When Jesus appeared to his disciples after his resurrection that first Easter evening they were overwhelmed.  All of the gospels record some level of disbelief and amazement.  Luke struggles to describe it:  “While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, Jesus said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” (Luke 24:41).  If you were one of those first witnesses, how do you make sense of it??  

    That is one of the big questions I think we all face.  Something happens—good or bad—but it doesn’t fit into our expected way of seeing things.  We’re like the disciples:  What is their reference point?  What do they fall back on?  How does their experience of Jesus make sense?  And more importantly—for them and us—how will it affect how they live?  Beyond rocking their world-view, what difference does Easter make on their daily lives?  We make sense of our lives according to patterns and ‘theories’ that make sense—but when something doesn’t “fit,” the world-views and theories change.  For them as 1st century Jews, Jesus fit into the mold of “rabbi,” “prophet,” even “Messiah.”  Except “Messiah” broke down when he got crucified.  So what did Easter do to their “Jewishness”?  Well, first, they didn’t stop being Jewish, but they had to understand things differently, to say the least.  

    So “Jesus opened their minds to understand the scriptures…” (Luke 24:44-48).  It wasn’t self-evident in the Old Testament that what happened to him as God’s Son and the Messiah “must happen.”  If our life is like a “book,” how does God “open our minds” to understand it?  For me, the images, metaphors, and stories of the Bible help me make sense of my experiences.  Help open my mind to the ways God is at work—sustaining and guiding me.  I believe that is something the Holy Spirit does for me.   Jesus concludes by saying, “You are witnesses of these things” (Luke 24:49). Indeed we are!

Peace, 
Pr. Christian