May
7, 2000
Third Sunday of Easter
LECTIONARY READINGS
from the Revised Common Lectionary
Acts 3:12-19
Psalm 4
1 John 3:1-7
Luke 24:36b-48
[ Read the texts
at the Vanderbilt Divinity On-Line Library ]
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Have you ever had something happen or received some news that was so good you thought to yourself, "This is too good to be true!" For a while you can't quite believe your good fortune and your perspective on life is suddenly different.
Or perhaps you have come close to losing someone you love, or preparing yourself for the worst in a medical diagnosis -- and then everything turns around and the news is unexpectedly good. A dramatic turn for the good or those beautiful words, "It was benign," bring joy to your heart.
"Pinch me," you said, "I must be dreaming!"
If you can hold an experience like that in your mind, you will have a deeper understanding of our gospel reading from Luke and have some empathy with the followers of Jesus as they deal with the "too good to be true" resurrection of their Master.
There are frequent instances in the New Testament where people who were close to Jesus did not quite believe what they were seeing when they encountered the Risen Christ. Sometimes they did not recognize Jesus at all and at other times they simply could not believe what they were seeing.
You can sympathize with them can you not? Any of us who have been through the experience of losing someone we love knows what it is like to have to deal with the stone cold, heavy handed reality of death. It was not different for the friends of Jesus. Having seen his crucifixion on Friday, they were not prepared on Sunday for what took place. It was not a quick, "Oh I get it," type experience. Easter dawned gradually for them. I suspect that Easter's real meaning might be more of a gradual understanding for we modern followers of Jesus too. The scripture reading from Luke will help us understand more fully what the implication of Easter is for all of our lives.
***
Before we move more directly into the story in Luke, there are two issues which frequently arise when the resurrection accounts are read. The first one is this: Didn't Jesus tell his disciples he was going to be executed and then rise from the dead? Why didn't they believe him?
The fact that Jesus had told his disciples he would be crucified and that he would rise from the dead didn't sink in all that well. You could call it denial. All of us struggle with denial in our lives from time to time. Those things we don't want to hear have a hard time penetrating our defenses. If I don't want to hear it -- I probably won't!
Remember Peter's reaction when Jesus told his disciples we would be crucified? Even though Jesus said this was all a part of the divine intention to redeem the world, Peter just couldn't accept that Jesus (who he had identified as the Messiah) would suffer such a thing. He actually took Jesus aside to correct him. "God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you." [Mt. 16:22] The dressing-down Peter received in return was almost harsh -- remember? "Get behind me Satan!"
Peter didn't want to hear about the death of Jesus and when it finally happened, the grief was too hard to bear. The plan of God got lost in the pain of the disciples. They were too caught up in their own grief and sense of hopelessness to put things into perspective.
You see this in the story of the risen Jesus meeting the two disciples on the Emmaus Road. Remember this verse from Luke 24:17 as he joins them: "What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?" They stood still, looking sad. Mary Magdalene stands at the tomb of Jesus grieving and asks the risen Jesus (who she thinks is the gardener) if he has taken the body away.
When the disciples first hear the news of the resurrection from the women who heard it from two messengers of God, Luke says they did not believe it. "But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them." [Lk. 24:11]
In our gospel reading, the disciples are filled with a powerful mixture of fear, joy and doubt. They thought they were seeing a ghost when Jesus appeared in their midst. It takes time for the truth of Jesus' resurrection to sink in. Then Jesus, "showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, 'Have you anything here to eat?' "
The disciples' struggle with the death of Jesus is not so much a matter of a lack of faith as it is the powerful grip death has on mortal beings. This "last enemy" (as Paul called it) is so ingrained as the bottom line, it would take time for the reality of Jesus' victory over death to replace the old reality of death's victory over mortals. Then, the resurrection becomes the central tenet of the Christian faith.
As Peter addresses the people who saw the healing of a man at the temple gate, he spoke these very strong words, "...you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses." The one issue that troubled the religious authorities was this issue of a resurrected Jesus.
"While Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came to them, much annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming that in Jesus there is the resurrection of the dead." [Acts 4:1-2]
Confidence in the resurrection of Jesus Christ took some time, but it was destined to light a fire that would never be extinguished!
***
A second, but related issue that comes up in the resurrection stories is the question of why people did not immediately recognize Jesus when he appeared to them. There are times when this non-recognition theme is more than the struggle of grief and the difficulty in believing someone could come back from the dead.
