10.30am Easter 3 April 14 2024
Easter 3
Luke 24: 36b-48
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
‘There is no hope but to try to have no fear’. Many years
ago a friend of mine, who is a songwriter, heard these
words from a woman who had escaped violent oppression
in her country. They lodged deeply in his mind and from
them, he wrote a song called Hope and Fear.
‘Do not be afraid’ could be described as the first and last
words of the gospel. They are the words that are said to
Mary, when the angel Gabriel announces to her that she is
to be the mother of God’s son. They are the words said to
the disciples as they watch Christ ascend into heaven.
In today’s reading we see the disciples—overcome with
fear—gathered together behind lock doors. They are
finding it difficult to process the events of Holy Week and
Easter, added to this there are now reports of Jesus
appearing to some of their number. It is no wonder that
they are surprised when Jesus suddenly appears amongst
them. He is there to try to help them to be free of the
overwhelming fear that has been their most prevalent
emotion since his death. He is there not only to calm and
reassure them, but also to open their minds and their
hearts.
Fear is a very natural and normal human response to threat
or uncertainty. I imagine it would be our response in their
position. Jesus is aware of this and wants to put them at
ease; he does this in two ways. First of all he extends his
peace to them in those familiar words ‘peace be with you’.
This is—of course—a very familiar phrase to us and one
we will use later in a slightly different form as we extend
the peace to each other before receiving Holy
Communion.
Then Jesus gently challenges their fears, asking them ‘why
do doubts arise in your hearts’. Next he invites them to
touch him to see that he is ‘flesh and bones’. He extends
his hands to show them the marks of the nails, he indicates
his feet. And in a touching gesture of normality, he
enquires as to whether they might have something for him
to eat. I have always found this request particularly
poignant remembering how he would have eaten with his
disciples in so many contexts culminating—of course—on
Holy Thursday, saying ‘do this in remembrance of me’.
All of these gestures help the disciples to move, not just
into normality, but beyond normality. We often hear the
phrase ‘the new normal’, and this is certainly an example of
it! Jesus has transcended death and he needs to bring the
disciples with him beyond their understanding of death as
being the end.
Slowly, their fear lessens and they begin to hope. Yet they
are human and Jesus perceives that there are some
lingering concerns in their hearts. Perhaps it is a little bit
too much for their minds to take in—of course, they are
glad to see him, but how can it be? Jesus’s next action is to
remind them of how he would have explained things to
them when he was alive. We have many examples of this
threaded through scripture. Jesus acts and then explains—
contextualises if you like. An act of healing is followed by
an explanation. Words of wisdom are demonstrated by a
parable.
In this case, Jesus uses familiar words of scripture to
remind them of the prophecy. He reminds them of
everything that had been written about him in the Law of
Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms. With this we are told
he opens their minds so that they can understand the
scriptures. Once they have heard them from Jesus’s lips
the words have a new meaning for them. Once the words
have been embedded into their hearts, they are then
commissioned. Jesus tells them ‘you are witnesses of these
things’. The seeds that will come to fruition on Pentecost
have now been sown by Jesus. Their fear has become hope.
We too have fears. They may be personal—such as a fear
of illness or unemployment, loneliness or loss. There are
global fears—such as the warming of our planet, war or
terrorist attacks. Sometimes we find it difficult to talk
about our fears and they can hold us captive. If this is the
case it can become difficult to allow ourselves to witness to
the great hope that is ours, the joy of the resurrection.
Perhaps we might take some comfort from the way that
Jesus turned the disciples’ fears into hope, one step at a
time.
Maybe the first step is to be willing to accept some risk in
our lives. The writer Dorothee Soelle, in her writing on the
human desire to feel safe says ‘change happens at the level
of action that contains risk’. We might feel more or less
comfortable with that statement, depending on our
circumstances. However, it does challenge us to think
about the notion of losing our life in order to save it, as
Jesus says.
In some way, hope means stepping outside of our comfort
zones and embracing a little bit of what I might call
‘responsible risk’. As people of the resurrection and
Christians called to proclaim the gospel, we may often find
ourselves slightly outside those places of absolute certainty
and comfort.
Today we are told that Jesus came and stood amongst his
disciples and said ‘peace be with you’. As another Gospel
mentions ‘then were they glad when they saw the Lord’.
We may not have the joy of beholding, our Lord and
saviour, face-to-face right now, but we can strive to see the
face of Christ in others. If we can reach out to each other
in hope, then together we can face any fears. Because
‘There is no hope but to try to have no fear’.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.