Luke 24
"Why are you looking for the Living One in a cemetery?" Where are you looking for the Living One? They remembered Jesus' words and told the 11. The women kept telling the men, but they thought the women were making this up. They didn't believe a word.
But Peter...But Peter...thank you for being impetuous and impulsive, and daring enough to believe the possibility that the women were telling the truth. Thank you for venturing out on that limb! You weren't sure what you saw, but you know you saw something.
Road to Emmaus. When Jesus saddles up beside you as you discuss the things of life you don't understand (for some, perhaps today's election results?), do you recognize Jesus' presence? Can Jesus break into your deep conversation, into your questions? Jesus was all these wonderful things, and they killed him. We had our hopes up (Did they? As the prevailing feeling in Jerusalem was to crucify? Did their eyes open after the temple veil tore in two? Whose side were they on on Friday?). Story the women told. Empty tomb. No Jesus. Can I believe all that the prophets said? Today? Now? After all of that, and after all of my reading of Scripture? Fulfillment motif in Luke's gospel, too. What's your communion moment, when you have seen the presence of Christ in another, when bread breaks and you realize that you are part of one body, one baptism, one God of all? When have your eyes unexpectedly opened/been opened? Just a glimpse of that holy and Jesus disappears. He'd been there, but once recognized, goes away--is that then our invitation to carry forward the holy presence?
Ok...it's really happened. I"ve experienced it. Jesus shows up to the 11 as they are being told. Doubting disciples assured in the same way Thomas is in John's gospel--touch me...but we tend to pick on Thomas, when it's us.
Had to be looking at OT Scriptures, those available at the time. We have a tendency to imagine him showing them the NT, even the gospels, which would not have been written for decades...so it must be fulfillment. You're the witnesses.
EP: "Christ was the life affirmer. Joyful saints. Hilariousness of the saints, Tertullian. He became a Christian not because he'd studied the Scriptures, but because he'd seen the Christians and wanted what they had. Tolstoy saw in people who followed Jesus the power to face life and death with peace and joy. Post-resurrection joy is a creative power in the church, attracting people to Christ, sustaining them in suffering and temptation, and inciting new life throughout the world."
Hebrews 1-2
Too much religion is a bad thing. We can't get too much of God, can't get too much faith and obedience, can't get too much love and worship. But religion--the well-intentioned efforts we make to "get it all together" for God-can very well get in the way of what God is doing for us.
Main thing: What God has done, is doing, and will do for us. Our task is to live in responsive obedience to God's action revealed in Jesus. Our part in the action is the act of faith. When we get "too religious," we get in the way. Hebrews desires to cut through the stuff we add to Jesus and get back to solely God's action in Jesus. We ought to be on the way, not in the way.
Jesus bore the stamp of God's nature--only time that word "stamped" was used in the NT. Word of that time--having a person's authority and personality were representative of an image.
Salvation. This magnificent salvation. "7 times in Hebrews, more than any other book of the NT. (6 times in Acts, 5 times in Romans and 2 Corinthians) Salvation marks God's action in Jesus Christ whereby we're accepted just the way we are and by which we're in the process of being made whole, repaired of the ravages of sin and restored to our original splendor." EP
Jesus the Salvation Pioneer made perfect. Made perfect. Didn't Jesus come perfect? Interesting. Jesus puts himself in our family circle.
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