This is seen most clearly in the story of Jesus walking with the two disciples on the Emmaus Road. "While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him." [Lk.24:15-16] After spending a good part of the afternoon and evening with the two and a meal is shared -- recognition finally comes. "Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight." [24:31] [For more on the two on the Emmaus Road see from 1999, The Stranger On Your Road ]
It is clear that the reality of death can not be overcome from the mortal side of living. Death is the final reality on this side of life and the truth of life beyond life will have to come from the eternal. Only God can break through the reality of death to bring about a new reality where life is the bottom line. The fact that death is overcome is evidenced in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but that victory can only come as Christ reveals it to his followers.
***
All of this leads to the significance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ for the disciples' lives as Luke spells it out in the last few verses of our gospel lesson. The same concepts will impact our lives as we consider the meaning of Jesus' resurrection.
When Jesus came to his followers after his death and resurrection, there would naturally have to be a time of integrating the meaning of it all. In our gospel text for today, there is a progression of what Jesus' resurrection meant which he teaches -- after they had come to terms with the reality of his post-death presence with them.
That's important. We must first comes to terms with the reality of Jesus' resurrection before we can fully integrate what it means for our living.
The progression in this passage is that Jesus teaches them, the meaning of it all, the message of it all and the mission of it all.
The Meaning
Jesus begins with the assembled disciples, by taking them through the
scriptures which pointed to his life, death and resurrection. He had
done the same with the disciples on the Emmaus Road. The meaning of
the whole experience can only come through an understanding of the
scriptures and the initiative for this understanding came from
Jesus. "Then he opened their minds to understand the
scriptures." [24]
Nothing has changed! To fully understand the meaning of the resurrection for our living, we will need to be available to the Spirit of God to open our minds to the scriptures.
The Message
The death of Jesus and his subsequent resurrection was not a bad
thing happening to a good person," with divine intervention
to make "a good thing happen for a good person."
This was no accidental miscarriage of justice. This was, what Peter
told the crowd in the reading from Acts, "In this way God
fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah
would suffer." [Acts 3:18]
The message is that forgiveness of sins is available to all who will turn to God -- no matter who they are -- because of Jesus Christ.
The Mission
The most important words of the whole passage are these:
"You are witnesses of these things!" [24:48]
The words of Jesus were to his followers and they were to be delivered to their followers and on through the ages to our own time. To truly, fully understand the resurrection of Jesus Christ is to understand that we are witnesses to these things.
The message is one of hope and liberation for all who will receive it. It is a message that is to be proclaimed throughout the world.
And you are a part of that!
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is more than a spectacular event that gives us hope for eternal life. It is a mission given to every believing person. It is a partnership with Christ.
May God fill our hearts with gratitude for the wonderful gift of meaning and purpose that is given to all who embrace the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We have been given a message to share that is almost too good to be true -- for those who have never really heard it!
Connections in the Text
The central theme of the texts is that in Christ there is forgiveness of sins for all those who turn to God in repentance. The resurrection of Christ is strong evidence of God's decisive act in the cross and resurrection. Though the resurrection of Christ is foretold in the prophets and was forecast by Jesus himself, human beings still bear responsibility for their sins. Those who crucified the "Author of life" did so in ignorance, but God now calls all to repentance.
The Acts passage along with Luke is a call to biblical literacy. Without understanding of the scriptures the relationship between the resurrection of Christ and the call of God to repentance and forgiveness of sins is sketchy at best. As Jesus opened the mind of the disciples to the meaning of scripture and Peter pointed the Jews to their scriptures, so also we need to call the church to a deeper understanding of scripture.
Luke 24:36b-58
Our full text sermon deals with the issue of the inability of the disciples to grasp the reality of Jesus' resurrection. There is a touching combination of words that describe the disciples' experience in verse 41, "While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering..." The NIV is closer to the Greek text with, "...while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement..." In other words, the disciples were shocked -- but, they were also overjoyed. The reaction of the disciples to the sudden appearance of Jesus in their midst mitigates against the idea that the resurrection appearances were hallucinatory.
Jesus gives evidence of his physical presence with them by showing his crucifixion wounds and pointing out that a ghost (spirit) does not have flesh and bones. He further demonstrates his presence by eating a piece of fish.
Then Jesus takes them to the issue of the witness of the scriptures. The three-fold Hebrew scriptures (Law, Prophets and Writings) point to the ministry of the Messiah. This text makes it difficult to posit a radical separation between the Jesus of history and the Christ of faith.
