It is still the first day of the week and the movements of the new creation are still unfolding. In the morning, the Beloved Disciple and Mary of Magdala realise that Jesus is with God (Jn 20:1-18). Now, as evening falls, His disciples realise that He is still in their midst. In His Resurrection, Jesus is with them. In His Ascension, Jesus is with God. He is the bridge which connects and bolts together the Sacred and the Secular, the Divine and the Human. What Jesus was in His Advent, in His Living and in His Dying, He continues to be in His Resurrection.
But there is a huge difference between the pre and the post Easter Jesus. The Easter Jesus can find His way through locked doors and locked hearts. If you like, He manifests Himself as Presence emerging from within, calming the fears, the inner turmoil, and the panic of His disciples. His Presence is remarkable and clear because He continues to bring the gift of Peace. This is what He promised. The overall sense of the text seems to be that ‘the world’ gives and takes away. Security can be very quickly replaced with anxiety. The world cannot sustain the Peace that does not fail. But Jesus sees Himself as the One whose nearness transcends the vagaries of time and of the world. He cannot stop the chaos. But He is present within, calming the heart, bringing Peace.
As Jesus moves from Word to action, he shows His disciples His Hands, His Feet and His wounded side. His disciples are expected to know how to understand this action. But what is it we have to know? How should we read the signs of the hands, the feet and the side?
Well, I think it goes like this. Jesus and the Father are One. But this oneness is not a private possession. It can only be sustained as it flows out, bringing life to all who ask to receive it. As He flows, Jesus gives glory to the Father. His crucifixion is the supreme expression of his Glory. It is the time and the place where Sacred Love and life are most visible and available. The secret hidden in the heart of the death of Jesus is that it unseals the fountain of Life! As an unnamed soldier rams a lance into the heart of the Beloved Son of God, he unwittingly starts a flow of blood and water. This flow is normally associated with birth processes. Through the opening in His side, His heart, in full communion with His Abba, becomes available as a life-giving birth for others. The openings in His hands and feet perform the same symbolic function. They are channels that make His Communion with the Father available and accessible to us. The Love that does not fail is mediated through His death because it is a Love that ‘lays down its life for His friends’. It is this dawning realisation which leads His disciples to Joy. The Joy that cannot be taken away complements the Peace that the world cannot give.
But wait, there’s more. Why does Jesus offer Peace a second time? The disciples are growing in their understanding. Once they feel the ground beneath their feet as Peace, the second conferral of Peace is an invitation to join the flow. It is the power for mission. Disciples receive the gift of the love that is stronger than death and which is mediated through the open wounds of the Risen Christ. But this gift will wither if they try to hold onto it as a private possession. It must be received and given away in a recursive dance of joy. This is why they are ‘sent’, co-missioned by Jesus in exactly the same way as he was sent by the Father. Disciples must give the life they have received to others. The chain is established.
Disciples will break the chain if they limit their capacity to receive the Holy Spirit. Like a Genesis rerun, the Risen Christ breathes into His disciples and they become a new creation – living by the breath of God. The Sign of their faithfulness will be the quality of the life of the community which is created and sustained by the word they preach. The only pathway to community is one that is created by forgiving. In a world where sin and no forgiveness separate people from God and from one another, disciples bring communion. Disciples must engage fully with this task. If we hold onto the sins that separate, the separation will continue. If we let go (forgive) community will grow.
The Power of the Resurrection of Jesus and His gift of the Spirit are experienced precisely as the freedom to overcome separation and build the communion of love. Is this the life I am living? If your answer is yes, we should celebrate. If your answer is no. Don’t let it be so.
