This appearance of the risen Jesus to the Christian community follows the story of his appearances to the two disciples at Emmaus. The complete unit (Lk 24:36-53) can be divided into three scenes: (1) the appearance (Lk 24:36-43); (2) instruction and a final commission (Lk 24:44-49); (3) the ascension (Lk 24:50-53).
The Appearance
If we explore this appearance story in terms of alternate reality,
some of its elements make fresh sense. First, the disciples exhibit
multiple reactions: they are terrified and startled (Lk 24:37), alarmed and skeptical (Lk 24:38), overjoyed yet wondering (Lk 24:40), and they think they see a “ghost” (Greek:
“spirit,”
Lk 24:34), which suggests that they recognize a new kind of experience.
They know Jesus died and was buried, but now they see him quite alive.
Instead of a “ghost” they see a flesh and bone person in
alternate reality (Lk 24:39). Jesus eats fish in their presence (Lk 24:43) not only to prove his “reality” but to reestablish
table fellowship with his followers! Clearly this is a new kind of
experience of alternate reality.
New Understanding
As the disciples at Emmaus so too does this community gain a new
understanding of the risen Jesus they are experiencing, rooted in the
Scripture. Jesus personally “opened their minds” to the
fuller meaning of the words he spoke in his lifetime and offered a
deeper understanding of the Hebrew Scriptures. No specific passages
from the Old Testament are cited. Indeed, scholars are unable to find
any passages that relate to Luke’s global interpretation that
“the Messiah shall suffer and rise from the dead on the third
day.”
Experiences of alternate reality opened the minds of prophets and
others in the Old Testament to understanding the will of God with
greater clarity and precision; the experience of the risen Jesus
accomplishes the same result for those who see him.
Commission
What then is the function of this specific experience of alternate
reality? In today’s passage, the risen Jesus commissions
“the eleven and their companions” (Lk 24:33) to preach “repentance for the forgiveness of sins” to
all nations and to be “witnesses” (Lk 24:47-48).
Preaching forgiveness of sins is a familiar theme in Luke, but the
theme of testimony is a new one that will be highlighted repeatedly
throughout Acts. These eyewitness followers now bear witness and
testimony to the end of the earth concerning the suffering Messiah who
was raised (e.g.,
Acts 4:4,
29,
31,
etc.).
Empowerment
Ordinarily, the experience of alternate reality itself suffices to
convince, motivate, and empower the recipient to act upon the
experience. But Jesus advises his followers to “remain here in
the city until you are invested with power from on high” (Lk 24:49).
This is a crucial notion in Luke’s Gospel, unfortunately omitted
in the selection assigned for today’s liturgy. It was with the
“power of the Lord” that Jesus healed people (Lk 5:17). Indeed, the “power that went forth from him” (Lk 6:19) is the very same power with which God will invest these disciples
(Lk 24:49;
Acts 1:5).
The fact that it is impossible to harmonize the diverse resurrection
stories into a continuous narrative should give the modem believer
pause. One transforming experience of the risen Jesus and its
narration in a single story sufficed for our ancestors in the faith.
The experience and/or the story was enlightening and empowering.
Through centuries of Christian tradition, this experience has been
stylized in ritual and relived in sacrament. The Western tendency
toward rationalization has often robbed liturgy, ritual, and sacrament
of their potential experiential impact. Can today’s reflections
help restore the power?