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The
First Sunday after Easter.
The
Collect.
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LMIGHTY Father, who hast given thine only Son to die for our
sins, and to rise again for our justification; Grant us so to put away the
leaven of malice and wickedness, that we may always serve thee in pureness of
living and truth; through the merits of the same thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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nd as
they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them,
Peace be unto you. 37 But they were
terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. 38 And he said unto
them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts
arise in your hearts? 39 Behold my hands and my feet,
that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones,
as ye see me have. 40 And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and
his feet. 41 And while they
yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? 42 And they gave
him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. 43 And he took it,
and did eat before them. 44 And he said unto them, These
are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things
must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets,
and in the psalms, concerning me. 45 Then opened he their understanding,
that they might understand the scriptures, 46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer,
and to rise from the dead the third day: 47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be
preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 And ye are witnesses of these things. 49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you:
but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on
high. (Luke 24:36-49 (KJV)
Today's text expands upon the post-resurrection appearances of our Lord. In the
present text, our Lord appears to the disciples who are secluded in a closed
room (the door being shut according to St. John 20:26) of Jerusalem eight days
following the resurrection. It is worthy of note that our Lord always includes
all of the company gathered together if He will sup with them. On his first
visit to the disciples in the room at Jerusalem, He did not sup with them for
Thomas was absent. He supped with those gathered as a single company by the Sea
of Galilee on another occasion; and He supped with the party of two at the home
in Emmaus. So, here, He also sups with the gathered party as Thomas is also
present. The Church partakes of the Holy Communion together.
Though most of this little group had been made aware of our Lord's resurrection
(except doubting Thomas), they were nonetheless full of worries and confusion.
What did it all mean? Have we not all faced this same dilemma in our own lives
when things simply do not make sense even if the revolting development was of
God? But as we bear on course and weather the storm, the calm seas and
following winds ahead reveal our successful arrival at our intended
destination. Being of feeble understanding of the mysteries of the Spirit, we
often need a little extra inspiration from our Lord. The grandest exultation of
the Spirit may arise out of devastating circumstances. In all conditions, we
may say together with Horatio Spafford - "It is Well with My Soul!"
As the disciples, being alone without the former physical presence of Jesus to
direct them, pondered what comes next, a presence appears among them. Having
experienced the same appearing only one week earlier, except Thomas, should not
have been surprised. But we are slow of mind and understanding. The Lord often
must teach us through constant reminders and repetition. Have you ever noticed
how often the same lines are repeated in Holy Scripture? Why do you suppose
that is the case? It is because repetition aids retention (a well known law of
learning). "And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of
them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you."
Have you considered how often this greeting is repeated in Scripture, or words
to the same effect. It is a common greeting of Christ when men were frightened
at the sight of Him walking on the Sea, or appearing behind locked doors.
Remember the message of the Heavenly Angel to the shepherds overlooking
Bethlemen at the birth of Christ, "Fear not for behold I bring you good
tidings of great joy which shall be to all people." When God appears
to us, He never comes for the purpose of striking fear in our hearts. He always
means goodwill to men. The fact that we may not recognize Christ walking beside
us does not change the fact that He is indeed there.
"But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had
seen a spirit." This reaction seems a bit trite after so many
miraculous appearances of Christ to these disciples, but we are all often blind
to His presence in the mundane nature about us. We are so accustomed to the
barren wilderness we have made around us that the paradise of His presence before
us seems odd. But our Lord nonetheless will alleviate our fears at each moment
of their emergence. "And he said unto them, Why
are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle
me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.
And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet."
When our faith fails, He may bring solid, physical evidence to the bar to
dispel doubt. But He always wonders why we are troubled since we believe in
Him. If we believe enough, we should know that "all things work
together for good to those who love the Lord and are the called according to
His purpose." (see
Romans 8:28)
A great mystery, too, is revealed - not only in His physical appearance, but in
His physical reality. The appearance of Christ to the disciples is not merely
an apparition, but the Person and physical Body of the Lord. A spirit cannot be
touched, handled, or possess flesh and bones. Jesus rose from the grave with a
glorified Body that is mysteriously the same as that with which He was buried.
We, too, shall rise with a like body. Though our bodies will be free of
blemishes, scars and twisted limbs, His body will be the only one to retain the
scars and piercings of His Passion for us.
"That is simply too good to be true!" is a common English
expression. It most often does not indicate doubt of the goodness or joy of an
event, but is intended to express the magnificence of it. "And while
they yet believed not for joy, and wondered." Unbelievable it was, yet
they knew it to be real and yet wondered for the absolute grandeur of the
reality. To further open their eyes to His physical presence, He next "said
unto them, Have ye here any meat?"
Now this last comment of our Lord makes me very happy. We shall enjoy eating in
our resurrected bodies! If there is food in Heaven, it makes all of sense in
the world that there shall be CHOCOLATE! And as much of that edifying
commodity as the soul desires! To remove any remaining doubts of His physical
being, our Lord actually eats with the disciples. "And they gave him a
piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat
before them."
