Presence
/Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have. -Luke 24:39
This Sunday we’ll read the story from Luke of Jesus’ appearing resurrected among his disciples. Just as he did in the gospel of John, the first thing he does is show them his wounds. And he invites them to take a good look to prove to them that he’s not a ghost. He holds out his hands and feet and invites them to touch and examine them. And then, to really make sure they can see that he is alive, he asks if they have anything to eat, and when they give him a piece of fish, he eats it.
We may not know much about ghosts, but they probably don’t eat fish. Take the spirits in “A Christmas Carol,” for example. They don’t eat, they don’t invite Scrooge to examine or touch their body parts, and they don’t chow down. They’re just spirits - ghosts - not flesh and blood like living people. When you think of a spirit, or a ghost, what comes to mind? Something other-worldly? Transparent? A being that has to breathe? To eat or drink? Whatever it is, the author of Luke wants us to know that Jesus’ appearance wasn’t like that at all. Jesus was standing there - in the flesh.
In the Christian faith, we proclaim the resurrection of the body. It’s a pretty wild claim. “We will not die,” Paul wrote, “we will be raised.” Somehow, the perishable will put on the imperishable and we will be given a new body - not just a spirit or ghostly body. We don’t know quite how that’s supposed to look, even if as kids we imagined people living on clouds playing little harps.
So why does our faith make this bold claim of Jesus’ bodily resurrection - and ours, too, as his disciples? Outside of hospital recusitatations or zombie movies, most of us have never seen a dead person come back to life, so the Christian doctrine of resurrection is admittedly rather odd. What could it be all about? I have no concrete answers, but I have some good questions:
What could it mean when we say that Jesus is “incarnated” in human flesh, not only as a baby in a stable, but also after his crucifixion?
How is it that the disciples don’t always recognize the risen Christ at first? Has his human visage somehow changed? What makes them realize he’s really there among them? How do we perceive Christ among us now?
When we say we welcome one another as Christ, do we mean that Christ is present in the bodies of others?
How is Christ incarnated in us, his disciples?
The mystery of the incarnation, God becoming fully human just like us, is a powerful idea. It means God is not only far away and unknowable, as awesome as God is. It also means that somehow, we can get to know God in the flesh. In our flesh and in the flesh of others who live and breath, eat and drink.
During Easter, we sing “Christ the Lord is Risen Today,” we don’t sing, “Christ the Lord Rose Once Centuries Ago and People Recognized Him That Day.” What does it mean that we sing that Christ has risen today - in the present tense? How are we called to see, touch and feed the risen Christ - today?
Alleulia, Christ is risen. Christ is risen indeed.
