Lectionary Reflection — 15 April 2018, Third Sunday of Easter
36-41 While they were saying all this, Jesus appeared to them and said, “Peace be with you.” They thought they were seeing a ghost and were scared half to death. He continued with them, “Don’t be upset, and don’t let all these doubting questions take over. Look at my hands; look at my feet — it’s really me. Touch me. Look me over from head to toe. A ghost doesn’t have muscle and bone like this.” As he said this, he showed them his hands and feet. They still couldn’t believe what they were seeing. It was too much; it seemed too good to be true.
41-43 He asked, “Do you have any food here?” They gave him a piece of leftover fish they had cooked. He took it and ate it right before their eyes.
44 Then he said, “Everything I told you while I was with you comes to this: All the things written about me in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets, and in the Psalms have to be fulfilled.”
45-49 He went on to open their understanding of the Word of God, showing them how to read their Bibles this way. He said, “You can see now how it’s written that the Messiah suffers, rises from the dead on the third day, and then a total life-change through the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed in his name to all nations — starting from here, from Jerusalem! You’re the first to hear and see it. You’re the witnesses. What comes next is very important: I’m sending what my Father promised to you, so stay here in the city until you’re equipped with power from on high.”
Other readings:
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On this Third Sunday of Easter, we continue our look at the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus. This is very reminiscent of our Lessons from John that we’ve read over the last couple of weeks. However, like we’ve seen elsewhere, there are some differences. And that leads to something I’ve been questioned about recently — differences in the Gospels — and I just want to touch on that briefly.
People have asked me, “How can the Bible be reliable if the stories about Jesus are different? If these were true stories, they would be the same.”
When I first encountered this question I was taken aback by it. My initial thought was, “Apparently, you’ve never gone around the room to get people’s testimony about something they all witnessed!” Everyone sees things differently! Everyone. If the statements are identical, that could be a clear sign that there’s been some kind of conspiracy among the witnesses. It would be highly suspicious if the stories were the same.
However, when we’re told the same story — but with variations within the story without changes in the basic facts — this leads to corroboration not collusion. It leads to authenticity not conspiracy. So, it comes as no surprise that Luke’s account is slightly different from John’s; that’s what we should expect from authentic, eyewitness accounts.2
While we could spend some (more3) time talking about the differences between these two accounts, I want to focus on the big thing in this — the resurrected body of Jesus.
The resurrection of Jesus is — without question — one of the hardest things for people to get their minds around. And rightly so. But make no mistake, the resurrection of Jesus is the foundation for Christianity. Without it, the whole things falls apart. Paul wrote:
So if the message that’s preached says that Christ has been raised from the dead, then how can some of you say, “There’s no resurrection of the dead”? If there’s no resurrection of the dead, then Christ hasn’t been raised either. If Christ hasn’t been raised, then our preaching is useless and your faith is useless. We’re found to be false witnesses about God, because we testified against God that he raised Christ, when he didn’t raise him if it’s the case that the dead aren’t raised. If the dead aren’t raised, then Christ hasn’t been raised either. If Christ hasn’t been raised, then your faith is worthless; you’re still in your sins, and what’s more, those who have died in Christ are gone forever. If we have a hope in Christ only in this life, then we deserve to be pitied more than anyone else.
Some people have insisted that the word resurrection should be understood as “spiritual,” i.e., non-material. This is based on a couple of things. First, it’s based on the view that the dead don’t come back to life.5 And, even if they did, how do we account for those whose bodies have decayed or have been cremated? Secondly, it’s based on Paul’s use of the phrase “spiritual body” in 1 Corinthians 15.44. This seems to cement the idea for some people that Jesus was resurrected in a non-material or non-physical body.
“[The] word resurrection in its Greek, Latin, or other equivalents...was used to denote new bodily life after whatever sort of life after death there might be….This meaning is constant throughout the ancient world until the post-Christian coinages of second-century Gnosticism….
“[Resurrection] referred specifically to something that happened to the body… Everybody knew about ghosts, spirits, visions, hallucinations, and so on. Most people in the ancient world believed in such things. They were quite clear that that wasn’t what they meant by resurrection. While Herod reportedly thought Jesus might be John the Baptist raised from the dead, he didn’t think he was a ghost. Resurrection meant bodies.”
“[Resurrection] referred specifically to something that happened to the body… Everybody knew about ghosts, spirits, visions, hallucinations, and so on. Most people in the ancient world believed in such things. They were quite clear that that wasn’t what they meant by resurrection. While Herod reportedly thought Jesus might be John the Baptist raised from the dead, he didn’t think he was a ghost. Resurrection meant bodies.”
Therefore, since resurrection means a “new bodily life after…life after death,” let’s discuss the “elephant in the room.” Namely:
What type of body does Jesus have?
While Jesus’ new body is physical (or, perhaps, has a physical component to it), it seems to be something “more than” physical, too. And this makes sense. When we encounter God in the Bible, God’s always “more than.” God’s never “just” this or that; God’s always “more.” When we read the anthropomorphisms of God in Scripture (the places where the writers have given God “hands,” “feet,” “wings,” etc.), these don’t indicate what God is. These are poetic images describing what God is like. That is, these descriptions are the limitations we have in trying to describe the indescribable. When we read that God is “Father” that doesn’t mean that God is a natural father anymore than God is male. Nor does it mean that God is more of a father than our natural fathers. It points to the fact that God is more than the very best natural father there ever has been or ever will be. But it also means that God is more than just a “Father.” It means that God is “Mother,” too, and more than “Mother.” God is always more, never less.
So it is with Jesus’ resurrection body. Obviously, it’s not just his physical body resuscitated (he’d still be suffering from his wounds and dying). One moment, it seems to appear out of thin air (Luke 24.36; cf. John 20.19, 26). And in the next, it’s tangible — “flesh and bone” — with the ability to be handled and eat food (Luke 24.41-43). One moment he’s not recognizable and the next moment he is (John 20.13-16; cf. Luke 24.13-35). So while Jesus’ body is physical, it’s also more than physical. Much more than we can imagine.
And we, too, will have the same type of bodies in the resurrection. However, as St John wrote, “[It] hasn’t yet appeared what we’ll be. We know that when he appears we’ll be like him because we’ll see him as he is” (1 John 3.2; CEB; adapted).
As we begin to walk in the “more than” of New Creation, have you ever thought that God is “more than” the ways you imagine God to be? What limitations have you placed on God? What types of ways can you see that God is more than?
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In the Love of the Three in One,
Br. Jack+, LC
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1. Scripture quotations marked (MSG) taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
4. Scripture quotations marked (CEB) are taken from The Common English Bible. Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible.
5. Like this is a modern concept! I’ve always found this surprising given the story of Lazarus’ resurrection. The biblical account makes it clear that this wasn’t a resuscitation, his body was dead and decaying — “Lord,” Martha said, “the smell will be awful! He’s been dead four days” (John 11.39).
6. Wright, N. T., (2009). Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church. [Kindle version]. Retrieved from Amazon.com. For a more detailed study of the resurrection, I highly recommend Wright’s book, The Resurrection of the Son of God.
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