Luke 24:36b-48
April 14, 2024
My mom warned me and warned me to
stay away from our next door neighbor’s motorcycles. The teenage boys next door
had a lot of motorcycles. My parents weren’t crazy about them – the
motorcycles, not the teenage boys – and they didn’t want me near them. They
could be dangerous, and I was too young to be on one. Also, they said “no!” But
I thought they were fascinating.
One
summer day, when I was probably 8 or 9, I saw my neighbor pull up to his house
on his bike, turn it off, and go into the house. I decided to go look at it. I
was just going to look at it. I wasn’t going to do anything else. But it turned
out that looking at it wasn’t enough. So, I decided to climb on the seat. What
harm could come from climbing on the seat? It wasn’t like I was going to ride
it or anything. I climbed onto the seat prepared to do some pretend cruising, but
what I didn’t know was that since the motorcycle had just been ridden, the
metal on the bike was hot. I was barefoot and wearing shorts. I climbed onto
the seat for my “ride” when unfortunately the inside of my ankle touched hot
metal. I jumped off immediately and ran home in pain. Touching that hot metal
burned my ankle. And it left a scar for a long, long time. The scar is mostly
faded now, but for many years it was a visible reminder to listen to my mother.
A commentator on this passage from
Luke’s gospel talked about the stories that our scars tell. When Jesus shows
the scars on his hands and feet to the disciples to prove it was him, he was reminding
them of the story that led up to that moment. His scars were a visible reminder
of who he was and who he is.
Jesus was also trying to prove to
the disciples that he was not a ghost. This is a post resurrection story, and
we, the readers, know that Jesus is not a ghost. But this story does seem a
little ghostly. Jesus seems able to walk through walls and doors, solid
boundaries that no living human could breach. Only ghosts as we understand them
in popular culture can do that. I mean one minute Jesus was not there, and the
next minute he was standing in their midst. That seems like a ghost to me! But
Jesus was not a ghost, and he asks the disciples why they are frightened, and
why they have doubts lurking in their hearts? They have been talking about
“these things,” and these things refer to the story that immediately precedes
ours.
That story is Jesus meeting two of
the disciples on the road to Emmaus. The Emmaus story is probably one of the
best known of the post-resurrection stories in the gospels. Two disciples are
making their way from Jerusalem to a village called Emmaus. Jesus joins them on
the road, but they don’t recognize him. The disciples, Cleopas and another one
whose name we don’t know, were talking about everything that had happened in
the last few days – the crucifixion of their beloved Rabbi, and the women’s
supposedly idle tale about the tomb being empty and receiving a message from
angels that Jesus was risen.
Jesus, an apparent stranger, asks
them what they are talking about and why they look so sad. They suppose that he
is the only person around who has not heard about everything that has happened,
so they fill him on the details of the last few days. Then Jesus, this
stranger, begins to interpret the scripture for them in light of what they have
seen and heard.
He goes to leave them, but they
encourage him to stay with them. It is getting late in the day, darkness will
soon fall, and he should not be out in the night alone. Jesus, still unknown to
them, agrees. They sit down to eat, and when Jesus breaks bread with them their
eyes were opened. They recognize him! As soon as they do, he vanishes from
their sight. Now, these two hightail it back to Jerusalem to tell the other
disciples. They too have seen the risen Lord!
And while they are sharing this
incredible story with the others, Jesus again appears in their midst. I guess
the story that the two disciples were telling them had not yet sunk in, because
when Jesus just appears they are terrified. As has already been said, they
think Jesus is a ghost. But Jesus tells them that he is no ghost. This is not a
ghost story.
Look at me, he tells them. Look at
my hands and at my feet. Touch my hands and my feet. Touch the scars. See where
the wounds were. Does a ghost have flesh and bones? Does a ghost have scars
that tell this kind of story? Just as Jesus did for Thomas in John’s gospel,
Jesus offers the disciples proof of who he is and what has happened. He was
indeed crucified, dead, buried, and now he is resurrected, risen again!
But their doubts persist. Luke
writes,
“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.”
I remember a professor in seminary
talking about this particular moment and relating to us, his students, that the
Greek does not say that Jesus merely ate the fish. He gnawed it. He devoured
it, just as any living human would who had not eaten in several days. Jesus is
not just a spirit or some ghostly apparition before them. He has flesh and
bones and hunger. He has scars that tell the story of what has happened.
The disciples are overjoyed at this,
but still disbelieving. They don’t trust their senses. Then Jesus did for them
what he did for the other disciples on the road to Emmaus. He opened their
minds to understand the scriptures.
It seems that an open, enlightened
mind is the final, necessary ingredient to belief. When Jesus finishes
interpreting the scriptures in light of all that has happened, with his
physical presence before them, the complete and unequivocal proof that what he
told them before his death has indeed come to pass, he declares to them all,
“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 witness of these things.”
You are witnesses of these things.
That’s not just a statement of fact, is it? There is an implied imperative in
Jesus’ words as well. You are witnesses of these things and therefore you
must witness. Starting in Jerusalem, the story, this story, the story that my
scars offer, must be told. God’s word of repentance and forgiveness must be
preached. And as witnesses of these things, it starts with you.
What stories do our scars tell? Do
they tell of mishaps as children or surgeries as adults? Do they tell stories
of disobedience or bravery? Do they tell stories of perseverance and
persistence or a willingness to be reckless? What stories do our scars tell?
When Jesus offered his hands and feet as proof of his resurrection, he was also
sharing the story of his life, his ministry, his authentic humanity. His scars
told the story of everything he preached and everything he taught. His scars
told of his willingness to do what was considered unlawful, but what he knew
was really of God. The scars on Jesus’ hands and feet told the story of the
people dined with and the people he welcomed and the people he forgave. They
told the story of who he healed and when he healed. Jesus’ scars told the story
of the cruelty and barbarity of the powers and principalities, and they told
the story of his courage and conviction that would not be swayed and of his
obedience to God no matter what the cost.
Jesus showed the scars on his hands
and feet as a testament to his story, and that story is God’s story. His story
is the story of God and God’s relationship with us, his children, all of God’s
creation. When we hear the words, “by his wounds we are healed,” we may think
solely in of the traditional interpretations of atonement. Jesus died so death
could be overcome. But it seems to me that there is more to those words. By his
wounds Jesus told the story of what it means to live life so fully and completely
in relationship with God. By his wounds Jesus told the story of humanity’s
cruelty and God’s love. By his wounds Jesus reminds us that we are healed not
by magic, but by love – LOVE in all caps. We are healed by love that refuses to
give up on us, love that refuses to back down, love that seeks justice and
righteousness, love that welcomes, love that includes, love that sees the
people we can be, love that sees the people God created us to be.
By his wounds we are healed. By his
scars we are reminded of who he was, who he is, who we are, and what we are
called to do. We are called to be witnesses of these things. We are called to
share and spread the good news of the gospel. We are called to witness to those
wounds and to tell and retell the story of those scars. Thanks be to God.
Let all of God’s children say,
“Alleluia.”
Amen.
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