For Sunday
Easter 3B
Collect
O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread: Open the eyes of our faith, that we may behold him in all his redeeming work; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
Reading
Reflection
In Luke’s gospel, Jesus first appears to a pair of disciples as they travel the road to Emmaus. Then he appears to the whole group. So the group now has already received testimonies from Mary and a couple of other disciples. I suspect there’s some healthy skepticism still buzzing about. Most likely that they’re just seeing things.
I don’t know if you’ve ever had an experience with the supernatural, but I have. And twenty-five years later, I still don’t know how to explain it. The only category we have for this is to call it “seeing a ghost.”
The phenomena is well known as a matter of belief or skepticism. And for many of us who have such an encounter, that debate happens internally, too. That we can explain away the sighting as our brain playing tricks on us, or that we were just “seeing things.” And in reality, they remain just as unsatisfying when we don’t believe. Because we still saw something we don’t believe we could.
For Jesus, it remains important that the disciples focus on the mission of God; rather than the actuality or substance of the resurrection. Yes, see him. Go ahead, touch. Here, let’s eat something. This isn’t in your minds—you aren’t imagining this.
As much as the disciples are focused on their fear—and we with them—Jesus and the evangelist are focused on understanding the Scriptures. Specifically, that they reveal Jesus and the disciples are witnesses to this. And so are we.
That we might struggle to explain it (or even believe it!) is not actually the central theme of our faith. Nor is it our primary struggle as people of faith. Our faith is built upon the truth revealed to us in the person of Jesus. A truth full of hope, worship, and love. Today and every day.