16 May 2010 Luke 24:36-53

Luke 24:36-53

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.

Then he said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.’ Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.’

Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God.

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In this post resurrection passage, and in the passage we studied from John back in April (John 20:19-31), the gospel writers have Jesus convincing the disciples that his resurrection is a bodily one. He is flesh and bone and not a spirit. Why would this be important to the early church? Why is it important, or not important, to us? What if there really was a resurrection but it was neither bodily nor spiritual but metaphorical? What if the resurrection never happened but always happens.

What do you know of resurrections in your life: bodily, spiritual, or metaphorical? What do you need to do to resurrect a relationship, or a part of you, that once had value but has since died? What is the cost and the promise of doing so? Do you have your own resurrection story?