ACTS 3:13-19 "which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled."
There is something about the phrase, “the Messiah coming into the world must suffer,” that makes us think of an angry God who needs to be appeased by the sacrifice of a human being, namely his mortal son, yet there is part of scripture that is being fulfilled - just as Jesus had to die - so must he (and then we) also rise. We’ve all heard the phrase, “There are two things in life that are certain, death and taxes.” Jesus tells us that there’s a third one, and that's - we will be risen to new life after our death.
Luke 24:35-48 "Have ye here any meat?"
In the Gospel, Jesus gives us indications on where we can use this "new humanity" to grow. When Jesus comes into the midst of the disciples in Luke 24:35-48, it's not to brag about himself or to "declare" victory - he is not going to end world hunger or poverty nor end our mortality - he comes back simply to be with the disciples, he wants in some way to let them know that just being with them helps them be more human. In the scripture, Jesus wants to share his vulnerability and his mortality, the wounds that are there to be touched. Jesus also asks them if they have anything to eat, which sounds an awful lot like children who open the fridge at their parents’ house - no matter what age, some children continue this behavior into adulthood. First, we are irritated, but then over time we realize that we need them, and they need us, and we start to reflect on our lives and how important they have been throughout, it's this thinking that makes us more human. Or when people make demands on us - when they need us, it makes us more human. Just as we mortal beings must die because of our humanity Jesus tells us, so to we must rise. It’s important to live a life now by experiencing how to be more human and being willing to share our vulnerabilities with each other, thus allowing us to feed each other. Look for ways in which - when someone asks you, “Have you anything to eat?” we see it as an opportunity to grow in our holiness, humanity and charity. Yes, it’s true, death and taxes are certain in life, but Jesus tells us - so is eternal life.
Scripture tells us that the “women from Galilee” who were present when Jesus was taken down from the cross, were on their way to the tomb where Jesus was laid, and upon arriving they noticed the stone had been rolled away, so they entered in and found Jesus not, but two angels outside who revealed Jesus’ whereabouts. When they went back to tell the eleven plus a few others what they saw, there words to them seemed like “idle tales” and they believed them not, so Peter ran to the tomb to find Jesus’ linen garments “laid by themselves”. Now, two of the disciples were outside the city of Jerusalem recounting the events that had transpired around the passion and death of the Lord Jesus, when suddenly the risen lord came up and walked beside them, and he began to ask them questions about what they were discussing, and they began a dialogue with Jesus about what had taken place in Jerusalem, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.
Jesus then preceded to speak on the meaning of scripture starting with Moses and the prophets and all that were pertaining to him in the scripture - that must have been a very interesting conversation, I am sure we all wished to have heard those exact words from Christ - But the disciples were expecting a different type of messiah, a messiah that was a bread king - a messiah that would liberate them from roman captivity and they did not believe the witness of Mary Magdellan and other women who had found the tomb empty. Even after he sat down with them, they still were unbelieving. The Gospel tells us that the disciples recounted what had taken place along the way to Emmaus, and how they came to recognize Jesus when he broke the bread at dinner, and vanished form their midst the second they came to know. Bishop Fulton Sheen said, “Religion is not a matter of discussion, it is a matter of decision - making a decision to follow Christ.” Every-day, there may be discussion, but ultimately - religion is a matter of binding ourselves to the Lord Jesus under his authority and recognizing him as the risen Lord - not so much a matter of discussion, but of decision.
The two disiciples returned to Jerusalem and told the eleven gathered that Jesus was indeed risen and as they were speaking, Jesus appeared a second time in their midst and said, “Peace be unto you,” and they were startled and sore afraid as if they had seen a spirit, but Jesus instructed them to look and touch his hands and feet to prove to them, as well as asking them if they had anything to eat. Jesus went to great lengths because we know that ghosts do not eat. When he asked for something to eat, his resurrected flesh is the reality of the resurrection, what it will look like. Jesus knew the questions they were raising in their minds, and the discussions they were having behind closed doors - and he comes right in the middle of it, and directs it to reality, to himself, and to the reality that he said he would go through. He proved to them and accomplished what he said he came to accomplish. As Christians, we are accustomed to the language of the resurrection, the reality does not “astound us” but it should. Every time we talk about the resurrection from the dead it should shock us, the resurrection was beyond all limits of their understanding and ours as well - without Gods help, without the Lord there to open up the scripture for, us we cannot truly understand the meaning of the scriptures without his divine assistance, that’s why he breaks them open for us, and directs it back to himself. To what extent do I allow Jesus and his resurrection to surprise me? To broaden my horizons and to alleviate and calm my fears? That he has been risen from the dead - am I an apostle consumed by fear? The word of his resurrection, his calling to follow him and his expectations of us. In the first letter, Saint John tell us to keep God’s commandments, and he who does not is a liar. Are we living them in the way he desires us to live? Often our expectations get in the way of encountering the risen Christ, they can cloud so much for us and what God wants to give us - to speak to us and breathe into us. The conversations we involve ourselves in today do not truly center around the life of Christ, his resurrection, or his glory - how easy it is to revolve our conversations around politics, sports, entertainment or COVID 19 and everything else in society and allow it to drown out the reality of the risen Lord – when it should be our zeal – to be more passionate about the proclamation of the gospel and the fact that this is true today is both sad and horrible. We need to put him at the center of all of what we say and what we do.
When Jesus is at the center of your thinking your life begins to change, your actions begin to change, the way you treat others begins to change. Perhaps we don’t want to be shunned - “Don’t you dare bring religion into this!” But why Ultimately, it’s because they are scared of what it might mean, because they may need to change their own actions - their own speech. The encounter of the risen Lord on the road to Emmaus has something to teach us 2000 years later - archeology has proven the exact location the road, and there is a few different theories. Pope Benedict the 16th said that “Emmaus is really everywhere. The road that leads there is the passion that every Christian and human being must walk - a real crisis of faith.” Who hasn’t experienced that? Fears, questions, doubts - the pope says sometimes our faith goes into crisis, but the story of Emmaus suggests that it is possible to encounter the risen Jesus still today - in his word, through the sacraments, and in his people.