There
are seven post-resurrection stories in the New Testament and to the
casual reader, they all have a ghostly or eerie feeling about them. The
crucifixion stories leave no doubt. All who were there as witnesses
attest to the one great truth. He died. He was dead! But, the
resurrection is a very different matter. What makes it difficult is, no one
saw the resurrection, and the writers of the New Testament, beginning
with Paul and then the gospel writers were writing to people in order
to convince them that the resurrection was indeed a realty. With no
eyewitnesses, that is a very difficult task, and we need to ask
ourselves how could this be done? And then, how was this done?
Since the earliest of the New
Testament writers was Paul, let us begin with him. Paul simply states
the reality of the resurrection as a fact. There is no attempt
whatsoever to explain how the resurrection took place; simply that it
did. Instead of testifying to the resurrection, Paul seeks to logically
explain why it is a reality, and, from his viewpoint a necessity. The closest Paul comes to explaining
the resurrection is in his letter to the Corinthians. In his first
letter, chapter 15, he presents the following argument in verses 3 and
4, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received,
that Christ died for our sins and was raised on the third day in
accordance with the scriptures.” That is very important. The evidence
for Paul is not experiential, or even historical; it is some"what
scriptures?" Is he speaking of the Hebrew Bible? Probably.
Listen to his logical argument. It is
in verses 12-14. “Now if Christ is preached as raised from the dead,
how can some say there is no resurrection of the dead? But, if there is
no resurrection from the dead, then Christ has not been raised; if
Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your
faith is in vain.” That sounds, to me, like a lawyer speaking.
Again Paul argues in verse 42, “So it
is with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable, what
is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in
honour. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a
physical body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a physical
body, there is also a spiritual body.” Lastly, Paul says in verse 54
“When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on
the immortal, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, death
is swallowed up in victory, O death where is your victory? O death
where is your sting?”
Paul seems to me to be launching a new
direction of theological thinking. The resurrection of the body was a
Jewish doctrine. The immortality of the soul was a Greek doctrine. Paul
has Christ as the forerunner of a synthesis of these two persuasions.
For Paul, there is a resurrection because of the resurrection of
Christ, but it is a spiritual resurrection. For Paul, the evidence is
found in the logic of his argument. Thus, his understanding is
quite different from the gospel writers.
Now, to the gospels. Mark, the first
of the writers, addresses the resurrection very tersely. He simply says
that when they came to the tomb and found it empty, they also found a
young man dressed in white, who said, “ Do not be amazed; you seek
Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here; see
the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter
that he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he
told you.”Most scholars
hold to the view that Mark’s gospel ends with verse 8 of chapter 16.
Thus, in most Bibles, verses 9-20 are shown in italics. In our pew
Bibles there is an explanation, and a third possible ending is
presented. I can tell you this: from studying the book in Greek, there
is no doubt in my mind that verses 9-20 were not written by Mark. They
have a different manner of Greek writing than Mark's, observable even
to neophyte Greek users like me.
Matthew, also, in chapter 28, has the
women coming to the tomb and encountering an Angel who says, “he is
risen from the dead, and behold he is going before you to Galilee;
there you will see him.” Matthew adds to his story, saying that as they
were running to tell the disciples, Jesus met them and confirmed that
he was going to Galilee. And then Matthew ends his book with the
great commission. He
says the eleven went to a mountain in Galilee, where Jesus met them and
said, “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Go
therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father and the son and the Holy spirit, teaching them to observe
all things that I have commanded you; and Lo, I am with you always, to
the close of the age.”
John has Jesus talking with a distraught Mary Magdelene after the
resurrection, and he has Jesus appearing twice to the disciples,
mysteriously appearing even though the windows and doors were shut.
John even has Jesus appearing with Peter, Nathaniel, Thomas and two
other disciples and having a shore-side breakfast with them at the Sea
of Tiberius.
That brings us to Luke, and our
scripture of the day. The women, Mary Magdalene, Joanna and Mary the
Mother of Jesus went to the tomb, and were told by two men in dazzling
array “why do you seek the living among the dead; remember, he told you
while he was still in Galilee that all this was to happen." Then they
remembered, and they went and told his disciples; but their words
seemed like idle tales, and the disciples did not believe them. Almost immediately, Luke tells the
story of the encounter with Cleopas and his friend on the road to
Emmaus. That is the
situation in a nutshell. The Church of Luke’s day, like the Church in
the time of Mark, Matthew, John and Paul, had to deal with the same
reality that you and I face. Neither they nor us were there! We were
not there for the death, or for the rumoured resurrection. Every one of
has to make a decision about the truth, based on what we have read and
heard. If, in fact, Jesus is risen, then we base our decisions on our
own encounters with the living God. What the stories are telling us
about the manner of the resurrection except that he is going to
Galilee. The facts simply are not there. Yet, and here is the
point, the stories are true because you and I have met the Lord on our
roads to Emmaus.
We, you and I, have met the Lord when
we have walked the road of disappointment; when our pet has died; when
we are diagnosed with an illness; when our spouses says-there is
another; or when a loved one dies when we didn’t expect it. Do you hear
all of that in the story?
