1 John 3: 1-7 (New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition)
Luke 24: 36-48 (Common English Bible)
“Then Jesus opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.”
The gospel accounts of the post-resurrection appearances testify to a risen Jesus who is embodied, but in a body both continuous and mystical compared to his original earthly body. The risen Jesus was recognized by his followers and yet not totally recognizable. Jesus is pictured with real flesh but yet passes through locked doors and vanishes in an instant. This resurrected Jesus is a validation of the whole of his presence, ministry and a sign of mission to call forth the Good News.
Luke wrote his gospel around 80 AD. Nearly 50 years have passed since the resurrection of Jesus. People then were asking, where is Jesus now? Was he in heaven or on earth? As it is now, as it was when Luke wrote his gospel, Christ is with us when we partake of the Eucharist. That is the meaning of this gospel reading from Luke chapter 24.
If we put all four gospels together, we see the resurrection is not focused on a physical resuscitation of a dead body, like the case of Lazarus. Lazarus did die again as all humans do. The true resurrected body exists forever in a new bodily existence beyond time and space. Jesus became the Universal Christ.
At present our human nature in its physical form is limited. My current body is in a limited presence. If I’m here, I cannot be in Key West, Florida at the same time. That is not true of Jesus now. The resurrection of the body tells us through Jesus’ example, we enter into a new type of existence where no physical boundaries can limit us.
As it is written in Luke 24: 51-53, “As Jesus blessed them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. They worshiped him and they went back to Jerusalem full of joy, and they were continually in the Temple praising God.”
In the last scene of Luke’s gospel, Luke created an image of a Jesus faith community. He says in effect, “Now you can recognize what we’re doing when we pray together and share bread and wine in our gatherings.” This is the origin where our liturgy for Communion began. This joyful spirit-filled group of two, Cleopas and an unnamed person, realized the risen Christ was with them in Spirit just as we experience during the Eucharist.
In 1st John chapter three, verse nine, it is written, “Those born of God, share the DNA of God” (CEB). Now if that sounds a little far out, read the book “The God Code” by Gregg Braden. I might not agree with everything in that book, but the author does raise some interesting ideas. Some years ago the Presbyterian Church published a catechism to help children and youth to understand what it means to be a person of faith. Like all catechisms, there are questions and corresponding answers. The first question is, “Who are you?” The answer is, “I am a child of God.” Then the question is, “What does it mean you are a child of God?” The response is, “That I belong to God who loves me.” Then the final question, “What makes you a child of God?” Answer, “Grace, God’s free gift of love that I do not deserve and cannot earn.”
While the author of 1st John does not talk about grace, he does write we are God’s children because of God’s love for us. As God’s children we are part of the family of God.
In our lives together in communities of faith, we see the outward signs of love and commitment when we administer the sacrament of baptism. What kind of claim does God have on us after we have been baptized? How do we live out our lives as baptized people?
John’s epistle reminds us that we are all loved by God and our identity is being part of God’s children. This was the essential message Fred Rogers (ordained minister in the PC USA) was trying to communicate with the world by his PBS TV series, “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” His message to young and older viewers was, “Each of us is a beloved child of God.” His show would end with the song, “It’s such a good feeling” which speaks of how good it feels to be alive and includes a promise that he would return to have another television conversation. Mister Rogers’ mantra was, “I like you just the way you are.” He understood that each of us is precious, unique and created from the Ultimate Love we call “God.”
We do not know for sure what happens to us at the end of life. But we do know that God has given us an astonishing love that cannot be surpassed. Jesus showed us that love in real time. Sometimes we think Christian hope is based on how well we behave or believe the correct things, but real hope is based on the love we show to one another.
We come closer to Christian hope when we contemplate the love of God within us which is strong enough to keep us with God even in the face of death.
In John’s epistle it is written, “Beloved, what will be, has not been revealed, we will see Christ as the Christ really is.”
The resurrected body of Jesus is revealed through the created order. But it is not bound by the created order. The resurrected body and life of Jesus unites the visible and invisible, matter and spirit and humanity and the divine.
The degree to which we have allowed ourselves to be bound by the created order, is the degree to which we are unable yet to see the resurrected life and holiness in this world. We bind ourselves through our fears, our sorrows and losses. We bind ourselves over material attachments and even beliefs and doctrine. When we attach ourselves to material things we lose recognition and the ability to live within the sacred. That is the very opposite of a resurrected life.
In the post-resurrection stories of Jesus, his body still bears the marks of his struggle. Jesus’ hands and feet are still scarred by the cruelty of the Roman Empire. Jesus’s victory over death didn’t erase their brutality. He continued to show his very body as evidence of a life lived in a radical commitment to God’s love and justice.
The mention of food in Luke chapter 24 is not by accident. We share food during Communion. We share food in community with one another. And we will be sharing food with people we don’t know, when the Salem Presbyterian Church opens its doors for local people in need this very Monday.
At the conclusion of Luke’s gospel, Jesus exits the gospel stories for the last time. Jesus has entered that dimension we call “heaven” beyond time and space. We will all eventually exit this place called earth which has prepared us for the Final Frontier. We will leave as witnesses to God’s loving future for all of us. And may we help one another to live out this holy calling.
AMEN
