by Fr. Tommy Lane
Last Sunday, in John’s Gospel (20:19-31), we heard how Jesus appeared on Easter Sunday evening in the Upper Room, as we call it, where Jesus had celebrated the Last Supper with the apostles, and a week later he appeared there again to Thomas who could not believe that Jesus had risen. Jesus showed Thomas his wounds and said to him, “Doubt no longer but believe.” (John 20:27) Thomas responded, “My Lord and my God.” (John 20:28)
Today we heard Luke’s account of Jesus’ appearance in the Upper Room on Easter Sunday evening (Luke 24:35-48). Jesus appeared in their midst, and they were startled. Like John, Luke reports that Jesus’ first word was “Peace.” Jesus wanted to calm them. He did not reproach them for having abandoned him when he was arrested in Gethsemane or that only John accompanied the women to the cross. Instead, Jesus’ first word was “Peace.” Their encounter with Jesus was a healing encounter.
To continue to calm and reassure them, Luke tells us that Jesus showed them his wounds (Luke 24:39-40), just as John reports that Jesus showed Thomas his wounds on the following Sunday (John 20:27). Even with seeing Jesus’ wounds, it was still too much for them to believe. So, to continue to calm and reassure them, Jesus did something that he did not even do in front of Thomas. Jesus took fish and ate it (Luke 24:41-43). Jesus really tried to impress on them that he was risen, and not just as a spirit but that his resurrection was physical. Yet his body was different because Mary Magdalene did not recognize Jesus when she first saw him on Easter Sunday as we read in John (20:14). Jesus responded to their disbelief and doubt by showing them his wounds and eating food.
Ever since Easter Sunday people have been doubting that Jesus rose from the dead. But there are people who look at the evidence properly and become convinced that Jesus really did rise on Easter Sunday. One such former skeptic now turned believer (Lee Stroebel) is a former investigative journalist and legal correspondent for the Chicago Tribune and graduate of Yale Law School. In one of his books, The Case for Christ, he wrote, “For much of my life I was a skeptic. In fact, I considered myself an atheist. To me, there was far too much evidence that God was merely a product of wishful thinking, of ancient mythology, of primitive superstition.” (p13) “As for Jesus…He was a revolutionary, a sage, an iconoclastic Jew—but God? No.” (p13) The journalist had read only just enough to support his skepticism. In 1979 his wife became a Christian. He feared she would change from a fun-loving person, but he was surprised and fascinated by changes in her: her integrity and personal confidence. Nevertheless, he set out to debunk Christianity and knew that if he were to do that, he would have to disprove Jesus’ resurrection, because Christianity rests on Jesus rising from the dead. The more he studied Jesus’ resurrection trying to disprove it, the more convinced he became of Jesus’ resurrection. Eventually as a result of his attempt to disprove Jesus’ resurrection, he ended up believing in Jesus’ resurrection and became a Christian.
There is so much evidence that Jesus did rise that it would be impossible to even summarize it, but a few thoughts might help. Some say Jesus’ disciples stole his body from the tomb but if so, why were they willing to die later for their conviction that he did rise and make Jesus’ resurrection the center of their lives? Paul was a persecutor of Christians but why did he suddenly stop persecuting Christians and become their greatest defender after he had an encounter on the road to Damascus? Some say that Jesus never died on the cross but only fainted. However, it would have been impossible for Jesus to survive his passion, let alone walk around afterwards displaying his wounds. His flogging before his crucifixion would have caused Jesus to go into shock, both shoulders would have been dislocated during crucifixion and on the cross Jesus would have slowly asphyxiated. Some say the accounts of Jesus’ resurrection are legends. A legend is a story without a witness but there were many witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection. This is just scratching the surface of all the evidence that points to Jesus really rising on Easter Sunday. If anyone doubting Jesus’ resurrection looks at all the evidence properly, there is only one conclusion: Jesus did indeed rise on Easter Sunday and Christianity is genuine.
In the Upper Room on Easter Sunday, Jesus calmed the disciples’ fears by wishing them “Peace.” To dispel their doubts about his resurrection, Jesus showed them his wounds and ate food before their eyes. Jesus wishes to give you his peace today too and wishes for you to know that he is with you in your midst just as he was in the midst of the disciples in the Upper Room.
© Fr. Tommy Lane 2021
This homily was delivered in a parish in Ireland.
More Homilies for the Third Sunday of Easter Year B
Jesus’ forgiveness flows to us from the Cross 2006
Jesus was like us in every way except sin - he waits for you to approach him
Related Homilies: Homilies on the Sacrament of Reconciliation