Pentecost is a Christian festival that does not have the profile of Christmas or Easter. If it had not happened ,…..well, Christianity would not exist. But it is not only just a crucial event in history for the birth of Christianity; it is so much more than that. Pentecost is about the work of the Holy Spirit. The same power that enabled Jesus to live in relationship with his Father and to do the things he did was released on all who follow Jesus. Wow!
Over the next three weeks we will be looking at the work of the Holy Spirit and what happened around the time of Pentecost and the implications today.
Discussion
Do you believe in ghosts?
They didn’t waste a minute. They were up and on their way back to Jerusalem. They found the Eleven and their friends gathered together, talking away: “It’s really happened! The Master has been raised up-Simon saw him!”
Then the two went over everything that happened on the road and how they recognized him when he broke the bread. While they were saying all this, Jesus appeared to them and said, “Peace be with you.” They thought they were seeing a ghost and were scared half to death. He continued with them, “Don’t be upset, and don’t let all these doubting questions take over. Look at my hands; look at my feet-it’s really me. Touch me. Look me over from head to toe. A ghost doesn’t have muscle and bone like this.” As he said this, he showed them his hands and feet. They still couldn’t believe what they were seeing.
It was too much; it seemed too good to be true. He asked, “Do you have any food here?” They gave him a piece of leftover fish they had cooked. He took it and ate it right before their eyes.Luke 24:33-43 (The Message)
Discussion
What do you think about this passage?
Ghosts, Jesus eating food and doubting from the Disciples.
OK some context of this passage. It is written about the events following Jesus’ resurrection, or ‘raised up’ as the Disciples talk about it here. It comes at the end of Luke’s Gospel, but we need to remember that Luke also wrote a second part to Luke called Acts. It is very easy to be confused and not think that they are linked at all, largely because John’s Gospel is sandwiched in between.
The two are the Disciples who have walked with Jesus to Emmaus. They give an account of what happened on the road and how they realised who the stranger was who had shared their journey with them shared bread with him.
And then suddenly without warning Jesus is with them. Luke uses the word ‘appears’ as though he is not there one minute and is the next – almost ghost like. Luke does not pull any punches, even the disciples think they are seeing a ghost and are half scared to death! Jesus confronts them with an alternative reality, don’t be upset, don’t let doubt rob you of belief, don’t let doubt lie to you about the reality you are experiencing now.
My guess is that some of us struggle with what that might mean and especially what it might look like.
But is there another way of looking at this passage. CS Lewis in his book the Great Divorce talks about this very whole concept. He asks what if the Disciples are the ghosts? What if the walls of the room where the Disciples are less solid than Jesus himself? What if Jesus resurrected is more solid than creation? What if Jesus resurrected is mores solid than what we experience of the world now?
I know it took some time for me to get my head around that idea, but it really helps me to make sense of what is recorded here by Luke.
Jesus show his hands and feet to the Disciples, he invites them, to discover for themselves that he is not a ghost. He is real. And still they cannot believe what they are seeing.
Jesus only ever asks for food once in the Gospels, and this is it. It is almost as though he is trying to help them see that this is real. I can imagine the Disciples looking to see if they can see the food going down Jesus’ throat as he eats. A bit like some of the clips from Pirates of the Caribbean.
There are 3 things I would just like to draw out;
- It is comforting that is it OK to struggle with this whole idea of resurrection. The disciples did and they even saw Jesus eat tea with them. Jesus
- We have strong physical evidence of Jesus’ resurrection, especially in the last chapter of Luke. In fact it might be that Jesus resurrected is more than real than the physical evidence we have around us now.
- The end of Luke is only the beginning, these passages are an important link with what happens next. Without them Pentecost makes no sense, indeed without these passages Christianity makes no sense. The invitation Jesus gives to those who doubt is simple – dig a little deeper, don’t be afraid, do some investigating, walk with me and see what happens next.