Acts 3:11-26; Ps 8 O Lord, our God how wonderful your name in all the earth!; Luke 24:35-48
Jesus once again shows himself in the upper room to his apostles. The gift he brings is forgiveness and peace.
Why does Jesus appears? A question that can only receive a speculative answer. But we can investigate the fruit of this appearance.
1)
He shows himself to be real. He is not some renegade spirit or some phantom or hallucination. He is real. He is alive. He sits, stands, talks, eats, and is touched.
Jesus is not distance but near at their side. Pope Francis pointed this out some time back, "Jesus is not up there far away. He is by our side. We should reach out to him." The distance we experience from Jesus is not his doing but ours.
2)Jesus reveals the necessity of the cross. The cross was not a last ditch effort or emergency back up plan. As JEsus tells us according to the law of Moses and the prophets the cross, suffering, death of Jesus was center stage of God's plan of bringing us back to him. This is why we have the crucifix in the sanctuary of the Catholic Church. we do not want to lose sight of the cost of freedom and love and peace as Jesus gives it. Too often we shift our focus and turn away from the that which makes the resurrection possible.
3) There remains a sense of urgency. Jesus speaks about going out to others to preach repentance and to offer them the peace he brings. To all nations we must go. Repentance begins with us but must not end there. The fruit of Christ passion is meant for all.
4) Assistance is on the way. We do not do this alone. In verse 49 Jesus speaks of being clothed with power. The Holy Spirit will be sent. B this narrative we understand what it means to live in the spirit: to proclaim the passion of Christ, to embrace the cross, to be instruments of forgiveness and peace, to go forth unceasingly.
He is Risen. He must rise in and through us daily to greet the world and to transform it.
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