Resurrection and Revelation III: Terror and Doubt

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came.  So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”  Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.”  Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”  Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”

John 20.24-29

As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed.  But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.”  So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

And all that had been commanded them they told briefly to those around Peter.  And afterward Jesus himself sent out through them, from east to west, the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation.

[Now after he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he ahd cast out seven demons.  She went out and told those who had been with him, while they were mourning and weeping.  But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.

After this he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country.  And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them.]

Mark 16.5-13

 

There's so much to celebrate on Easter morning.  In the dimness of a pre-dawn gathering, we can smell the lilies and anticipate the alleluias that have been quiet for so long.  The brightness of "He is Risen!" shatters the sorrow and darkness.

 

That's what we say.

 

But the first narratives of the resurrection weren't filled with the joy of Easter finery and egg bake and jelly beans.  The first narratives of the resurrection were filled with terrified people and confusion and disbelief.

 

Thomas's story is one of few passages of scripture that appears annually in the lectionary readings.  We never get a year without Thomas's doubt (for which he is named) and his proclamation (for which we would be better served to remember him):  "My Lord and my God!"

 

But in Mark's gospel, the picture is even more fraught.  The language of the revelation is harsh:  Alarmed.  Terror.  Seized.  Afraid.  "And they said nothing to anyone."  Silence.

 

And then, in the appended ending to Mark, we seem to have attempts to smooth the story over a bit--but instead we get two more stories that end in disbelief.

 

The miracle at the end of Mark's gospel hardly even seems to be the resurrection.  In fact, it's hard to read resurrection in this narrative of emptiness and silence and confusion.  The strongest miracle seems to be what happens afterward: through them, "the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation"--that is, the story.

 

The story--the proclamation--itself becomes the imperishable.  The story of resurrection that cannot die.

So in others' doubt and terror, we receive the story.  We receive a story that does not destroy doubt but, instead, provides an enduring narrative that shows us how, even in the midst of the dimness and silence and fear of our lives, revelation comes.  We don't often recognize it at first (and we may not recognize it at all), but resurrection is walking around among us.  And what is more, that sacred and imperishable proclamation is sent out through them.  Them.  The them who kept not believeing.  The them who were terrified.  The them who were fearful and silent.

Miracle of miracles:  the story moves beyond the faith and courage of the teller.  Even when we are timid and tired, the sacred and imperishable proclamation remains.  Sustaining us in our belief and in our unbelief.

Resurrection and Revelation II: Fish for Breakfast

While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost.  He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?  Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he 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?”  They gave him a piece of broiled fish,  and he took it and ate in their presence.

Luke 24.36-43

After these things Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias; and he showed himself in this way.  Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples. Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.  Jesus said to them, “Children, you have no fish, have you?” They answered him, “No.” He said to them, “Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish.  That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the sea.  But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off.

When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there, with fish on it, and bread.  Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.”  So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred fifty-three of them; and though there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord.  Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish.  This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

John 21.1-14

 

Fish-eating is apparently a party trick of the resurrection.

 

At least, that's what it seems like in this passage from Luke.  The disciples still don't understand.  (How could they?)  So Jesus has a snack.

 

Why?  The resurrection is clearly not a ghost story.  Ghosts don't go around asking other folks for fish.  Ghosts don't invite touching.  Ghosts aren't hungry for breakfast.

 

And in the face of such a display, the disciples still don't know what to do, so they go back to their familiar routines.  "I'm going fishing," Peter announces.  And the routines are just as empty and pointless as they maybe often are, hours spent trawling for . . . nothing, apparently.

 

But in both of these stories, Jesus does not demand faith. He doesn't condemn the disciples for returning to the comforting emptiness of pre-resurrection routines.  Instead, he invites them to come close--close enough to touch.  He eats.  He cooks.  He feeds them. 

 

Rather than calling them away from the emptiness of their daily tasks, he fills it.

 

And he fills it so that they--and he--might be fed.

Resurrection and Revelation I: Bread for Dinner

Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem,  and talking with each other about all these things that had happened.  While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them,  but their eyes were kept from recognizing him.  And he said to them, “What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?” They stood still, looking sad.  Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?”  He asked them, “What things?” They replied, “The things about Jesus of Nazareth,who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people,  and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him.  But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place.  Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning,  and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive.  Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.” Then he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared!  Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?”  Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.

As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on.  But they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.” So he went in to stay with them.  When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.  Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight.  They said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?”  That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together.  They were saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!”  Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

 

Luke 24.13-25

I love the stories of the resurrected Jesus.  It's clear that the gospel writers are as confounded by the idea of resurrection as the rest of us, but over and over they come back to the same theme:  the resurrection means bodies doing bodily things.

In this narrative from that first Sunday of the resurrection in the Gospel of Luke, the scene is as ordinary as it can be.  Bodies walking somewhere.  And talking.  And wondering.  And then, the story climaxes in an ordinary supper.  Bread.  This is "how he had been made known to them."  Sitting around a table, reaching for the rolls he passed.

These readings from this Easter season are the source of this writing project of mine and this resurrection faith I walk around with, talk about, sit down to eat with.

The stories of the resurrection are not about ethereal otherworldliness.  This is not the time for abstracted notions of spirituality.  This is not even the time for meditative solitude and prayer.  The stories of the resurrection constantly call people together and often provide snacks.  The stories of the resurrection are about touching and proclaiming and walking and questioning and fishing and eating.

The stories of the resurrection, like the stories of the incarnation, demand that we confront our humanness and, in fact, place that humanness at the center of the story, at the place where the story begins and ends.

The revelation of the resurrection is the revelation of the truest end for human beings realized by the grace of God.  Pass the bread.