Sermon 04.14.24 – The Embodiment of Christ

3rd Sunday of Easter

Acts 3:12-19; Psalm 4; 1 John 3:1-7; Luke 24:36b-48

Luke 24:36b-48

^36bJesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” ³⁷They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. ³⁸He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? ³⁹Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” ⁴⁰And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. ⁴¹While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” ⁴²They gave him a piece of broiled fish, ⁴³and he took it and ate in their presence.
 ⁴⁴Then Jesus said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” ⁴⁵Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, ⁴⁶and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. ⁴⁸You are witnesses of these things.”

. . .

The Embodiment of Christ

Grace to you, beloved of God, and peace from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Much later in life, I learned the term experiential learner. After that, I began to use it as an excuse for every time I did not listen. Parents complained: You don’t listen! Wife complained: You don’t listen! Children warned: Dad, listen! Stop! I must do it myself, see how it goes, and learn from what I do wrong. I am an experiential learner.

Again, we find our beloved disciples in crisis after the resurrection. It looks like a common reaction upon discovering that their world was turned upside down, and they are sent to proclaim the good news in word and deed to the world, beginning from where they were. I don’t blame them.

Three times between Peter acknowledging that Jesus was the Messiah way back when and this scene, Jesus said he would be killed, and two times he said he would rise again. They did not listen. They were more worried about jockeying for position, trying to figure out who would be the greatest in the coming kingdom because the Messiah would be king. Well, it happened like he said it would. He is Jesus, after all.

At least they seem to be learning from this experience with a big help from the resurrected Christ. He appears to them, bringing peace. He comforts them. He shows his wounds. He eats with them. See, it is really me. They remain startled, of course. It is a lot! But they seem to be transitioning from fear to joy. Jesus is helping them believe, and they are beginning to understand as Christ embodies himself for them. He is not a ghost. He is flesh, blood, and scars. His presence opens their minds so they can fully comprehend. We see you now, rabbi. Now go and tell, you are witnesses of these things.

Later, the Spirit will come, the church will be born, and they will begin this witnessing thing of embodying Christ themselves. In Acts—which is Luke part II—they publicly heal a person born unwell and who used to beg by one of the temple gates in the name of Jesus. Later, this person is brought inside, and the crowd is literally ecstatic—the Greek word for amazement is Ekstasis—about the healed person.

It is at this point that Peter enters our Acts reading and addresses the people: you Israelites! Never, ever use the second person pronoun when upset. Take a deep breath. If that is not enough, take another one. Chances are someone is going to be unjustly accused of something.

Specifically, in the case of Peter, he had been called Satan; he had denied and abandoned Jesus, and he was locked inside, afraid and in crisis. The power he now seems to have was granted to him only because Jesus appeared to him, helped him believe, and opened the meaning of God’s intentions for salvation to him. It was not his own doing. It was a gift. It was a gift that Jesus chose to give to him in due time. Now, he was simply asked to go and tell, to share the gift with others, not to accuse them of stuff, without even knowing they were there, especially when they are celebrating the power of what can be done in Jesus’ name. Peter needed a lesson on non-violent communication.

I get it. Most of us have been there. To bear witness to what most of the world disagrees with can be daunting. We want the good news of Jesus Christ proclaimed. We get frustrated when others do not seem to listen or understand. Add the trauma of past experiences, and Peter had a few, and we will find ourselves communicating violently and not constructively.

We can’t embody Christ and build the church of living stones by communicating in destructive ways. We can’t assist others in being set free if we oppress them. Judgment, shaming, and accusations will accomplish nothing. Only the exchange of generous love will accomplish this.

However, we are experiential learners, after all. We can be slow learners, too. The old self dies a hard death. Every day, we see the damage that intolerance and retaliation do, and we often don’t think of how much more can be accomplished with repentance, forgiveness, kindness, patience, and love. Yet, this is the example Jesus set for us. May our Lord Christ keep opening our minds so we remain witnesses of better things. Thanks be to God. Amen.