The Gospel reading for the 3 rd Sunday of Easter continues with another appearance of the Risen Lord, this time to the Eleven and other disciples gathered with them in Jerusalem. This narrative depicts a process by which the disciples came to believe in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, leading to the call for them to be his witnesses to all nations.
It begins with two of the disciples who encountered the Risen Lord on their way to Emmaus returning to the community of disciples in Jerusalem and recounting how the Lord was made known to them in the breaking of the bread. And “while they were still speaking about this, he (Christ) stood in their midst and said to them, Peace be with you” Luke 24:36.
The Risen Lord’s sudden appearance in this closed-door gathering (John 20:19) frightened the disciples who thought they were seeing a ghost. Calling out the disciples’ unbelief, the Risen Lord invited them to see and touch the marks of the crucifixion on his hands and feet. After seeing the Risen Lord’s hands and feet, the disciples were “incredulous with joy and were amazed” – they were joyful but had not yet come to full belief.
The Risen Lord then asked for something to eat. When the disciples gave him baked fish, “he took it and ate it in front of them” (Luke 24:43)- which a ghost would not be able to do. Continuing to help the disciples come to full belief, the Risen Lord reminded them of the prophecies he made about his passion, death and resurrection, which the disciples could not understand at that time (Luke 18:34). “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 and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled” (Luke 24:44).
Instructing them on the Scriptures, the Risen Lord opened the minds of the disciples on how his passion, death and resurrection fulfilled God’s plan for the salvation of mankind. The Lord revealed the disciples’ role in this plan: to preach repentance for the forgiveness of sins in Jesus’ name, and to witness to his passion, death and resurrection (Luke 24:46-48).
This Sunday’s Gospel reading speaks to me of God’s unsurpassable love: from Jesus’ death on the cross to save us from sin to his resurrection to conquer death for us. God’s love is at the heart of the Lord’s post-resurrection appearances to his disciples: to save them from fear and unbelief, to lead them to faith, to gather them into one Christian community and to commission them as his witnesses to all nations. Two thousand years later, God’s love continues to seek us. Every day at our parish, we celebrate the Sacrament of the Eucharist. There, the Risen Lord awaits us, to give us the fullness of his love: God himself in the Holy Eucharist. Come, let us gather together as his family of faith. Come, let us receive his love. Come, let us witness his love to the world.