THE RISEN CHRIST’S STORY

Luke 24: 36-48

Although what I am about to tell you is a legend and not Scriptural, it has truth, great truth, that relates to the risen Christ’s story. When Jesus went up into heaven after his ascension, he bore the scars from his earthly experience. One angel, who was busy with heavenly matters and was unaware of all that happened on earth to Christ, said “Master, it looked like you suffered terribly for them down there.” “Yes, it was painful” was his reply. “Do they know how much you love them and how important it was for you to do what you did?” “Most of them don’t know yet,” Christ replied. “A handful of people know in Jerusalem and Galilee.” “Then what will you do to let others know?” the angel asked him. “Christ replied, “I’ve asked Peter, James, John and a few others to tell people about me. If those people, in turn, believe, perhaps they will share that good news with others. If they don’t believe, or if they don’t share, well ….” His voice trailed off. “Yes I understand your idea” the angel persisted. But what if Peter, James, and John grow weary; and eventually they will die. And what if the people who come after them forget that they are supposed to share it, or don’t care enough to do the work? What other plans have you made to tell others about their salvation?” To which Christ looked the angel square in the eye, and with a steady voice, he said: “I have no other plans. I am counting on them.” I do not know if the physician Luke knew of that story, but what is apparent is that he wanted to tell Jesus’ story so that others would know him after he himself was gone. So he wrote a gospel, for a man named Theophilus, or some would say for a general population of Gentiles whom he called “Lovers of God” (Theo- philus). He continued his account in a book we call the Acts of the Apostles and included some vital information that we cannot find anywhere else. Today we are focusing on events that led up to (what tradition says is) the fortieth day after his resurrection when “Jesus ascended into heaven.” Luke reported all that was necessary to spread the good news of Jesus Christ to the whole world. The church is still in that business, and in the business of seeing that the right understanding of Christ, according to the witnesses, is not corrupted over time by misunderstanding. So Luke tells his readers and his listeners the truth: There in Jerusalem, two of the disciples walked with Jesus without realizing it and invited him to stay and dine with them. When he prayed and began to share the bread at the beginning of supper, they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight. Well, as they were telling the others about that, (as if any more proof was needed) Jesus himself stood next to them. Some accounts of Luke record that Jesus gave a traditional “Peace be with you” greeting which for him would have been the one word greeting, “Shalom.” Of course, such a thing does not happen every day so they were startled; Luke gave a glimpse into their thoughts saying they feared he was a ghost. But Jesus quickly reassured their senses that he was not: his presence announced that the man who died on a cross and whose body was put in a gifted grave not only had his body disappear as earlier accounts described; he actually, physically returned from the dead to visit them. To be doubly sure that readers and listeners believed him along with those who were in the room, we hear the great truth of his action: “See my hands, see my face; it’s me! (Or formally “It is I.”) He says “you can handle me now,” which meant they could touch his wounds, hug his body, whatever would convince them that he was real. “A spirit does not have a body.” An ancient belief that circulated in those days was that spirits did not need to eat since they were not mortal. So again he gives them convincing evidence of coming back from death: “Do you have anything to eat?” When they gave him some fish they had cooked, he ate it “right before their eyes.” Now the most important for them and for us was about to be shared: he had proven he was who he said he was, then he reminded them that his worked fulfilled what had been preached: That “the Christ should suffer, (check), that he will rise from the dead (check) on the third day (check, according to Jewish counting customs) and now they were at this point- “that repentance (John the Baptist’s message) and forgiveness (the message of Jesus and of Torah) should be preached in his name (Jesus’ name) to all nations. Luke made sure not to leave those last three words out that Jesus’ said: to all nations. All nations were to get the invitation of salvation, not just the Jews; Jesus came that all might be saved through him. Their task began in Jerusalem where they were, providentially the city that held the Temple of God and most needed to hear the new message. Our Lord Jesus almost took their faces in his hands, perhaps pointing to everyone one of them saying "you are witnesses of these things." Even back in Jesus’ day, persons who were witnesses of events were responsible to tell others about them if they involved 1) Breaking a moral law or 2) describing a cataclysmic shift in world order. One time we lived next to a man who beat and threw his dog; I hated seeing that and I hated the involvement and repercussion of reporting it; but once I had seen it, I was responsible. Witnesses have such responsibility. In countless numbers of instances, I have witnessed the Spirit of our Living God in Christ changing the lives of those who invite him into their heart. Countless times it has happened creating a cataclysmic shift in world order. Our world can be transformed if people choose to know God and follow Christ. And so again, I have a mandate to tell his story; the story of the risen Christ; the story that was so important that Luke and others recorded it; the story so important that apostles, martyrs, and disciples lost their lives professing Christ. We are recipients of Christ’s Great Commission too: “Go ye into all the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you.” (Mt. 28:18-20) The message is handed to us today because of many faithful witnesses who, if they had not carried out the Great Commission, might never have changed the world. If they had not spoken, or acted, or in some cases, died, for the sake of Christ, our lives would be all the poorer. Back when Communist rule kept tight reins in the Soviet Union, millions of people knew nothing of salvation or joy or new life. They knew sameness, monotony, utilitarianism, and forced devotion to the regime. When some devoted Christian missionaries slipped into the country decades ago, they started some underground churches. With the tight reign on even the Russian Orthodox Church at the time, people were hungry for hope; hungry for help; hungry for the Word of God. After President Reagan made his famous challenge: “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” millions of Bibles poured into Russia and a groundswell of Christianity has been planted. If you think all the world has already heard about Christ, think again. There are still lots of walls to be torn down, especially around the human will and the human heart. There are walls around the hearts of some of your neighbors, some of your co-workers and some of your classmates. A frontal attack may not be fruitful; but, to use Jesus’ analogy, be a farmer who plants the seeds of the gospel. Some will grow; some will most definitely grow. Do not fail the next generation; keep sharing the gospel or start sharing it if, up until this time, you thought evangelizing was just for evangelists. Remember: Jesus is counting on us: he has no other plan.

Jeffrey A. Sumner April 30, 2006