04172021 – Luke 24. 13-49
The truth be told…it is another very odd gospel story. Very Odd. I mean who would write this stuff? And publish it? For the whole world to read and to see?
The paradox of “Christian “DIS”-BELIEVERS” is a biblical fact, “believe it or not.”
That “First Easter dawn was glorious for us” as we look BACK from our point of view, but for those participating in and living through it – THAT FIRST EASTER – was FAR from glorious.
CHAOTIC and totally UNSETTLING, to say the least.
In fact, it was downright STRANGE, the first Easter was THE DAY of “the GREATEST unbelief” probably in all history.
Disbelief was EVERYWHERE.
No one. Not A SINGLE PERSON expected to happen- what occurred.
And when it did…
NO ONE knew WHAT TO DO with it.
They were ALL AMAZED and UTTERLY SPEECHLESS. Mouths left hanging open, mouths TOTALLY ajar.
It was all NEW TERRITORY. The stuff of the TWILLIGHT ZONE. They had entered the UNKNOWN.
We think OUR DAY is a day of UNBELIEF and SKEPTICISM, but it CANNOT MATCH the unbelief of the first century of the Common Era.
It is the ONLY TIME in history where ALL BELIEVERS were “unbelievers.” “ALL.”
Believe it or not there was NOT A SINGLE JEW who showed “a sign of belief” in the resurrection of Jesus until they were COMPELLED TO BELIEVE by his very APPEARANCE and DIRECT CONFRONTATION.
For better or worse, Jesus had to GET INTO THEIR FACES.
Each and every one of them, without exception, was a CONFIRMED skeptic and doubter.
We are so used to making “the quick transition from a “dark-gloomy-shadowy-Good-Friday” to a “glorious-light-strewn- Easter morning,” that we tend to IGNORE the fact that Jesus had to work ALL day LONG before he convinced HIS OWN that he was really ALIVE AND WELL.
The transition from “GLOOM TO GLORY” was not as swift as WE have come to make it out to be.
It was a difficult PROCESS of persuasion, and not an “INSTANTANEOUS TRANSFORMATION.”
As believers today, we often act as if belief was an EASY THING, and an EFFORTLESS GOAL to attain, but this is not being realistic about our human nature, and about OUR natural skepticisms.
Need I remind US, that Jesus had to be with them for FORTY DAYS after the Resurrection, BEFORE he could ascend into heaven? FORTY DAYS!
When it comes to the matter of DEATH and LIFE BEYOND THE GRAVE, we all have “deep seeded doubts.”
We WANT to believe. We WANT to trust. We HOPE for the best. We desire to be people of FAITH. But doubt always persists. WHAT IF…
All the EVIDENCE of our senses is against it. We are so dependent upon PHYSICAL FACTS for assurance. Which is why, Jesus told Thomas, blessed are they that have NOT SEEN and yet will come to believe.
Alfred Lord Tennyson wrote,
“O Christ, that it were possible
For one short hour to see
The souls we loved that they might tell us
What and where they be.”
When James Russell Lowell returned from the funeral of one, he loved dearer than life, he said to those who tried to comfort him with the hope of communion in spirit,
“Forgive me,
But I who am earthly and weak,
Would give all my income from dreamland,
For a touch of her hand on my cheek.”
Were these guys deniers of the faith? NO! Not at all!
They were simply expressing the fact that BELIEF and FAITH do NOT come easy. The demand of the human mind for “SOLID CONCRETE EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE” is so strong that the leap of faith is difficult to take.
The biblical record recognizes this, and so, believe it or not, the first believers were not men and women of FAITH, but men and women of DOUBT.
They would NOT accept anything UNLESS THEY SAW FOR THEMSELVES.
That is why I love the Biblical record. It is true. It is trustworthy. It holds nothing back. We air our dirty laundry. We tell it the way it was.
And it started out with UNBELIEF…until Jesus himself pressed it IN upon their hearts…and IN THEIR FACES.
Be thankful for whatever faith you have. One of the very first sermons, I ever preached was “A little is lot, if it is all you got!” Hang on to it. Amen.