Welcomed to the Table
Study on Luke 24:36b-48
We find the disciples again today, as Luke describes them, startled and terrified (v. 37). I say again, because that’s what the gospel readings over the past 3 weeks have said the news of the resurrection has stirred up for them – confusion and fear. Luke’s story here sounds a lot like the passage we heard from John last week. With his followers gathered together in one place, Jesus comes and appears to them. But like John’s telling, the story doesn’t stop there. Jesus challenges them, but without scolding them; he asks them why they’re frightened and why they doubt it is truly him that is before them. He also offers words of comfort that are like a blessing bathing their spirits. He shows them his hands and feet and asks if they have anything to eat. He takes a piece of fish and eats it before them so that they might see that he is truly with them, that the reports are true, that he has been resurrected.
Why it is that the news of the resurrection and even Jesus’ own appearance to the disciples is so unsettling for them. Maybe it is that the disciples’ self-understanding keeps getting turned upside down? When they enter Jerusalem in the palm processional surely they had hopes of monumental changes coming to that city and their world and wondered how they would be a part of changing that world. But then those hopes are dashed on the timbers of the cross. In the shadow of Good Friday, the disciples now must adjust their understanding of themselves. They had followed Jesus this far but now he was gone; they had no one to follow any further. Like Mary, before the cross, they knew where they belonged. But after the cross, they wonder what comes next. Do they return home? Go back to their old lives? Then come the reports of Jesus’ resurrection. Now, do they stay put? Does the mission continue? If so, how? How could they not be confused and filled with fear? What will tomorrow look like? What is possible and what is not? What do they do next and how do they begin? They wonder where do they belong.
When Jesus comes, he recognizes their struggles, calls them to remember, and offers a healing word that frees them from their fears and opens their hearts to see in new ways. He calls them to a new path, commissions them to go and tell the story of all that has happened. In living out this story, they will understand their own. In this pattern of coming to them, eating with them, teaching them, the disciples remember that they belong to God.
Reflection Questions:
What happens when we help others discover where they belong? That they belong to God?
These encounters with Jesus unsettle the disciples. How do they unsettle you?
How does Jesus’ resurrection fuel hope, or renew hope, in you?
What helps you remember that you belong to God?