On fire with the Holy Spirit, on the day of Pentecost, Peter begins to preach to the multitude of Jews who have gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Weeks. Finally all doubt seems to be gone from the disciples about the meaning of Jesus' life, death and resurrection, and what they are now supposed to do about it. Peter, the fisherman, the guy who constantly puts his foot in his mouth, begins to preach (Acts 2:1-41). These "God-fearing Jews" (verse 5) who were gathered in Jerusalem were from many nations (Egypt, Libya and Italy among others). The disciples baptized about 3000 of them that day (verse 41). When they returned home, no doubt they told their family and friends what had happened in Jerusalem. And so the news that the long-promised Jewish Messiah had finally come spread quickly. What joy there must have been. Was there dancing in the streets? Were celebrations held? Feasting and drinking and toasting? For reflection: Many Christians experience great joy when they first come to know Jesus, but after a while it fades. Do I still have my first joy? If not, what is keeping me from it? Let us pray. "Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; let the people of Zion be glad in their King. Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with tambourine and harp. For the Lord takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation. Let the saints rejoice in this honor and sing for joy on their beds." (Psalm 149:2-5)
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In our examination of Jesus' appearances after his resurrection, we have not paid much attention to what Jesus said during that time. Obviously just as the Gospel accounts vary in the number of appearances of Jesus, and to whom he appeared, they vary in what Jesus said. A common thread, though, is "Peace" or "Fear not". No doubt it was a fearsome thing to have Jesus appear to you individually or in the midst of a group. Or perhaps he said that because they were hiding in fear. When he walked with the two people on the way to Emmaus he explained the Scriptures to them and how they applied to him (Luke 24:27). John has Jesus breathe on the disciples to impart the Holy Spirit and send them out. "'As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.' And with that he breathed on them and said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven'" (John 20:21-23). But Matthew has Jesus say something similar earlier in his gospel (Matthew 16:19, 18:18). In most of the post-resurrection accounts, though, I think the emphasis is on the fact that he appeared, proving he rose from the dead, and that he ate and drank and spoke to show that he is truly alive. He was publicly executed, yet he lives. He was buried, yet he lives. Even death cannot hold him down. For reflection: If even death cannot hold Jesus down, what is holding me down? Let us pray. Jesus, I repent of being afraid of you and being afraid of others. I repent of (whatever is holding me down). Please forgive me. I want to experience the freedom of being raised from the dead with you. Be with me now as you were with your disciples then. He's not a shape shifter either. When Jesus appears in different guises in his post-Resurrection appearances, he does not appear as a dog or an owl or a newt. He appears as a person. He is able to fix breakfast and walk side-by-side with others. He is not a ghost. Thomas is able to touch Jesus' wounds. Jesus eats fish. He is not a vampire who feeds on other people; he feeds them. He is not a zombie walking around in a psychotic state; he has a will of his own. His body was not stolen by the Jews or the Romans. We don't have a mass hallucination that has continued in belief until today.
What do we have? Infinitely creative God chose to take on human life and exist as we do. He ate and drank, partied and mourned, worked and rested. He was elated then deflated. He was praised then betrayed. Why does it matter? Belief in Jesus Christ depends on his resurrection from the dead. As St. Paul says (1 Corinthians 15:14-17), "If Christ has not been raised . . . we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead. . . . And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile." Traditionally we say that Christ appeared to people for 40 days after his resurrection. A week from now it will be 40 days. That's why we have spent so long looking at the resurrection appearances - so that we could experience the length of time that he continued to appear in person to people. We are not quite finished yet. We have a few appearances remaining. Stay tuned. For reflection: Books, TV and movies portray the various powers that superheroes possess. What supernatural powers do I need to be a superhero for God? What villains are after me? How can I overcome them? Let us pray. Father, All-Powerful, all true power comes from you. Thank you for the gifts of your Holy Spirit. Thank you for wisdom and understanding, knowledge and faith, healing and miracles. Thank you for being with us always. Continuing with our story of Jesus fixing breakfast on the shore for the disciples who have been fishing, we come to the well-known talk that Jesus has with Simon (John 21:15-19). Three times Jesus asks Simon, "Do you love me?" Three times Simon Peter answers, "Yes, Lord." Jesus instructs him to "feed my sheep." Aside from the fact that these three questions parallel the triple denial of Jesus by Peter, what else might they signify? To me they show that although Peter failed Jesus miserably in his hour of need, God's call on Peter's life still remains. Peter's failure did not negate the call of God on his life. God has not given up on Peter. Jesus then says to Peter here at the end of the gospel the same thing he said at the beginning, "Follow me." But now Peter knows what "follow me" entails - persecution, being an outcast, danger, trials and death. Peter had already passed one small test since his denial and Jesus' resurrection: he fished on the other side of the boat when Jesus told him to. Now Jesus gives him a much bigger task: follow me and feed my sheep. For reflection: My failure does not negate the call of God on my life. Let us pray. Lord, I may not always be successful, but I want to be faithful. Don't let my failures keep me from trying to what you call me to do. It is not Peter who recognizes Jesus. It is John. But it is Peter who jumps into the water to get to Jesus faster. By my count this is the fourth time Peter has seen Jesus since the resurrection. Once, Jesus appears to Peter when he is alone (Luke 24:34), then twice Jesus appears to him with other disciples when they are behind locked doors (Luke 24:36-43 and John 20:26-31). Still Peter is eager to see him again. Jesus