Luke 24: 35-48

Then the two went over everything that happened on the road and how they recognised him when he broke the bread.

While they were saying all this, Jesus appeared to them and said, “Peace be with you.” They thought they were seeing a ghost and were scared half to death. He continued with them, “Don’t be upset, and don’t let all these doubting questions take over. Look at my hands; look at my feet—it’s really me. Touch me. Look me over from head to toe. A ghost doesn’t have muscle and bone like this.” As he said this, he showed them his hands and feet. They still couldn’t believe what they were seeing. It was too much; it seemed too good to be true.

He asked, “Do you have any food here?” They gave him a piece of leftover fish they had cooked. He took it and ate it right before their eyes.

Then he said, “Everything I told you while I was with you comes to this: All the things written about me in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets, and in the Psalms have to be fulfilled.”

He went on to open their understanding of the Word of God, showing them how to read their Bibles this way. He said, “You can see now how it is written that the Messiah suffers, rises from the dead on the third day, and then a total life-change through the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed in his name to all nations—starting from here, from Jerusalem! You’re the first to hear and see it. You’re the witnesses.”

Gospel Reflection

We have trouble believing anything these days so we can’t feel too badly about the disciples. Actually that’s not true – we can believe in lots of things – ghost TV, fortune tellers, the Da Vinci Code and so did the disciples – their world was full of shades, spirits and demons.

And if they saw the Risen Christ then this was probably what they were expecting – a possessed body, something intangible, a shiver up and down their spine. But that wasn’t what appeared before them. Christ appeared from nowhere but then spoke; and not only spoke but ate – real food that was given to him, not conjured up. And still hard for the disciples to believe? Of course it is, it had never happened before, it was beyond belief – except it was true.

I am still overcome, more than halfway through Easter week now, how quietly and ordinarily Christ did this. This is the Resurrection – have you ever seen a painting or work of art that has treated this event so casually as Christ himself does? There’s always light, clouds, angels, an exuberance of something – but when Christ does it – it’s just him – him being the ‘more than enough’.