Harboring Doubts

Fear comes even to those who know better.

Jesus himself stood among the disciples 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. - Luke 24:36b-48

I want to share with you what is written just before today’s Gospel reading.

They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

While they were still talking about this, Jesus appeared to them and they were frightened.

Why would they be afraid?  

They knew what Jesus had taught them.  And they just heard the account of Jesus appearing and walking with the believers on the road to Emmaus.

You would think they would be anxious to see him and would be overjoyed rather than afraid.

Yet, they were startled.

We might have a hard time understanding their reaction because we believe in eternal life.  

It is the heart of our faith and the main message of Easter.  So, you would think we would not need a sign that our loved one is in God’s presence and well taken care of.

The Resurrected Jesus is our sign.  

We may want to know some specifics, things we won’t know for certain until we pass through the veil ourselves.

But those things remain hidden, at least in the physical sense.  

And that can lead to doubt.

Can we trust that what Jesus was showing us by returning from the dead is a preview of the type of journey we take?

When life ends suddenly, it is tragic and we are jolted with the reality of an untimely end.  

Watching it slip away is no cakewalk either.  It tugs at your heart and soul and rends it piece by piece, until you feel there is nothing left.

You would think that you would notice the decline, that the subtle changes would be apparent as you go from day to day in the company of a loved one who is ill.

But you don’t see the negatives as much as you strain to see the positive signs.  They could be tiny, like walking without needing someone to hold you, or not needing oxygen.

Then, when those things slip away, you look for others, anything that could keep the hope alive that we can lick this thing, and then that we can extend this thing.

I have given a lot of thought over the past several years, from the onset of COVID through my illness and my wife’s decline, to the message for all of us in Jesus’ resurrection and ascension into glory.  

And I realize the message of hope is not about that.  It is about something far greater than the hope of eternal life.

I have come to see that every moment of this life is a sign of God’s presence in our lives.  

A sign of God’s love for us.

We hear said that Jesus was God’s gift to humanity, a sacrifice for our sins.  

But we tend to think of a sacrifice in those days to be a sheep or a goat to be offered up to God.

This sacrifice God made in becoming one of us was more an act of love for us.

In becoming one of us, God could share in every joyful moment of life with us.

So, why not imagine that same gift exists in those we love and hold dear?

More to come...