April 11, 2023

Today's Reading: Luke 24:36-49

Daily Lectionary: Ex 15:19-16:12, Heb 10:1-18

“Have you anything here to eat?” Luke 24:40

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.   Christ is risen! If you ever attend a funeral at a church and the pastor doesn’t preach on the physical Resurrection of Jesus and the promise of the same resurrection of the deceased, you’ve been cheated.  Jesus points to this important promise of the bodily resurrection.  He points to it with a question with six simple words. “Have you anything here to eat?”  

What an odd question Jesus asks at the height of all the commotion and craziness of His Resurrection.  He rises from the dead, He appears to them, He shows His hands and feet, they still can’t believe it and then He asks for grub?  Believe it or not, this is an incredibly important question Jesus asks. So many in the early Christian church twisted and rearranged the Resurrection of Jesus.  They said His body was stolen or the disciples were seeing things, they were delusional in the middle of their fears.  Others have said that Jesus only rose spiritually but not physically.  However, if Jesus only rose spiritually then our faith is in vain. This is why Jesus asks for something to eat. Despite what the movie Ghostbusters portrays, spirits or ghosts cannot eat physical food.  You have to have a physical body to eat physical food. This is why Jesus asks the question, He shows them by eating, that He has physically risen from the dead!  Why is this important for you and me?

It means that our resurrection will also be physical. You and I will one day be physically raised from the dead. Think of that: in your Baptism, you are promised that you not only have been crucified with Jesus but also risen with Jesus. (Cf Romans 6).  We say in the Creed “I believe in the resurrection of the body…” The promise of heaven is not the end but the beginning.  There always must be a resurrection.  Jesus eating fish means that our bodies after the resurrection will be changed, just like Jesus’ body was changed. Rather than me going on and on about this, let St. Paul remind you.  “Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality.” 1 CORINTHIANS 15:51-54. We will be raised from the dead, physically, and in the end, Jesus will call us out of our graves to rise physically in the new heavens and new earth forever.  Christ is risen!  In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Your name we bless, O risen Lord,  And sing today with one accord  The life laid down, the life restored: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!  LSB 475 vs. 4

- Pastor Kent Schaaf is Pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Little Rock. AR.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Jonathan Lackey is an LCMS seminarian.

Study Christ's words on the cross to see how you can show more Christlike grace in your life. Perfect for group or individual study, each chapter has a Q&A at the end, and the back of the book includes a leader guide. Available now from Concordia Publishing House.