Easter III: You Are My Witnesses

Luke 24 contains a train of narratives about the day of the Lord’s resurrection. In 24:36-49, we find an account where Jesus appears to the disciples “while they were still speaking about these things”. “These things” are the events narrated by two disciples who were coming from Emmaus. The account of the appearance of the Lord starts as one of recognition and ends as one of mission.

Relevant Articles

• Jesus’ Victory Meal
• 1 John: That You May Not Sin…
• Sunday Thoughts: You Are My Witnesses

Guide for Reading the Text

1. Note that v. 36 is linked to v. 35. The disciples were still talking about the experience of the disciples going to Emmaus when Jesus appears.
2. Jesus “stands in the midst”, in an obvious allussion to Psalm 22:22 “in the midst of the brothers I will declare your name, in the midst of the Church I will sing my praise to You (LXX)”
3. The appearance-narrative is set within a “Victory Meal” genre where the victor gives a victory speech in a celebratory banquet. Here, the victory speech has the tone of “I told you so…” The expression “it is necessary that…” is a Lucan characteristic that emphasizes the coherence of the events of Jesus’ paschal mystery with the plan of God.
4. Jesus shows his hands and feet to emphasize that there is a continuity between the Crucified Christ and the Resurrected Lord. Even Luke will not accept the Bultmannian dichotomy between the Christ of History and Christ of Faith.
5. Luke emphasizes that Jesus is not some “spirit”, since no ghost eats. The Jews — such were the first disciples — were familiar with the “spirits of the dead” (Gn. 18:2; 1 Samuel 28:13-14; Daniel 8:45; 12:5).
6. The mandate of Jesus to the disciples is that they give witness to the resurrection and proclaim forgiveness of sins to all the nations beginning from Jerusalem. In Matthew, the mission begins from “Galilee of the Nations” which in his gospel is like the microcosm of the whole world. The catholic intentionality of the gospel is emphasized. Luke however underlines the significance of Jerusalem¹.
7. Note that the mission has as one of its primary content, the proclamation of the forgiveness of sins. With Luke’s emphasis on mercy and forgiveness and his portrayal of Jesus as the friend of sinners, we should realize that such a proclamation is not only by speech but also through the witness of a community that forgives because composed of men and women who have been forgiven.

Comparing the Readings

The three readings offered for the Third Sunday of Easter (Year B) are related to one another by accomodation. The reality of the Resurrection which is emphasized by the challenge of Jesus to see his hands and feet, to touch him and to give him something to eat is at the background of the reassuring words in 1 John about the Advocate, Jesus Christ the Just/Righteous One. The title “dikaios” as applied to Jesus in the speech of Peter in Acts 3 (and in 1 Jn. to both God and Jesus) stresses not only his innocence of the crimes for which he was crucified but also for his condition as Lord who never fails in fulfilling the covenant.

In 1 John, Jesus is called the Advocate and the atonement for sins. Here, the image of Jesus as the one who intercedes for Christians and defends them in the divine court is similar to the picture of the High Priest portrayed in the Letter to the Hebrews (cf. Heb. 9:11-15)

¹¹But Christ, being come an high Priest of the good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hand, that is, not of this creation:
¹² Neither by the blood of goats or of calves, but by his own blood, entered once into the Holy of Holies, having obtained eternal redemption.
¹³ For if the blood of goats and of oxen, and the ashes of an heifer, being sprinkled, sanctify such as are defiled, to the cleansing of the flesh:
¹⁴ How much more shall the blood of Christ, who by the Holy Ghost offered himself unspotted unto God, cleanse our conscience from dead works, to serve the living God?
¹⁵ And therefore he is the mediator of the new testament: that by means of his death for the redemption of those transgressions which were under the former testament, they that are called may receive the promise of eternal inheritance. (Douay-Rheims)

Suggestions for the Lesson

Please read the Sunday Thoughts for the third Sunday of Easter for some pointers on how to relate the reading from Luke to the Christian life.

One can also highlight the connection between the sacrament of baptism and that of reconciliation/confession on the basis of the reading from 1 John 2:1-6