April 15, 2012

Glynn Cardy

Easter 2     Low Sunday

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It seems to me that there are two key questions around Easter Sunday. One pertains to Jesus’ body. This is often framed up as ‘Do you believe that Jesus physically rose from the dead?’ The other pertains to the purpose of whatever the resurrection was. This latter is often framed up as ‘Do you believe that he died for our sins?’

I would like to spend a few moments this morning going through the various appearance stories to look at what they say about these questions of body and purpose.

I will start with the earliest: Paul. In Acts 9 Paul, probably a number of years after Jesus’ death, was confronted by a bright light and a voice. He saw no body and touched no scars. Yet he seemed to have no doubt that this was the Risen Jesus and he radically changed his life.

Paul equates his Damascus Road experience with the experience of the disciples [some 500 by Paul’s reckoning!] to whom the resurrected Jesus appeared. He does so in order to validate his claim to be an apostle. The interesting thing is that seeing a literal body does not seem to be essential to experiencing the Risen Christ.

Mark’s Gospel has two endings. One is original, ending at 16:8, and the other is a later edition. The original has no appearances of the Risen Christ. The women are met by an angelic being [whatever that was] and flee in terror. The later edition baldly states that “he appeared first to Mary Magdalene”, then to “two of them as they were walking in the country”, and lastly “to the eleven”. Only to the eleven does the resurrected Jesus speak, commissioning them to preach. He then ascends to heaven [wherever that is]. Mark’s late edition has no reference to place, save the country walkers, and there is no touching and little speaking.

Matthew’s Gospel just has two appearance stories. The two Mary’s are fleeing the empty tomb when they meet the resurrected Jesus. He greets them; they touch his feet and worship him [whatever that means]. He gives them a message to ask his ‘brothers’ to go to Galilee. The second scene is Galilee, on a mountain, with the 11. They see, worship, and [interestingly] some doubt. He commissions them, doubters and all, to go and make disciples. There is no ascension into heaven or anywhere else.

In these texts so far there has been little concern about body. By and large the faithful have made the connection between this Risen apparition and the Jesus they knew. Yet there is also no inference that the same ol’ pre-crucifixion Jesus is going to continue walking around in a bodily form with them until they are old and gray. Few words have been spoken. The appearances seem to be for the purpose of underscoring the belief that death has not defeated God’s mission, and the task of the disciples is only just beginning. There is no mention of Jesus dying for their sins, or indeed for any purpose.

Luke’s Gospel likewise has only two appearance stories. The first is the journey to Emmaus. Without going into all the nuances of this rich story, I will make just two comments. Firstly concerning body. They didn’t recognize the Risen Jesus even though they walked and talked for a long time and he spoke about himself. It was when he broke the bread that they recognized him, and then he vanished. The lack of recognition and the vanishing tell us that this resurrected body was quite distinct from a normal body. Whatever the Risen apparition was, it wasn’t normal flesh and blood.

Secondly, the purpose of the encounter seems to be about restoring and encouraging the faith of the two travellers. It is also set within the context of the early Christian community who met to examine the scriptures, offer hospitality, share bread, and encourage each other. It is a great example of the power of a story to both reflect and shape practice.

The other appearance story in Luke is also located in the Jerusalem vicinity. The resurrected Jesus suddenly appears paranormally in the midst of a group of disciples including the eleven. He ties to calm them. There are, for the first time, words about his body being normal flesh and bones, and then eating some fish to prove it. The Risen One then spent some time with the disciples in a bible study, encouraging them in their faith. Afterwards he walked with them to Bethany and ascended into heaven, again paranormally.

Like the Emmaus encounter the second story tells us that the bodily apparition was similar to but unlike any normal body. The main concern seems to be to establishing continuity between what they were experiencing and their knowledge of Jesus before he died. The other concern is restoring and encouraging the disciples.

