“We are witnesses”

This is the manuscript for the sermon preached on 21/22 April 2012, the third Sunday of Easter.  The Gospel test is Luke 24: 36b-48.

“They were startled and terrified, and they thought that they were seeing a ghost.”  These are the words Luke uses to describe the reaction of the disciples to seeing the risen Jesus standing in their midst.  Fear and wonder grips them, they are not sure what to think in that moment.  But let’s give them a bit of a break.  After all, it had been a long day.   

The tomb had only been open for a few hours.  It was only earlier that same morning that the women had returned from the tomb with astonishing news that the tomb was empty, Jesus had been raised.  Peter was so intrigued that he ran all the way from the house to see for himself.  He got to the tomb, saw the linen grave cloths, and walked back amazed.

            A little later that afternoon two more disciples, Cleopas and another, were on their way to the village of Emmaus when they were met by a stranger.  It’s not until dinner that evening and the breaking of the bread that their eyes are opened and they recognize Jesus.  Luke tells us that in that same hour they ran all the way back to Jerusalem and share their story with the disciples. 

            And amidst the flutter of excitement and storytelling of that first Easter who should show up, but Jesus.  He speaks a greeting of “Peace be with you” and the familiar scene of Jesus showing the disciples his hands and his feet begins to play out.  Jesus assures those gathered that he is not a ghost, he shows them his hands and his feet, he invites them to touch and see, he asks for a piece of fish and eats in their presence.  But there is still doubt and disbelief. 

In the soft light of that early morning there had been doubt at the tomb.  The disciples on their way to Emmaus did not recognize Jesus in their midst.  And the disciples in that upper room were still unsure of what they were seeing.  Luke tells us that in their joy they were disbelieving, that they were still wondering what had taken place.

            Because even though Jesus shows the disciples his hands and his feet, even though he invites them to touch and see, even though he eats in their midst, the question of resurrection still looms in the shadows of the story.  Even though Jesus speaks and invites and eats, the disciples who were there to listen and respond and watch still had their doubts.  Those who were there on that first Easter still looked at the risen Jesus with wonder and fear.

            Was this the same Jesus who had called them as disciples?  Was this the same Jesus who told all of those parables?  Was this the same Jesus that fed five thousand people with a few loaves and fish?  Jesus had told them over and over that he would suffer and die and on the third day rise again, but could these things have actually taken place?  In life, Peter had confessed Jesus to be the Messiah, the Anointed one.  The disciples grew up with stories of the Messiah.  The whole of Israel had waited for generations for the Messiah to come.  Could Jesus really be the one?  Could Jesus really be the Messiah?

            I am sure that their fear and wonder was wrapped up in questions like these.  They had watched Jesus die on Friday.  They had seen his body placed in the tomb.  Even though Jesus said he would rise on the third day, the cold facts of life had taught the disciples that death was final.  Death only leaves a body and tears of mourning.  And yet there was Jesus, standing in their midst.        

            And Jesus, seeing their doubt, knowing that they were struggling to put together what was right in front of them, turns to something that they all knew to help them to understand.  Jesus turns to the scriptures.  Jesus turns to the stories they had grown up with; the stories that were etched in their bones.  And beginning with Moses and the Law, the prophets and the psalms, Jesus reminds his disciples that everything that had been written about him must be fulfilled.   Jesus opens their minds to understand the scriptures.

            Even in the midst of their fear and doubt, Jesus does not turn away.  He looks on with love and gives the disciples the tools to connect the dots.  He points them to a story they all knew.  Connects his ministry to what God had been doing all along.  It is in the story of scripture that Jesus grounds his resurrection.  He points back to the Law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms and reminds his disciples that the story of scripture had always been moving toward him.  Jesus has come to fulfill what was spoken by the prophets.  Jesus was and is and always will be the Messiah that God sent into our world so that all people would have life.  The meaning of the resurrection lies in the story of what God has been doing all along; moving people from death to life, providing people with the opportunity for a relationship that gives new life, not one that takes life away.  In the story of scripture the disciples have the good news of how God has always been and always will be deeply love with the world, so that even death is no match for that love.  It is this story that Jesus helps the disciples to understand.  He opens their minds to understand the scriptures. 

            But this story cannot stay in that room.  Even amidst the fear and doubt there is a call from Jesus.  “You are witnesses to these things,” he tells the disciples.  The word needs to get out.  The preaching of repentance and forgiveness in Jesus’ name must begin, and not only in Jerusalem, but it must be taken to all nations.  And from that room the word spread.  Even in their fear and doubt they carried the good news from that room on the first Easter.  From Jerusalem to Galilee.  From the disciples to the early church.  From Paul to Corinth and Galatia and Rome.  From generation to generation.  Father to son.  Mother to daughter.  From grandparents to parents to you and me.

              And so here on the third Sunday of Easter, and perhaps even in our fear and doubt, Jesus points us back to the scriptures.  Remember the story he says.  It’s my story, Jesus says, the story of new life to the whole world.  You are witnesses to these things.  Each week we gather around the scriptures.  We hear the Gospel.  We are engaged with proclamation.  Perhaps you join in a Bible study.  Perhaps you talk about this story around the dinner table.  We are reminded of the story that God has been writing since the beginning of time.  The story about the depth of God’s love for the world.  A story that is centered in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  And we too are invited to share this story.  Remember, we too are witnesses.  With our words and deeds, with our hands and feet, we are witnesses to the good news of Jesus Christ.  From Trinity Lutheran to 26^th street.  From 59^th to Manatee.  From Sarasota to Tampa.  We are witnesses of Jesus Christ, the Messiah.  The one who was raised on that first Easter.  The one who is risen in our midst today and tomorrow.  Dear friends, we are witnesses.