It is not enough to have read all Scripture, and to have it preached to us - we
must UNDERSTAND that Scripture by the educating benefits of the Holy Ghost!
"And he said unto them, These are the words
which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be
fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in
the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that
they might understand the scriptures," Regardless the number of times
I have previously read and studied a passage of Scripture, my eyes are opened
more widely with each subsequent reading. The Lord knows that our bottles can
hold only so much water of life at one drinking, so He replenishes the bottle
from His constant and abundant source so that our joy is multiplied by constant
review and study. This does not happen in the study of chemistry or
thermodynamics, but is a peculiar property of the Word of God. We may have the
mental capacity and tools of knowledge to accomplish a task, but fail in our
understanding of how to apply those qualities. So Christ OPENS our
understanding of the Words we have read and studied through the agency of the
Holy Spirit.
Now we could make an entire sermon on the next two verses: "And said
unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved
Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be
preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem."
The disciples had languished in abject sorrow and discouragement during the
moments before the resurrection. They had no comprehension of the magnitude of
the event that had transpired on a hill outside the walls of Jerusalem - the
very Crux of all time and Eternity. So Christ consoles them with the reminder
that all of these things had already been written and prophesied of His
suffering and redemption for sinners. "It
is written." Again, the living Word of God is in the constant
present - not past or future, but eternal presence - "it is written."
"It behoved Christ to suffer!"
That suffering of the unblemished and sinless Son of God on the Cross was the
only means of paying our sin-debt. "For the wages of sin is death; but
the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans
6:23 (KJV) If we do not pay that debt, we need a qualified substitute to pay it
for us, and there is only One qualified - the Lord Jesus Christ! The
sacrificial death of Christ fell to His responsibility as a matter of Law and
Command, of duty and equity. Because He loved us more than any such torment and
suffering, He was privileged (in His own Mind) to suffer for our redemption.
And there is another facet of His work that He mentions in the following
remark: "and to rise from the dead the
third day:" It is fairly
obvious that exoneration from sin means little if there is no acknowledgement
by means of reward. If we will die daily to self in repentance and truth in
bearing our crosses in His trail, we will also enjoy that glorious resurrection
whose path He blazed on Easter morning.
If we are made signatories on the bank assets of a corporation, our freedom to
sign and to act is based upon the authority and good will on behalf of the
corporation. The same is true when we act as emissaries of Christ - we act only
upon His authority and will. Any action outside that will and authority is null
and void. "And that repentance and
remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning
at Jerusalem." I believe that the great majority of ministers
today have forgotten the principle of preaching ONLY in His Name! If we preach
error in His Name, we bear a double measure of guilt before the Lord. It is not
enough to preach using His Name, our preaching must be IN HIS NAME, i.e., every
Word consistent with the Word of God. Wealth, health, and fame does not cut it;
and neither does the preaching that denigrates the institution of God-ordained
marriage between one man and one woman. Our preaching should appeal to the
soul's urgent desire to repent and turn from the old man's way of sin.
Incumbent, too, upon the minister and laity is the responsibility to reach all
nations with the Gospel without dissent or discrimination (among all nations.) But, like the critic of
his neighbor's mote in the eye, we must shore up the beam in our own eye before
correcting his shortcoming.
Love begins at home and, if there is no love at home, it is unlikely that any
love can be showered from that home on the outside world. So preaching and
teaching begins at home (Jerusalem) and then extends to the larger family
beyond the walls of our homes.
Truly, we have heard and read the wonderful Words of Life from the Gospels,
Epistles, prophets, Law, and poets of Scripture. We are witnesses of that same
realized truth which the disciples came to know in our text today. "And ye are witnesses of these things."
"And, behold, I send the promise of my
Father upon you:" What
was the Promise of the Father? Was it not the same Promise of a Coming Seed of
Redemption made to Abraham and the Church in the Wilderness? And all who
believed that Promise, and believe today that Promise, are sons and daughters
of Abraham and the True Church of Christ.
" but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem,
until ye be endued with power from on high." The 'buts' of the
Bible have profound impact. Remember the mighty Naaman? "Now Naaman,
captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and
honourable, because by him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria: he was
also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper." 2
Kings 5:1 (KJV) All of his honor, valor, and victories were nullified by that
word BUT! The Apostles were of extraordinary courage, enlightenment and
effectiveness as preachers and evangelists of the Word in the years following
the Ascension of Christ; however, we are not empowered to act on our own, and
neither were the Apostles. They were not yet ready and equipped for the dangers
they would surely face. "Tarry
(wait) in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be
endued with the power on high." That power from on high was the
Holy Ghost given at Pentecost, or Whitsuntide. If not inspired of the
Holy Ghost, the most articulate and convincing of preachers is utterly useless.
We may know a lot of Scripture and be able to present it in an appealing style,
BUT, we are no more than a "tinkling cymbal." A sweet innocent child
will have greater capacity for truth than a hypocritical minister. Do you have?