Interestingly this ascension story is repeated in Luke’s second book, namely Acts. It is from Acts that we get the idea that the resurrected Jesus hung around for 40 days – a timeframe that cues the listener to the notion of testing. It is also from Acts that we get the idea that they are to wait until Pentecost in order to experience the Holy Spirit [in John’s Gospel the resurrected Jesus dispenses the Spirit]. The Risen One then ascends, like Elijah once did, into the clouds.

In the Fourth Gospel there are four appearance stories. The first is Mary Magdalene in the garden. She takes the Risen Jesus for the gardener – which makes you wonder about what he was dressed in. The Risen One explicitly tells Mary not to touch him. It is his voice that is the means of recognition. Like with Paul on the Damascus Road his voice is the giveaway. 

Secondly, there is an appearance to the disciples behind locked doors in Jerusalem. The doors tell us that Jesus’ body is not normal. In this encounter he breathes on them and says, “Receive the Holy Spirit” [whatever that meant].

The third encounter is to the same group a week later, plus Thomas. We are not informed what the resurrected Jesus did in the intervening week. Note too how there are now 12 disciples, whereas Matthew and Luke have only 11. This encounter is very body focused. Thomas is asked to put his finger in the scars – although we aren’t told that he did so. The resurrected Jesus then says that those who have not seen and yet believe are blessed. 

The last of John’s encounters with the Risen One is in Galilee. There are 7 disciples fishing, with no success. Jesus tells them to try on the right side, and 153 were netted [interesting that somebody counted!]. Then the resurrected Jesus had a Eucharistic meal with them of bread and fish. Later Jesus asks Peter three questions and predicts Peter’s death.

These four Johannine stories continue themes from Luke. Firstly they are stories about restoration and empowerment - bringing the fractured early followers back together again. In the midst of that fish, bread, and Holy Spirit are important. 

Secondly, they are stories that continue to give a mixed message about Jesus’ resurrected body – it is meant to be continuous with Jesus prior to his death, and also discontinuous. Witnessing this body seems to be important in terms of believing that Jesus, even though he died, is the Messiah, the anointed one of God. 

Lastly they are stories that identify key authority figures in the early Church: Mary Magdalene, the 12, Peter, and the anonymous Beloved Disciple. Note Jack Spong’s thesis that the purpose of the appearances is to establish the authority and primacy of Peter and the 12 in the early church. Interestingly it is only in Paul [I Corinthians 15] that the key leader of the Jerusalem Church, James, is named.

The appearance stories have been told, re-told, and re-shaped over the decades between Jesus’ death and the writing of the Gospels and are primarily theological rather than historical. There are a number of common elements in the stories, yet each writer/editor is also quite distinct. There is little evidence that the accounts were harmonized or that anyone thought the lack of harmony undermined what the writers were trying to convey. It was as if they were trying to say: ‘Look we are not in agreement with each other; these stories have been passed around in our communities; now you figure you out the meanings and the contradictions.’ 

It’s not surprising then that Christians understand the resurrected Jesus differently from each other. Some Christians believe that the body of Jesus was miraculously revivified on Easter day. They call this ‘bodily resurrection’. 

Other Christians believe the resurrection in a ‘spiritual’ sense. The appearance stories, for example, can be understood as post-death experiences such as are described in other writings of the ancient world and in modern literature about death and trauma experience. 

The early Christians did struggle with what the crucifixion and resurrection meant, and drew upon their Jewish Scriptures to find meaning. The ideas of redemptive suffering, cosmic atonement, divine vindication and the like were the result. 

The appearance stories however largely bypass the ‘dying for our sins’ mantra or indeed dying for any purpose. Rather they seem to present a claidescope of unsynchronized spiritual experiences in which Jesus’ friends found restoration, empowerment, and hope after the devastation of Good Friday. In Galilee or Jerusalem, fishing or in locked rooms, eating or studying, walking or talking, women and men discovered the power of Jesus’ presence was still with them permeating through the frontier of death.