts
burning within us…..while he was opening the scriptures to us.” Later, in Jerusalem, Luke tells us that the
Risen Christ “opened their minds to
understand the scriptures.” The Risen Christ helped them to see the scriptures
they had always known – what we know as the Old Testament – in a new way. In the same way, God can open our eyes and
minds to see new possibilities in familiar places – in our Scriptures, in our
church, in our lives, in our families, in our neighbors, in the world around us.
A tantalizing detail: Luke’s
account says that when the pair returned from the Emmaus road, the eleven and
their companions told them, “The Lord has
risen indeed, and he has appeared to Peter.”
Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians confirms this, as he wrote, “that he appeared to Cephas
[Peter], then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than
five hundred brothers….” (I Corinthians 15:5-6) But Luke doesn’t describe the appearance of
the Risen Christ to Peter. Was Luke
referring to Peter’s discovery of the empty tomb? Or to some appearance of Jesus not described? Perhaps Luke is leaving it to us, his
readers, to fill in the details of Jesus’ appearance to Peter, of Peter’s
experience of resurrection.
What would resurrection look like to you? To answer this question, we need not attempt
to conjure up for ourselves some vision of angels. Resurrection may look like healing from a serious
physical or mental illness that has limited our lives, or living free from the
chains of addiction, or the restoration of a broken relationship, or steady
employment after a long period of joblessness, or housing after a period of
homelessness. Here at Emanuel, resurrection
may look like lives being changed for the better, lives being transformed in
our midst. Resurrection comes in many
forms, if we have eyes to see and ears to hear.
Like the disciples, we are called upon to seek God’s presence, to
remember those places where God has met us in the past, and yet to be open to those
new places where God may lead us in the future. May we see the signs of resurrection in our
midst, around us and within us. May,
like the women at the tomb, like those on the road to Emmaus, like Peter, be
witnesses to the resurrection power of God, in our lives and in our community.
See you in church!
Pastor Dave
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