Would we recognize the Risen Lord?
Would we grasp what a new and
glorified body, a “spiritual body” as Paul describes it, looks like?
The two disciples on the road to
Emmaus didn’t. The disciples in the boat
didn’t. Mary Magdalene (the first person to see the Risen Lord, didn’t. And when she did recognize him, those
close to Jesus didn’t even believe her story and Thomas refused to believe
until he had touch with his own hands.
Yet, despite all this, perhaps as
early as the 1st decade of the Church, we hear surprisingly and un-dramatically
-“God, has raised Jesus from the
dead”
These are words of faith to be
sure, but they are also words that proclaim a lived experience, that though
unworldly and beyond understanding was never the less concretely experienced
and to such a profound depth that those who were afraid became bold and could
proclaim with real conviction what we still proclaim today - “Christ is risen”
We also have Paul’s encounter with
the Risen Lord on the road to Damascus, different in substance from the other
encounters, but obviously tangible, and electrifying. Paul adds his experience to the already
accepted list of Post resurrection events
“For I hand on to you what I also
received: that Christ died; that he was buried; that he was raised on the third
day. He appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.
After that, he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once, most
of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. After that he appeared to James, then to all
the apostles. Last of all he appeared to me”
It is useless to try to make a
chronological or geographical map of the post resurrection appearances.
They are not a checklist, but the
collective experience, collapsed and synthesized into those representative
events cherished and proclaimed by the earliest oral traditions that stand
behind the gospels.
Let’s do a quick roundup;
In all four Gospels Mary Magdalene,
sometimes with other women, goes to the tomb and finds it empty.
In Mark’s longer ending, he simply adds
“He appeared to first to Mary Magdalene.” This experience is filled out in
John where Jesus calls Mary by name and only then does she recognizes him and
addresses him with the intimate term for teacher - Rabboni. Mark has Jesus appear to two
unnamed disciples on an unnamed road. Luke fills this in by giving the name of the road
as the road to Emmaus and completes the encounter with the breaking of bread
and the opening of scripture and the recognizing of Jesus in these actions. Jesus appearing to and commissioning
the 11 takes pride of place in all four Gospels. John expands that appearance to two
encounters one w/out Thomas one with. And today we have John’s additional
encounter with the Risen Lord, not in Jerusalem, as the other encounters were, but
in Galilee.
What does it all mean? On one note
it means the details are interesting but of no importance. It is the certainty,
the conviction, the experienced encounter with the Risen
Lord that counts for everything.
How important is certainty and
conviction, Paul reminds us -
“If Christ has not been raised,
then empty is our preaching; empty, too, your faith. Then those who have fallen
asleep in Christ have perished. If for
this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are the most pitiable people of
all.”
That is – There is no hope, no salvation
and we might as well pack up and go home.
But, not today, today we are with
the disciples back home in Galilee.
Where they are waiting, keeping their heads low and trying to keep their
spirits high.
To lighten their sadness and ease
jangled nerves they are doing what is familiar, comforting in its ordinariness,
they are fishing. But, they had a lousy night of it
and by dawn were disappointed and tired. From the shore the unrecognized Risen
Lord, calls out (obviously with a real living voice) and tells them to cast
their nets on the other side, which they do and of course they catch a huge
amount fish. Perhaps, because the beloved disciple
suddenly remembers an earlier experience when Jesus first called them from
their fishing boats, he takes a second look. And now, in the remembering, his eyes are opened
and he recognizes Jesus.
And so says to Peter – “it is the
Lord”. Peter jumped (without hesitation
or thinking) into the sea and races the hundred yards or so to the shore, while
the others trail in the boat, lugging the catch of fish.
When they arrived on the shore, there was a real
charcoal fire (hot and smoking), and some real food (perhaps bread &
olives) already prepared (with real hands). Jesus (in a voice that is clearly understood)
asks for some of the fish to cook up.
In this familiar, simple action
among friends, Jesus; the risen, glorified and transcendent, was still the Jesus,
who did not deem equality with God something to be grasped.He, who is God, simply invites them
“come, eat” He invites them to a meal that surly
must trigger remembrance of their last supper together.
But, this invitation is also completely
new and different, because for the first time this table fellowship was with
the risen Christ. It was Eucharistic.
And in the braking of the bread, as
it was for the two disciples at Emmaus, they begin to remember and begin to believe
and were now filled with a new deep seated joy. This new belief and Joy that
transformed them completely were gifts of the Spirit. When Jesus was raised from the dead
the Holy Spirit became active in the world.
It is true Jesus had already breathed
on them imparting the new but still hidden life of the Spirit and it would be
fifty days before Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit, burst forth giving birth to
a new collective boldness and new faith, which would be the boldness and faith
of the Church.
But, on that day the Holy Spirit was
already helping John to remember and to see and also encouraging Peter to boldly
act in faith. We know the Spirit continued in
their lives because Peter says so in the first reading "God raised Jesus. We are witnesses of these things, as is the
Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”
And this life in the Spirit leads
us to the second part of the Gospel story.
This bit is important, because it
reminds us that with the appearance of the risen Jesus comes the sending forth
on mission. It is clearly about Peter’s three
denials & their remedies in his admission of love for Jesus three times. It is clearly about Peter being given
the authority to feed (that is nourish & sustain) Jesus’ flock.
But what is important is not the
authority given to Peter, but the means demanded by Jesus of carrying it out -
love comes first, authority second.
Authority from Jesus is always in the
Spirit. That means real power and authority
always looks like selfless love, sacrifice and commitment to service. Real authority is lying down one’s life.
Perhaps, here Peter remembers (and
now understands) Jesus washing their feet. Finally, Jesus says to Peter “follow
me”.
And so they did and we still follow
today in the light and joy of the Easter proclamation – Our Lord has risen. We are the present day witnesses to
these things.
To proclaim the Risen Lord with
conviction and joy is to proclaim our love for him and to proclaim our love for
him is to, without reservations, take up his mission, as he asked Peter to do.
And sharing his mission makes us
sharers in the life of the Spirit and collectively we are made his servant
Church.
Indeed, he is risen – alleluia
alleluia.
