“Evidence that demands a response”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Thursday, April 24, 2025
Luke 24: 36b-48 (Forward, p. 85) CEV p. 1098
Today, in our account from Luke, we hear of yet another encounter between our risen Lord and His disciples. It was Easter Sunday evening and Peter and the two disciples from the Emmaus Road experience were telling the assembled group about having seen Jesus. Then, all of a sudden (or so it would seem), Jesus appeared in their midst and greeted them. Understandably, they were frightened and terrified, because they thought they were seeing a ghost.
Jesus then reassured them by showing them His hands and feet and inviting them to touch them. Furthermore, He proceeded to eat some baked fish right there while they watched, as evidence that He really did have flesh and bones.
That, however, was not the end of the story. This evidence was ‘supposed’ to garner a response, namely some action on their parts. They are to go out to every nation and tell them everything that had happened and call them to repentance, to turning back to God. And that indeed is something that all of us should remember: Jesus’ resurrection, His victory over death, sin and evil, is something so important and so momentous that we should not, indeed, cannot, keep it to ourselves—as some kind of private treasure. No, we need to share it, to proclaim it, to all comers, regardless of who they might be.
Forward notes: “Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ They were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost” (verses 36b-37).
“Have you ever wondered what Jesus looked like in these post-resurrection gospel stories? In Luke’s Gospel, it is recorded that the disciples ‘thought they were seeing a ghost.’ The Hebrew word for ghost is ruach r’faiym; the Greek word for ghost is pneuma (φᾰ́ντᾰσμᾰ). Both words mean breath,
life, or spirit. With that context, it’s clear that we’re not talking about an animated ‘Casper’ type of ghost but rather Jesus as Spirit, fully present, fully divine.
“Perhaps practicing resurrection in our daily lives means developing a richer spiritual dimension. Have you ever had the experience of a presence that is not necessarily visible but fully present? Have you ever felt the comfort of a presence that you cannot explain except to say, ‘I think I saw a ghost?’
“May the breath and presence of the living Christ be with you this day and always.”
A concluding thought: I can’t be totally sure what today’s author is ‘getting at’, but Jesus in His post-resurrection appearances was far more than ‘a presence that is not necessarily visible but fully present’. He was fully human, fully physical in having a flesh and bones body, one just like ours but no longer subject to sin or death or degradation. It, as our gospel takes great pains to point out, could be seen and touched and even eat solid food, baked fish no less. Jesus, in His resurrection, was far more than ‘just’ a spiritual presence, comforting, near, but invisible to the human eye.