is cooking breakfast onshore. He has brought fish and bread which is reminiscent of the feeding of the large crowd beside this same body of water (John 6:1-13) with the five loaves and two fish provided by a boy. Jesus adds to the fire some of the freshly caught fish. Again in this account (John 21:1-14) it seems that Jesus looks different ("None of the disciples dared ask him, 'Who are you?' They knew it was the Lord.") As with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, they recognize him in the preparation of the food. No doubt the disciples shared many meals with Jesus over the years and they recognized something distinctive in the way Jesus blessed and shared the food. I think we may miss in this story that there is a multiplication of the fish that were caught (153 large fish) just as there was a multiplication of the fish and the bread in John 6. Jesus has revealed himself to the disciples not only in the blessing and sharing of the food but also in the multiplication of it to begin with. For reflection: Do I recognize God's provision in the food that I have? Do I ask him to multiply it for those who are hungry? Let us pray. Jesus, you multiplied the fish and the bread to feed not just a few but thousands. Show us how to multiply food today so that no one goes hungry. Like a commercial in the midst of your favorite TV show, today we come to a pause in John's stories of the resurrected Christ. Thomas has seen and touched and believed. In response Jesus said to Thomas, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed" (John 20:29). Here John inserts his commentary: "Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name" (John 20:30-31). John wrote his account of Jesus' life so that we, who have not seen Jesus, who have not witnessed his miracles, who have not touched his wounds, might believe, and in believing gain eternal life. For reflection: Jesus said to Thomas, "Stop doubting and believe." What is my answer? Knowing what befell Jesus and what would happen to his disciples because of this belief, where do I stand? With Thomas, let us pray: My Lord and my God! When Jesus appeared to the disciples, showed them his wounds, and ate fish as proof that he was alive, somehow Thomas was not with them. Despite the eyewitness accounts of the others, Thomas was not convinced that Jesus had risen. "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it," Thomas exclaimed (John 20:25). Fast forward a week. All of the disciples had locked themselves into the same house as before, but this time Thomas is present. Jesus once again materializes before them and says, "Peace be with you!" Jesus knows what Thomas has said about touching him, so he urges Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." For reflection: Watch this video from tale2tell (under 7 minutes) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPO2unN31lc As we continue to examine the appearances of Jesus after his resurrection, we see Jesus confirms the story of the two travelers by appearing to the whole group of disciples in Jerusalem while they are still talking about these mysterious happenings. Jesus simply appears among them (Luke 24:36; John 20:19; Mark 16:14) even though they are in a locked room for fear of reprisals by other Jews. Thinking they are seeing a ghost, they are both startled and frightened. Jesus tells them not to be afraid and shows them the wounds on his hands and his feet. "Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have" (Luke 24:39). In their amazement they still do not believe, so Jesus eats some broiled fish to prove to them that he is real. For reflection: When have I locked myself away because of fear? What does/did it take to prove to me that Jesus is really risen from the dead? Let us pray. Jesus, I want to put away my fear of others and my fear of you. I want to believe that you really rose from the dead and not care what others think of me because of that belief. Two people are walking down the road. They are talking about the trial and death of Jesus and his reported resurrection from the dead. What an astounding thing! How could this be true? Should we believe those women? Has Jesus turned into a ghost? A stranger joins them. "What are you talking about?" he asks. They proceed to tell him about Jesus, who was a prophet, who was killed like all the other prophets, but who now is supposed to be alive. Surely he heard about this. The news is all over Jerusalem. The stranger affirms that yes, he did hear about the trial and execution. Then he goes on to explain to them, Jesus' disciples, the prophecies from Moses onward that referred to Jesus and the events that have transpired. In all this time, walking together, discussing and arguing, the two disciples did not recognize Jesus. Why not? In Mark 16:12, it says Jesus appeared in a different form. In Luke 24:16 it says, "they were kept from recognizing him." For reflection: Jesus, when have you been with me and I have not recognized you? Let us pray. Jesus, because of your love you reach out to me every day. Help me to see you in all the ways you approach me. In the resurrection and post-resurrection accounts it was important to name names because those were the people giving eyewitness testimony that Jesus had indeed risen and was alive. That someone who was publicly executed was now alive and visiting people was an incredible thing to try to believe. Even the disciples did not immediately believe Mary Magdalene's report that Jesus was alive. As Mark says, "She went and told those who had been mourning and weeping. When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it" (Mark 16:10-11). Luke (who has other women going to the tomb with Mary Magdalene) says, "They did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense" (Lk 24:11). There are two things in Christianity that are really hard to believe: Jesus is God and Jesus rose from the dead. The people who were there at the time initially did not believe either. Only after they saw for themselves did they come to believe that Jesus rose from the dead. For reflection: Do I believe that Jesus is God and he rose from the dead? If so, why? If not, why not? Let us pray. Jesus, reveal yourself to me today in a concrete way. |
AliceI started this website and blog on May 1, 2012. I am a Catholic who has been in ministry for many years. I first developed what I would call a close relationship with Jesus in the early 1970s. Ever since then I have been praying with people for healing and other needs. It is because I have seen so many of these prayers answered that I am so bold as to offer to pray for you individually through this website and phone line. Archives
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