Don’t you know what happened
concerning Jesus of Nazareth? We had hoped that he was the one who
would redeem Israel. We had hoped that she would be alive a bit longer.
We had hoped she would get her addiction under control. We had hoped he
would be loyal and loving, instead of seeking love elsewhere. You know
the stories.We had hoped, but now it's "business as
usual." Back to an empty house with dirty dishes and a rumpled
bed; back to a boring job where they all forget very soon their
promises and their efforts. Back to arguments that lack love and leave
you alone and sad. That’s where you will find him.
Then do you hear him? Do you hear
Jesus in the story? Haven’t you read the scriptures, you dummies. Its
all there!" And he began with Moses, and told them all that the
scriptures had to say about the events that had just happened in
Jerusalem. Implicit in what he said was the message, that those who
spend time in the scriptures know that Christ is not the loser, Christ
is the victor, and that message is the message that humankind needs to
hear and wants to hear.
The visitors on the road to Emmaus are mightily impressed with this
stranger. When they reach the city, the stranger is about to leave
them, but they urge him to stay. It’s late and you won’t get far before
you're going to have to sleep anyhow. So stay with us and have a meal.
He did stay. and as they prepared for the meal, the stranger was asked
to return thanks. And as he did so, they were amazed. And
then they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight. That’s the way life is. We never know
whom it is that we encounter when we befriend a stranger. It could be
an angel unaware, who brings hope and light into our lives. It could be
that in the midst of our despair and discomfort, a ray of light breaks
forth, and we are endowed with new hope and new resolve. Just when we
are about to give up: the marriage has ended the sense of loneliness
and defeat is almost overwhelming. Then, a friend appears, a friend who
understands. And suddenly, hope comes. And slowly, as the
feelings are soothed, new life seems possible, a new relationship
grows, less demanding and more supporting.
He comes and walks beside us when we
least expect it. He doesn’t repair our automobile when we have slid off
the road on a slippery winter day. But he does sit in the snow
bank with us. He doesn’t
make our recovery any easier, or the requirements less demanding.
But he does endow us with hope of no pain, and the promise of a better
time ahead. Sometimes, in
the most unusual places, and with the most unusual people, something
happens. And suddenly, hardness is replaced by tears;
embarrassing at first, but freeing and opening up new ideas and
visions. And it all begins when we are willing to listen to the
stranger who comes, and does not fulfill our mental expectations.
It was after he was gone, as they
remembered, that they said, “didn’t our hearts burn within us?” They
didn’t know who he was. They were not aware of the biblical account.
They only knew that their hopes had been dashed, and the one in whom
they had placed their hopes and their dreams was dead. Is there
anything more devastating than having your hopes and your dreams
dashed? For some reason,
this stranger seems to like to work with the downtrodden and the
broken. He comes and brings with him the promise of restoration and new
life. And so we share with him our loaf of bread. And what does
he do? He breaks it, and says "take, eat."
As they looked back, they recognized
he was there, walking with them, but they didn’t recognize him. Only
when he was gone did they say "oh sure, that was him. Now we
know." Then they retold their story, and others who were also
dejected, lonely and upset by the happenings of Good Friday began to
see. That’s why we have a
Church, folks. Here we tell the stories, over and over again and
many are not moved to either compassion or action. Then, something
happens in your life or mine, something we did not ask for, but
something that we have to endure. And it is in the enduring that
somehow we feel a presence. And then we say "Oh yeah, now I see
it. That’s what they were talking about." We think life is dull, and no one
cares. And then, on our lonely trek, or perhaps in the dimness of
a night at home alone, it’s like a light breaks in and overwhelms
us. And looking back, we see the reality. Those simple not very
inspiring folks have been there all the time. Those Church folks have loved me,
supported me, never gave up on me. Now I see it! That’s why I kept
coming, my heart glowed sometimes. The truth is, I met him on the road
with those strangers in the pews at Squamish United Church.
Do you see the point of the story?
It’s not about how he rose from the grave. It’s not about what he asks
of me, or how am I to accept him. It’s about mysterious
appearances. In the depths of my disappointment, as I walk along
my path with strangers who I have known about for years, but never
really known, all of a sudden my eyes are opened. Looking back I can see it. That was him all
along. Death could not hold him, and now he wants to be my Lord.
And all he asks is for me to say "O.K., I’ll try." It’s when you walk the road in your
broken life and meet people who are walking in their lives of dashed
hopes and disappointments that suddenly it occurs. That’s when we utter
"now, I understand." There, in
that little Sunday school. There, in that Caring group. There, in the
shawl knitting gathering. There, in that Thursday evening choir
practice. There in that food packing work. There in that boring Board
meeting: there, in that coffee hour after Church; sometime, somehow, I
don’t know when or why, but looking back I see “my heart burned within
me.”
He’s alive; right here where I least
expected him. I’m home, where I belong. With those I know; those
I love; those upon whom I know I can depend. Now, finally, I can say it. "The Lord is
risen, and he has appeared to me. And as I look back, I remember
how my heart burned within me." May it be so. Amen.