Saturday, April 21, 2012

Easter Encounter

3rd Sunday of Easter April 22, 2012 (Lk 24:35-48)

Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

While they were still speaking about this, he stood in their midst and said to them, "Peace be with you." But they were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost. Then he said to them, "Why are you troubled? And why do questions arise in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have." 

And as he said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed, he asked them, "Have you anything here to eat?" They gave him a piece of baked fish; he took it and ate it in front of them.

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 and in the prophets and 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 would suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins, would be preached in his name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.


Still probably frustrated by the apparent defeat on the cross, Jesus' apostles could not believe what they were hearing from their two fellow disciples. The two were sharing to them that Jesus has been truly risen and that they have encountered Him. Then Jesus Himself appeared to them; they encountered Him themselves. Nevertheless, this encounter did not dispel all their doubts. Only after Jesus ate in front of them were they able to believe that Jesus indeed rose from the dead.

Like the apostles, we sometimes focus too much on the shame of defeat. We cannot move on from the scandal of the cross, from the sufferings and trials we face daily. Even when God is right there waiting for us to approach Him in prayer, we cannot see Him because we think He's dead. We easily lose hope and we fail to see that He is alive!

But Jesus Himself restores our sight during those moments when we cannot even see Him. He increases our faith. He makes us realize that He truly is alive and is with us, just as He Himself supplied for the apostles' lack of faith. In that way, we encounter the Risen Lord as the apostles did.

The encounter with the Risen Lord doubles as a commissioning. After Jesus helped the apostles realize that He was indeed risen, He opened their minds so they may understand the scriptures. Then they understood the importance of Jesus' death on the cross. It wasn't defeat. It was God's love which triumphed over sin and death. And then as witnesses of these things, the apostles had the mission to preach this good news to all.

As we recognize Jesus and encounter Him in our lives, we too begin to understand the meaning of the trials and hardships we encounter. When we join our sufferings with Jesus' own passion, our sufferings make more sense. We learn that God has the power to bring about great things out of our hardships. We realize that Easter is real and that there will always be Easter for us. We shall no longer mourn under the cross but we shall rejoice at the empty tomb - at the very symbol that death and sin is no more. Then as true witnesses and as people who encountered Him, we can not keep this great joy to ourselves. Instead we must echo this encounter in our every word and deed, affirming by the way we live that Jesus is indeed alive!

As we continue our Easter journey, may we not simply believe or convince ourselves that Jesus did rise from the dead many years ago. May Easter be truly an experience for us - an encounter with the Risen Lord Himself. And may the rest of our days be a true and faithful witness of He who is stronger that death!

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