Easter is two weeks ago now, but it is still Easter in today’s Gospel. Just before the passage we read a moment ago, two disciples are walking home from Jerusalem to Emmaus. It’s afternoon and it’s been a painful, confusing day. Some women in the group had reported seeing a vision of angels who told them Jesus was alive. Afterwards others had rushed to the tomb and came back confirming that Jesus’ body was gone. These two don’t know what to believe. They are in shock. As they walk along, sharing their experiences, they are joined by someone who doesn’t seem to know what happened three days ago. So they tell him. He listens, then shows them how Scripture foretold these events they are describing. They clearly want to hear more, so when they reach home, they invite him to spend the night. As they sit down to share a meal, he blesses and breaks bread then gives it to them. Suddenly they recognize who this stranger is, and he vanishes from their sight. Not losing a minute, they get up and rush back to Jerusalem. They find the other disciples and tell them what happened to them on the road. This is where today’s Gospel begins.
While these two are still telling their story Jesus appears again. “Peace be with you,” he says, to a startled and terrified group. They think they are seeing a ghost. It seems odd Jesus would ask why they think this? He must be teasing! He knows full well why they would be shocked to see him standing there. As reassurance, he asks them to really look at him, to look at his hands and feet, to touch him and feel the flesh of his body. He goes even further and asks for something to eat. They give him a piece of fish and he eats it in front of them like a normal person. They must be dumbfounded! What is this all about? What is going on here?
It is really important to these gospel writers that Jesus is not erased from memory, which is the true purpose of crucifixion in the Roman empire. This form of execution used for traitors and criminals, is also used against anyone who threatens the status quo of Roman authority. That status quo depends on the hierarchical structuring of society. In one of his daily meditations recently, Richard Rohr pointed out that “power systems like to preserve a hierarchy in which some people are higher and some are lower.” This maintains a structure of dominance and submission, which is what power ‘systems’ are all about.
Jesus, of course, didn’t accept that. From all we can know about his life and mission, he was fully dedicated to recognizing and respecting the equality of every person and the inestimable value of every BODY. He respected and empowered those at the bottom of Rome’s hierarchy by healing their bodies, blessing them, even protecting them as with the woman about to be stoned. He saw himself on a level playing field, whether having a meal with tax collectors, Pharisees or fishermen. He was equally at ease with Samaritans, lepers, the poor and condemned, and with disciples, both women and men. He made no distinctions and, through story and example, continually taught that his Abba, the Holy One, makes no distinctions either. Rome determined to stamp out this view, attempting not only to kill the messenger but to destroy the message itself. It endangered the empire.
The poor and marginalized were uplifted and inspired by Jesus’ teachings. The fishermen, healed lepers, women benefactors, maligned tax collectors, and even some of the Jewish leaders followed him. He was growing a movement and had become dangerous to the authority of Rome. The threatened empire moved in. Attempting to crush the movement and silence everyone who had been influenced by Jesus, they subjected him to the cross. It was not only a brutal form of execution. It was intended to shame the memory of the one crucified so as to defile their existence in the minds of all who knew them. Shaming worked. No one ever spoke of them again. It not only desecrated the body of the one crucified, it was meant to obliterate their humanity. Jesus’ disciples rebelled against Rome’s intention. They defied the Roman authorities. With great courage, they refused to let his memory die.
In his Easter meditation, Rohr talks about today’s Gospel reading saying it isn’t an accident that Luke has Jesus saying, “I am not a ghost! I have flesh and bones, as you can see.” He stands before them as a human being, his body restored, honored. Rohr says: “I choose to believe in some kind of bodily resurrection because it localizes the Christ mystery in this material, earthly world, and in our own bodies, the only world we know and the world that God created and loves.” Whether you believe in the resurrection or not, the message of the Easter Gospel, like the message of Incarnation at Christmas, should lead Christians to a deep respect for embodiment. Our bodies, all bodies, including the body we call ‘Earth’—all are sacred. When we dismiss them as ‘mere matter’ we are not following the teachings and example of Jesus. That view of reality has led us to imprison, maim, use and abuse, violate, commodify, and destroy bodies for centuries. As though none of them matter. As though what is physical is simply trash.
As Christians we need to hear these resurrection stories as a call to recover the perspective of Jesus, who fed and healed bodies when empires saw them, and continue to see them, as worthless. “If you’re serious about living this new resurrection life with Christ, act like it,” Paul tells us. “See things from Christ’s perspective.” That perspective tells us the body is holy. The bodies of immigrants, prisoners, addicts and the mentally ill. The bodies of our enemies. The bodies of animals and plants. The body of Earth. All are holy. We are called to reverence physical reality in all its manifestations, to carry the symbol of resurrection into a world that desperately needs reminding that bodies are sacred. May we always recognize in these resurrection stories a testament to the holiness of the body and live as people who believe all earthly matter is holy ground. It is a message straight from the Gospels. It is ours to embrace and proclaim. Happy Easter to all of you.
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