April 14, 2024

Today's Reading: Luke 24:36-49

Daily Lectionary: Exodus 32:15-35, Luke 6:39-49

“See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” (St. Luke 24:39–41)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. “Have you anything here to eat?” That’s the strangest thing ever to hear from the Risen Lord after the resurrection, isn’t it? But He has a good reason to ask: “a spirit does not have flesh and bones.”

This Jesus that appears to the disciples (hidden away behind locked doors, no less!) isn’t some spiritual apparition. He isn’t a figment of their imaginations. He stands before them in the flesh, and, as we all know, you have to eat to live in this world. The risen Jesus needed to eat just as much as you do, because He is a real, living person.

And that is the comfort in these words. That Jesus, risen from the dead—the one who bore all your sins in His body, who died a horrible death upon His cross, who descended into Hell and came back, who conquered death, who rose from the dead and lives even now—needed a snack. Even in His resurrection, He identifies so closely with His creatures, He is still so completely man (while being completely God) that He eats with his closest friends.

Truth be told, He kind of has to; because they are still a bit unsure if this is all real. St. Luke says they “disbelieved for joy.” That is, they were so absolutely stunned and overjoyed to see Jesus again that they couldn’t believe their good fortune. You know how that works, right? You get news about something that is so astounding and so earthshaking that you can’t believe it is real, even as you jump for joy upon hearing the news.

How does Jesus calm them down and remind them that He is indeed with them in the flesh? By eating with them. By doing the most human thing possible; sharing a meal with those He loves. 

Don’t forget in this Easter season of glory and Alleluias that your Lord Jesus needed to eat because He became man for you; to bear your sin, to wash you with His blood, to fulfill God’s Law for you, and ultimately to make a place for you at His eternal table. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

O God, through the humiliation of Your Son You raised up the fallen world. Grant to Your faithful people, rescued from the peril of everlasting death, perpetual gladness and eternal joys; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Collect for the Third Sunday of Easter)

- Pastor Duane Bamsch is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church in Grass Valley, CA.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, Ky.

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