3rd Sunday in Easter

When we make major life decisions, like the choice of a certain career, or the choice of a life partner or the choice to have children, what we are essentially doing is taking a bet on our happiness and fulfillment. We are putting our happiness and fulfillment in life on the line and betting that this choice that we are making will bring us the fulfillment and happiness that we hope for. What we often don’t factor into these choices is our own human frailty and the frailty of others, those we commit to. If we have bet our happiness on a commitment we have made to another person, then in a very real way, our happiness depends both on our faithfulness and their fidelity to this commitment. We have no way of knowing if we have what it takes to make good on the commitments we make. One option then would be to simply stay away from making any long-term commitments. This is the conclusion that many Gen-Zers have come to, namely that the state of flux of life is so fast-paced that any long-term commitment should be avoided like the plague. But what if there was a different alternative. What if we were able to structure life in such a way that our happiness would not be jeopardized by a failure to be faithful to the commitments that we make?

I think that this is precisely what the resurrection is all about and what our Gospel today calls us to reflect on. You would think that the disciples would be happy to see the Lord. Instead, they are terrified when Jesus appears. In many African cultures, Jesus’ death would be the exactly the kind of death to turn his spirit into an avenging spirit. There was enough of a mix of betrayal, violence, jealousy and cowardice on the part of all the main actors in Jesus’ Passion to warrant the visit of an avenging spirit. The disciples had committed their lives to following Jesus, they had staked their happiness and fulfilment on Jesus being the Messiah. Peter had sworn that he would give his life for Jesus. Instead, at the hour of his greatest need for support and friendship, Jesus’ closest friends had abandoned him out of fear. They all left him to face the music alone.

The disciples must have felt terrible, because as we all know, we cannot undo the past. They had messed up big time. By this stage, the women of their company had communicated to them the message of the angels, namely that Jesus was risen, Jesus had appeared to Peter and most recently to the disciples on the road to Emmaus. It should have been clear to the disciples that Jesus had risen from the dead and his story and mission would continue. What was not clear to them is whether Jesus would still count them as his closest friends and disciples. Sure they had seen Jesus lavish God’s forgiveness and mercy on prostitutes, tax collectors and other sinners. But to date, they had never actually seen Jesus forgive someone who had personally sinned against him the way they had. This is why, when Jesus appears in the room with them, they are filled with fear. Had Jesus come to recriminate them for their pusillanimity? Was Jesus still the same loving Master they had known him to be?

We cannot turn back time, we cannot undo our past infidelities and the only way that the past can be redeemed is through forgiveness. This is why what is crucial about the resurrection is that Jesus comes back not as an avenging spirit, but rather as a forgiving victim. This is why the first words out of Jesus’ mouth are “Peace be with you.” Jesus wants to assure his disciples that he has not come to recriminate them, he has come instead to console them, and tell them that a new beginning is possible. Jesus’ resurrection does not undo the past, but it does offer a new fresh start to the disciples, to do things right this time, to be faithful in the face of danger and persecution. The theme of forgiveness lies at the heart of Luke’s gospel, because Luke realized the tremendous power of forgiveness to reset a relationship and give us a fresh start. This is why Luke’s gospel is the only gospel to have the parable of the Prodigal Son, it is also the only gospel where we see Jesus forgiving those who crucify him.

Luke also puts all his accounts of the resurrection as happening on the first day of the week, Sunday. It is more likely, as is the case in the other gospels, that these events were spread over a period of six weeks. However, Luke has a very definite symbolic timetable that he wishes to impose on the events of our salvation. In Luke’s gospel, the work of redemption is done on the last day of the working week, Friday. The next day, Saturday is the sabbath. The book of Genesis tells us that the Lord rested on the sabbath and it is in imitation of God’s rest that the Jews observe this sabbath from work too. It is a day of pause, but a pregnant pause, for the disciples, it must have been a very heavy pause, as they dwelt on the events of the past week that had shattered their hopes and their lives. The next day, Sunday, a new week starts, and this is where Luke locates all the events of the resurrection which end his gospel. Luke’s point should be clear – God is doing a new thing in the resurrection, God is recreating and making all things new. There is the chance of a fresh start for the disciples with their Master who has now conquered death. May the resurrection give us too a fresh start in our relationships

Questions for reflection

1. Which are the relationships in my life where I need to press the reset button and ask for a fresh start by asking for forgiveness?
2. Where can I offer a fresh start to others in my life who have hurt me and are longing for my forgiveness?
3. Where is fear holding me back from asking for forgiveness because I feel it will not be granted?