Gospel 26 April

Third Sunday of Easter

Luke 24:36b-48


"While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them 'Have you anything here to eat?'" Luke 26:41

What an exciting and puzzling time it must have been for the disciples.

Logic was telling them one thing - Jesus was dead. Their experience of death up to this point was that it was final. There were a few exceptions that the gospels writers had noted. Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary, had been brought back to life by Jesus. On a couple of other occasions when the dead had been given life by Jesus, but they were the exceptions. Besides that it was Jesus who had been the life-giver. But now Jesus was the one whose life had been taken.

Yet there were those who had been to the tomb and brought reports of an empty tomb and the message "He has been raised". Others had seen him and talked with him. Luke had recorded the journey of two to Emmaus, and their 'encounter' with Jesus whom they had not recognized until he had broken the bread. But they were reports that others had given. For many of his followers they were words, just stories. While they may have wanted to believe, it was a difficult concept to embrace - Jesus had been raised. Their hearts were telling them one thing - for they wanted to believe, but their minds were telling them something else.

Wit different degrees of detail, and reporting on some common and some unique appearances the gospel writers all deal with this conflict. Luke reports on an appearance that seems similar to John's description of Jesus' appearance behind closed doors to deal with the doubt of Thomas. For John it is Thomas who doubts, Luke includes all who were gathered together as 'doubters'. I think Thomas gets bad press from John, and the tag 'doubting Thomas' is clearly unjust. In Luke 24:36-42 all the believers who were gathered are included among the 'doubting'.

"Look at my hand and feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as I have. And when he said this he showed them his hands and his feet." (Luke 24:41,42)

The offer was for them all - see for yourself.

No doubt many (if not all) there believed in the spirit world. Their beliefs and understanding were more elemental than ours and the reality of ghosts, spirits, demons and angels, was accepted. But here Jesus is offering something more that disembodied spirits. He speaks of flesh and blood, invites contact, and then asks if they have food to eat. That was the 'icing on the cake' so to speak, his next step in convincing them that his was a bodily resurrection.

Luke reports the event with an economy of words - and the actual event and responses of the disciples are not part of our record. But gathered together were men and women like us, people who would want to know what and how. No doubt there was much more discussion than has been recorded, and much contact even though the first touch would have been very hesitant and tentative.


For many people wrestling with faith doubt continues even though they follow faithfully. The experiences of life wear away at the simple trust of our first response to Jesus. The presence of evil chips away at our trust in ultimate good. The set backs of life erode our store of hope.

Each of us needs an appearance of Jesus to encourage and strengthen our hearts. For some those appearances are visible or audible. They see and sense His presence, or hear His voice. For others Jesus comes in different ways. It may be an answer to specific prayer that renews hope, a glimmer of light in the darkness, the witness of one of God's children to a new experience of grace and forgiveness, or just the remarkable faithfulness and trust of one of God's people.

I wonder if some of those present the room where Jesus had appeared still wrestling with all they had seen and heard that day. Logic is one thing, but the power of God is not limited to those things that we can see, and the rules by which the natural world is governed. We continue to battle with the limitations of the world around us, and the imprint that leaves upon our minds and hearts.

Easter reminds us that there is much more that we cannot see, and much more that we cannot know.

In the midst of our struggles and doubts may we continue to trust in the resurrected Jesus, and work to usher in the kingdom of God.

Gospel 19 April

Second Sunday of Easter

John 20:19-31

"Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet have come to believe." John 20:29

Each of the gospels seem to have their own small collection of Jesus' post-resurrection appearances. The gospel of John records two brief incidents where Jesus met his discipes 'behind closed doors'.

The first time the doors were locked because of fear of the Jews (20:19). This was the very first appearance away from the tomb, and it was on the first day of the week. In John's gospel it is also the bestowing of the Holy Spirit upon the group.

The manner of this bestowal is typically Johaninne, quiet and understated. Jesus breathed on them and said "Receive the Holy Spirit." With that bestowal came also the power to forgive sins. Jesus had spoken of the role of the Holy Spirit (John 16:7-14) and now the gift was given to those gathered. John's account lacks the power dynamics and public profile that are apparent in Luke, but the quiet and private gifting still carried the same power and authority of a public offering. Sometimes, for us, the Holy Spirit comes in a quiet and unobtrusive manner. Why? Because that is according to the need of the time. Receive and welcome Jesus's gift to us.

The second appearance was a week later, and apparently in the same house. This time the doors were simply 'shut'. Thomas, who had missed out the last time, had expressed his personal doubts and need for concrete evidence. He wanted to see and experience for himself, and who would blame him for such a desire. Most of us do not understand, or appreciate fully the experiences of others. Sometimes we doubt the veracity of their words. So also with Thomas.

And so we read of Jesus presence, seemingly just to quell the doubts that Thomas expressed. The incident concludes with the saying from Jesus "Blessed are those who have not yet seen, and yet have come to believe."

To that I would simply say "Lord, I believe, help my unbelief."