What has changed,
now that Christ is risen?
Jesus’ disciples
were surely the first to ask themselves this question. When, in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus appears to the
disciples, showing them his hands and his
feet, and then, of all things, asking,
Have you anything here to eat?, the
disciples aren’t quite sure what kind of body they are dealing with. What they do know is that something about
Jesus resonates with them – the disciples have had a tangible experience of
something, someone familiar, and they feel once again the deep connection that
has always existed between them and the Lord.
They are witnesses of these things,
without yet entirely understanding them.
Once the disciples
go out into the community, they seem to be better equipped to answer the
question, what has changed, now that
Christ is risen? In the Acts of the Apostles, Peter calls the people to transformation: Repent,
and be converted, that you might have knowledge not just of the physical
body of Jesus, God’s servant, who has
been put to death, but of the
spiritual life Christ invites you to. Only then will you know security in your dwelling, as
Psalm 4 describes it, for the Lord does
wonders for his faithful one. Moreover, only from this place of conversion,
the First Letter of John explains, can we know fully the gift that is Jesus,
our Advocate, Jesus, expiation for our sins. To know
him, we must keep his word,
follow his commandments, be attentive to the relationship he offers us. To know
him, we must allow the word to enter us, to take flesh in us, to join with
us, to connect with us, to resonate in us.
When we do, then that relationship changes us, helps us to see our new
identity, based in intangibles rather than tangibles, an identity in which the love of God can be truly perfected in us.
What has changed in you, now that Christ is risen?
This post is based
on Fr. Pat’s Scripture class.
Image source: www.wordle.net
