– Luke 24:36-49 – The early Church Fathers had to deal with heretics called Docetists who denied the physical resurrection of Jesus, saying it was only a spiritual resurrection, and that His appearances were that of a phantasm, or else hallucinations by His followers. This heresy persists to this day: the Jehovah’s Witnesses deny the bodily resurrection of Christ. But Jesus dispels any sort of nonsensical ideas in Sunday’s Gospel. He appears in the flesh – Why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have – and eats food. This eyewitness account also gives us the assurance of the physical resurrection of Jesus, and of all believers, as we confess in the Creed.
The disciples could not believe that the risen Christ was real because of joy., They were so glad to see Him that they could not believe it was true. Usually joy follows believing, or there is the joy of believing. In this case the presence of the living crucified one was so overwhelming that they had joy even before they believed. Their joy attests to their love and appreciation for Him. Their joy is a witness to the reality of the Resurrection, for it was a response to His presence. The joy of Easter, then, is not in flowers, eggs, clothing, or candy. It is in the presence of the risen Lord.
Collect for Easter 3 – O almighty and eternal God, who hast bestowed on us the paschal mysteries in the token of the covenant of man’s redemption, give us the will to show forth in our lives that which we profess with our lips; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen. -16 April, 2021
The 1877 painting “The road to Emmaus,” Robert Zünd 1826-1909 [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.
[1] Collect for Easter 3, Lutheran Servicie Book © 2006 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis
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