Sunday Reflections
3rd Sunday of Easter B
✠ A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke 24:35-48
The disciples told their story of what had happened on the road and how they had recognised Jesus at the breaking of bread.
They were still talking about all this when Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you!’ In a state of alarm and fright, they thought they were seeing a ghost. But he said, ‘Why are you so agitated, and why are these doubts rising in your hearts? Look at my hands and feet; yes, it is I indeed. Touch me and see for yourselves; a ghost has no flesh and bones as you can see I have.’ And as he said this he showed them his hands and feet. Their joy was so great that they still could not believe it, and they stood there dumbfounded; so he said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ And they offered him a piece of grilled fish, which he took and ate before their eyes.
Then he told them, ‘This is what I meant when I said, while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets and in the Psalms has to be fulfilled.’ He then opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, ‘So you see how it is written that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that, in his name, repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses to this.’
1. The resurrection of the dead as at the time of Jesus was an incomprehensible concept. Nobody could imagine it. No wander the Chief Priests explained it out by saying that Jesus’ disciples came and carried his body while the soldiers were sleeping. Even the disciples could not comprehend it. No wonder on hearing the news, two of his disciples decided to leave Jerusalem before the scandal will burst. Jesus too knew that it would not be easy for his disciples to understand. He therefore multiplied initiatives to convince his disciples that what he said that he would do, he actually did. On the first day of his resurrection, Jesus had to encounter the fleeing disciples on their way from Jerusalem to Emmaus. He listened to them, then he took time to explain the resurrection to them. Having convinced them, he broke the bread and revealed himself to them, then disappeared from their midst. When this happened, the disciples became courageous and went back to Jerusalem.
2. Today’s gospel is a continuation of the Emmaus encounter. As the two disciples were fearlessly telling their story to the other disciples, Jesus appeared again in their midst. He did his best to convince them that he is truly the crucified Jesus and that he has risen from the dead not only in his soul but also in his body. It is the whole person that was raised body and soul. He allowed them to touch him to confirm his corporality and he ate in their presence.
3. Jesus did all these and will do more in order to help the disciples to grasp the meaning of resurrection. Jesus knew that without this knowledge the salvation that he won for humanity could neither be preached nor be known. The knowledge and understanding of resurrection is an empowerment for evangelization and an antidote against fear. Immediately the Emmaus disciples understood that Jesus is truly risen their fear left them and they traveled that night to go and testify to others that he is risen. In today’s first reading (Acts 3:13-15,17-19), Peter, who previously denied Jesus before a little girl stood before a crowd of Jews and fearlessly acknowledged Jesus and even accused them openly as murderers of Christ: “It was you who accused the Holy One, the Just One, you who demanded the reprieve of a murderer while you killed the prince of life. God, however, raised him from the dead, and to that fact we are the witnesses.” Such is the power hidden in the knowledge of the resurrection.
4. It took Jesus forty days after his resurrection to bring the disciples to understand what happened. When they understood, he commissioned them to go into the whole world and announce the truth of his resurrection. From the day of Ascension, all his followers came out from their hiding places and were ready to die than fail to testify to the truth. None was looking at the other. The only person that mattered was the resurrected Jesus. When a Christian understands what Christ did for him/her through his resurrection one no longer focuses on futilities. One knows that his/her salvation is assured. It becomes clear to him/her that the model that must be imitated for the realization of salvation is Jesus and no one else. I once met a man who left the Catholic for another Church. His reason was that his priest was not a good preacher. Another person stopped going to the church because she didn’t win an election to become the president of an association in the church. Another person refused to help the needy who do not accept to convert to his own church. Such people are still focusing on futilities. They are yet to be convinced that the only way to salvation is the resurrected Jesus. It is neither their church nor their priest, nor their position in the church.
5. The high point of resurrection is that your soul and body must be cared for because both are destined to eternity. Christ rose with the same body that was crucified. The marks of the crucifixion were there as proof of his identity. Your belief in the resurrection must be shown in your engagement for a better world, your engagement for things that favour not only spiritual life but also the corporal life. Like the early disciples you are not yet fully Christian until you are ready to testify to the resurrection of Jesus without looking at any person.
© Vitalis Anaehobi
14/04/24
