Luke 24:41 “Do you have anything here to eat?” (NIV)
It is the kind of question that your son returning home from college would ask. It is a family kind of question. It is the kind of question that only a friend would feel free to ask. It reveals intimacy and confidence in the relationship. “Do you have anything here to eat?”
More importantly, theologically, this question of Jesus made to his disciples when he appeared to them after the crucifixion makes clear the message of the bodily resurrection. The living Christ was not a vision. He was certainly not a ghost though that thought came to the disciples. He had a body. He could speak. They could touch his scars. He could eat and drink with them. At his request "they gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence." (vv. 42-43) He was alive.
The promise of the Gospel is bodily resurrection for us, too. Our bodies will be transformed. “The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.” (1 Corinthians 15:42-44)
The bodily resurrection of Christ affirms the physical creation. When God looked upon his creation he said that it was good. (Genesis 1:18) He said that it was very good. (Genesis 1:31) God loves us, including our bodies, and so God came in flesh, and so Jesus was raised bodily.
Creation is good. The body is good. Human life is very good. Our sins have marred God's creation and brought death, but God came in Christ to redeem us--all that we are--that we might be raised to eternal life.
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Video Series. Judy and I have been enjoying a series of videos we found in our public library. They are entitled, “Bless Me, Father.” This British situation comedy describes the adventures of an Irish Catholic priest and his young curate in the fictional parish of St. Jude’s in suburban London in 1950. They are very funny--at least to one whose life has been in church ministry they are very funny--and insightful. In one episode the older priest explains why his curate should be sympathetic toward the rich as well as the poor. He explains that the rich do not have the comfort of the illusion that money will solve every problem.
Grandchildren. Around the front door to our house there are panes of glass. Judy and I have noticed a smudge on the glass which always reappears even though we have cleaned it away regularly. This week we realized that Mr. Happy whose is about as tall as the smudge presses his nose against the glass and flashes his big smile whenever he comes to see us. We’ve stopped cleaning the smudge now. It makes us happy to see it, and we know that it will too soon go away.
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