The reading closes with Jesus' affirmation that the disciples are witnesses of these things."
Acts 3:12-19
Keeping in mind that Luke-Acts is the work of one author, the passage from Acts follows naturally from the gospel reading. The frightened disciples are now the witnesses Jesus called them to be. Peter, who had denied Christ and was present with the disciples in that "startled and frightened" gathering in Luke 24, is now the spirit-filled, courageous witness to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. His words to the Israelites are not the words of a frightened disciple!
Our text is lifted from the larger sermon Peter preaches to the gathered crowds and represents his offer of the good news of the gospel to his own people -- the Israelites. His sermon carefully places the life, death and resurrection of Christ within the heritage of Israel. One almost gets the sense that Peter was very hopeful that his listeners would pay attention to the invitation, "Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out." In light of the pointed charge, "...you have rejected the Holy and Righteous One... and you killed the author of life..." that invitation is pivotal in the life of the earliest church.
UN-fortunately... the reaction to Peter's sermon is not what he hoped for. Though some would heed the call to repentance and the early church in Jerusalem would make amazing gains -- the religious leaders and most of the people would work hard to eliminate the Christian witness to Jesus' resurrection and God's call to repentance and forgiveness.
1 John 3:1-7
The passage from 1 John has a slightly different tone than the Luke-Acts texts. Here the writer is speaking to the Christian community about its life in Christ. The amazing love of God has made all believers children of God. All persons are created equal and in the image of God, but the author here speaks of the special familial relationship believers have with each other because of Christ. In the beginning of the letter, the common basis of the community is spelled out. "And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ." [1:3]
The words of verse 6, "No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him," have led some groups to the teaching that true Christians are "sinless". Yet, this same letter will affirm, "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves..." The language here helps. The strictly literal translation of "no one who sins" is "no one who is continually making sin..." The sense is that the person who has chosen Christ as Lord does not also choose to continually live a life of sin. The old has gone and the new has come. This does not mean the child of God has reached a sinless state for, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins..." [1:9]
This passage is an extension of the others in that the life of the person who has heard the invitation to, "Repent and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out..." [Acts 3:19] -- will, "...do what is right... just as he is righteous."
The lifestyle of the Christian is evidence of the belief of the Christian. The whole first letter of John is a call to bring our "walk" and our "talk" into congruence.
Call To Worship
Leader: Let us call upon the name of the Lord,
People: For God hears us when we pray.
Leader: Let us place our trust in the Lord,
People: For God alone gives genuine joy.
Leader: The Lord gives peace to all who ask,
People: And makes glad the hearts of the people of God!
A Prayer of Confession
Eternal God, our Redeemer and
Judge, we confess that we have tried to hide from you because we have done
wrong. Our profession of faith does not always measure up to our walk
of faith. We affirm that we love you while turning away from our
sisters and brothers. Holy God, in your great mercy, free us from
selfishness and give us a heart to turn fully to you. Give us grace to
follow your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ and so bring honor to your
name. Amen.
Assurance of Pardon
Brothers and sisters in Christ, it is a joyous fact of the good news. If we confess our sins, God will forgive us and free us from all things that are displeasing to the Holy name of God. In Jesus Christ we are forgiven. Amen.
Prayer of Thanksgiving
We give thanks today, O Lord for all the gifts you have given to us. Gifts we take so much for granted and yet gifts that bring the meaning to our lives.
Thank you for love, wonder, joy and beauty. Thank you for the amazing creation that you have placed in our care.
Thank you for the love that has come to us from others -- for the gift of the people in our lives who care. O help us to be more fully open to the laughter of our children, the sunshine of their smiles, the unfettered joy of their approach to living.
We give thanks that we can be here together today to celebrate faith. The wonder of the hope you have placed in our hearts is beyond our ability to express. We can not imagine life without faith.
Though we sometimes -- no too often -- take it all your gifts for granted, we are so blessed that in these moments of worship, prayer and praise, you call us back to the real meaning of our living.
Thank you Lord of Life for being present with us today to call us once again to new life and glad living.
Amen!
A
Prayer of Dedication
Loving God and gracious Lord, the gifts we bring to you today seem so
small compared to your gifts to us. And yet, you are the God of the
loaves and fish. You take the gifts we bring and turn them into
blessing for others. Receive these gifts, we pray, for the work of
your reign of love. Amen.