The 3rd Sunday of Easter, Year B



When Peter saw it, he addressed the people, "You Israelites, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we had made him walk? 13 The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our ancestors has glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and rejected in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. 14 But you rejected the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you, 15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. 16 And by faith in his name, his name itself has made this man strong, whom you see and know; and the faith that is through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you. 17 "And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. 19 Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out. (Acts 3:12-19 NRSV)



While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." 37 They were startled and terrified, and thought that they were seeing a ghost. 38 He said to them, "Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have." 40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?" 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate in their presence. 44 Then he said to them, "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, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled." 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46 and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. (Luke 24:36-48 NRSV)



“Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!”


When you are small, little things can scare you. Ghost stories around the campfire, for example. I remember one was called “The Monkey’s Paw” or something like that. Or the Wicked Witch from the Wizard of Oz. Although I have to admit the tornado in that movie scared me more. Or movies like “The Mummy” or “Creature from the Black Lagoon” or “Frankenstein”. We screamed when we saw them. The 1950s had a lot of them. Monsters seem to be back in style. Vampires are really big nowadays, although they look more like fashion models than monsters. Zombies are big, too; one article in Newsweek said that the undead are very busy nowadays. Hollywood has a long history of manufacturing things that frighten us. I think that suspense actually can be more frightening than showing the monsters. Say, the movie “Quarantine” or “Cloverfield”. Or realistically portrayed possibilities, like in “Contagion”, describing a worldwide flu pandemic.

The reading from the Acts of the Apostles is Peter’s speech after healing a man who was lame from birth. He was at one of the gates of the temple to beg and asked the disciples for money. They said that they did not have any money, but would give him what they had, so they healed the man. The people in the temple saw what had taken place and were filled with wonder and amazement. Peter tells them that it is not extraordinary, that they really have no cause to wonder since it was not due to their own power or holiness. They are not superheroes. It was God who did it, the same God who raised Jesus from the dead. This plan for Jesus’ life, they say, goes back, way back to the days of Abraham and before. And Peter adds that Jesus was dead in the first place because he was rejected by the people and killed. That is truly ironic, that they killed the Creator of the world, the One who designed life. But now he is alive. It was by faith in Jesus’ name that the lame man in the temple was healed. If God can raise Jesus from the dead, why can’t God heal a lame man? They see God’s power. So they are to repent and believe. The possibility of forgiveness is offered to them.

The Gospel reading is of one of the appearances of Jesus after the Resurrection. Here, too, they see God’s power. At this one, they thought he was a ghost. They were terrified. You could imagine how this idea might come to mind with his appearing to them after being killed and just walking through locked doors. Those are ghost-like qualities. But he invites them to look at him to recognize him. To touch him. He has bones. And then he eats a piece of fish. He is no ghost. This is to fulfill everything written about him. The Messiah was to suffer and die and be raised. This was the plan. Now they are to proclaim Jesus’ name to all nations. They have not seen a ghost; they have seen the Savior and are to be witnesses. He is not dead, but has defeated death. He offers to us freedom from fear.

The monsters that Hollywood shows us are imaginary and good for some excitement, kinda like riding a roller coaster or watching a scary movie. It lasts for five minutes or two hours and most people like getting a little spooked and then going back to real life where we are safe. There is something comforting in feeling we are OK; we enjoy that feeling. But if we think of it, it is real life that provides what truly frightens us. There are things that can happen to us—storms and crime and illness. Life can end. There are things that are not so extraordinary, really, things that happened to us or could happen to us or will happen to everyone, the losses of life, and they are much more frightening than any movie monster ever could be.

We, like the disciples in those days after the first Easter, look to a risen Savior. He comes among us, sometimes as we expect, but other times he surprises us. He bids us to be at peace and puts our fears to rest. He can bring that peace to us. He has power to make our lives right. He has power to heal and power to forgive. We can share that with others. Phyllis Hobe found that it is possible when she insulted with a look a supermarket cashier, who was very young and didn’t know what cranberries were. She saw the hurt in the girl’s eyes. She realized that not intending to hurt the cashier wasn’t enough and so asked for forgiveness. She received it.


Jesus, the Risen Lord, also comes among us to remove our fears. The Resurrection is proof of life beyond death, life conquering death. When we understand that, we know that our fears are small compared with God’s care for us. When we know that, we live in hope. It is the lesson of those who have learned to live seeing what is stronger in life as Elizabeth Sherrill describes David Waite, the brother of Terry Waite, who was held hostage in Lebanon. He disappeared in Beirut in early 1987, and almost five years of total silence had gone by without a word. David never lost hope as the years went by until his release in 1991. He learned this hope as a small, frail, crippled child. In growing up with continuous struggles strength of character was formed. And so when Terry was released, David was not surprised. Once we know that death has been defeated, all our other fears are small compared to our hope.

One of the ways of talking about people who are frightened is to say that they look like they have just seen a ghost. There is much that can frighten us. The apostles saw no ghost. They saw Jesus and know that he is alive. Jesus comes in power. Jesus comes not to frighten us but to take away our sin, fears, losses. The story of his life is the story of death and new life. It is the story of where we find freedom. Jesus walks among us. Of this we are witnesses.