Touch: SALT’s Lectionary Commentary for Easter 3

Third Week of Easter (Year B): Luke 24:36b-48 and Acts 3:12-19

Check out SALT’s “Strange New World” podcast episode on theme of resurrection: “What Resurrection is For.”

Big Picture:

1) This is the third week of Eastertide (there are seven such weeks, poetically one more week than the six weeks of Lent). The gospel readings for these first three weeks of the season focus on stories of the risen Jesus appearing to his followers; the next four weeks will explore Jesus’ teachings about intimacy with God. The implication of this order of readings is that the Easter season isn’t just about the astonishing “wow!” of Jesus’ rising; it’s also — and preeminently — about the equally astonishing invitation for human beings to rise into greater intimacy and life together with God.

2) As we saw last week, a recurring theme in the resurrection appearance stories is how early Christian communities struggle to perceive and believe. Jesus has come back, but only a few have eyes to see; even his disciples need help recognizing him. What’s more, Jesus not only seems to look different; he also vanishes into thin air (Luke 24:31) and walks through locked doors (John 20:19). Is he some kind of spirit or ghost? This week’s passage in Luke addresses this question directly.

3) The passage from Acts 3 can easily be misinterpreted in anti-Jewish ways, and this danger should be explicitly named and confronted. It’s true that Peter addresses “Jews” directly, but he does so as a Jew himself, and he argues (as Jesus does in the Luke passage) that Jesus is the long-awaited messiah described in the ancient stream of Jewish thought and scripture. What's more, though Peter calls his listeners to repent, only a few pages earlier (Luke and Acts are written by the same author), Peter has denied and betrayed Jesus in a startlingly intimate, devastating way. He is the betrayer in chief, we might say, arguably more culpable than any of his audience, since unlike them he did not “act in ignorance” (Acts 3:17). First and foremost, the call to repentance is also addressed to the preacher! And please note: in this sermon Peter goes on to speak strikingly of a “universal restoration” — not the saving of a few, but the saving of all, regardless of creed, identity, or past behavior (Acts 3:21).

Scripture:

1) “Touch me and see,” Jesus says, directly addressing fears and doubts that, rather than a resurrected Jesus, they were actually seeing a ghost: “for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have” (Luke 24:39). Thus Luke frames Jesus’ act of showing his wounds as not only an act of demonstrating who he is (as in, “look, I’m the one you saw crucified”) but also an act of demonstrating his physicality (as in, “look, I’m a human being, not an ethereal spirit”).

2) Why was a physical resurrection important to early followers of Jesus? Why wouldn’t a ghostly apparition of him have been enough? First, the physicality of the resurrection strongly resonates with the physicality of the Incarnation: many in the ancient world (and today!) think of God as intangible or residing on some superior “spiritual” plane — but the Christmas witness is that God becomes flesh and dwells among us, clarifying that the physical world is indeed both “very good” (Genesis 1:31) and well-suited to being indwelt by divine presence and power. In this way, the physical Incarnation and the physical resurrection — Christmas and Easter — are bookends around the radiant good news that creation is profoundly, irradicably good. And second, the physicality of the resurrection underlines its astonishing, miraculous character, its sheer impossibility, and so strengthens its status as a decisive sign of the dawning of God’s realm (and of many more “impossibilities” to come).

3) This impossibility itself raises what may be the most important theme in this passage: the role of doubt in the life of faith. One of the most surprising things in this story is that, unlike the similar account in John (which we tackled last week), where Thomas initially doubts and then declares his faith with a stirring confession after touching Jesus’ wounds (John 20:24-28), Luke’s story doesn’t neatly resolve the disciples’ questions and skepticism. Jesus shows them his wounds, but they don't cry out in a chorus of belief. Instead we get what may be one of the best verses in all of scripture: “While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, Jesus said to them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’” (Luke 24:41). Jesus’ hunger and subsequent meal further demonstrate his physicality, of course, but don’t miss the scene’s overall dynamics: the disciples are joyful, disbelieving, and still wondering, and Jesus, as if breaking their dumbfounded silence, asks for a snack! Indeed, miracle stories like this one should leave us continually “taken aback,” not settled into certainties of mere belief or mere disbelief. In this way, we may truly take our place among the “joyful, disbelieving, wondering” disciples, and turn our attention to what Jesus’ mission means for us today: feeding the hungry person right in front of us, for starters! "Have you anything here to eat?"

Takeaways:

1) Since this passage is the last of the three resurrection appearance stories this Eastertide, this may be a perfect week to name and explore what resurrection means in our lives today. As we touched on last week, Jesus’ resurrection gives rise to the disciples’ resurrection — and in turn, they (and we!) are sent out as apostles to help give rise to countless resurrections of others through changed hearts (“repentance”) and God’s mercy (“forgiveness of sins”).

2) The risen Jesus is no ghost! Like Christmas day, Easter is an affirmation and celebration of the goodness of creation generally, and of the human body in particular. When the Word becomes flesh at Christmas, the gesture underscores that the human body is “very good” (Genesis 1:31), a vessel well-suited to divinity; and accordingly, the risen Jesus does not cast his “flesh and bones” aside. “Touch me,” he says, “and see” (Luke 24:39). In an age of widespread loneliness and isolation, this theme of “touch” may be more poignant and important than ever.

3) Like last week, this is a perfect time to name, affirm,  and explore the role of doubt and disbelief in the life of faith. Should a disciple’s goal be a settled, solemn “belief”? Luke’s story suggests otherwise. A blend of joy, disbelief, and wondering would seem much closer to the astonishment a miracle is supposed to engender — and after all, such a state of joy/disbelief/wonder may well keep our hearts and minds humble and open to whatever the Spirit may do next. Viewed from this angle, it may be more orthodox, not less, to say (with a twinkle in our eyes), “I am astounded by the physical resurrection!” rather than (with flat solemnity) “I am convinced of it.” Herein lies a glimpse of the difference between mere “belief” and a living, growing faith. These ancient stories, to which we rightly return again and again, aim to astonish us, to leave us “taken aback,” to call into question our assumptions about what may or may not be "possible" and “impossible,” and so to invite us into an open-minded, open-hearted posture of disbelief, wonder, and joy.

Check out SALT’s “Strange New World” podcast episode on theme of resurrection: “What Resurrection is For.”