Jesus' resurrection is for bodies: easter 3 year b

The holy gospel according to Luke. (24:36b-48)

[³⁶While they were talking about this,]

Jesus Themself stood among the eleven and their companions and said to them,

     “Peace be with you.”

³⁷The disciples were startled and terrified,

     and thought that they were seeing a ghost.

³⁸Jesus said to them,

     “Why are you frightened,

     and why do doubts arise in your hearts?

          ³⁹Look at my hands and my feet;

               see that it is I myself.

                    Touch me and see;

                         for a ghost does not have flesh and bones 

                              as you see that I have.”

⁴⁰And when Jesus had said this,

     They showed them Their hands and feet.

     ⁴¹While in their joy those gathered were disbelieving and still wondering,

          Jesus said to them,

               “Have you anything here to eat?”

                    ⁴²They gave Jesus a piece of broiled fish,

                         ⁴³and Jesus took it and ate in their presence.

⁴⁴Then Jesus said to them,

     “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—

          that everything written about me

               in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.”

⁴⁵Then Jesus opened their minds to understand the scriptures,

     ⁴⁶and said to them,

          “Thus it is written,

               that the Messiah is to suffer 

                    and to rise from the dead on the third day,

               ⁴⁷and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed

                    in Their name to all nations,

                         beginning from Jerusalem.

          ⁴⁸You are witnesses of these things.”

The gospel of the Lord.

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A couple weeks ago, Rev. Beth Wartick, a colleague in this synod, posted on Facebook, “Friends: the resurrection is for bodies.”  The post was a bit unsettling at first, because I think I’ve gotten pretty used to making the resurrection into an exclusively spirit and soul-centered or even an intellectual reality, I like to talk about it, but I’m less sure about its physicality. Our resurrection accounts both last week and this week, however, provide us with ample evidence for her statement.

Last week we encountered Jesus in the gospel of John presenting hands, feet, and side to the slow-to-believe and fear-filled disciples, prompting Thomas’ great declaration of faith, “My Lord and my God!”

Jesus’ presentation of Their actual resurrected body, wounds and all, speaks to the disciples in a way that no number of eye-witness accounts could have, and this week’s resurrection account is no different.

Jesus has just spent the day walking along the road to Emmaus with Cleopas and another disciple, explaining everything that Holy Week—Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and that very Resurrection morning—meant.  Jesus had literally and figuratively walked them through all of scripture, interpreting it just for them.

But it wasn’t until Jesus sat with them and blessed and broke bread—the nourishment for their own bodies—that they recognized the Resurrected One.  And when Jesus shows up with the rest of the disciples in today’s reading, it is once again about the body: “³⁹Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have,” says Jesus.

Jesus knows the same truth as Pastor Beth: “The resurrection is for bodies.”  There is knowledge and wisdom in our bodies and embodied lives that our intellect can only ever grasp at futilely.  Jesus knows that our bodies carry in them the truths of our lived experiences, of our ancestors’ lives, and even the sparks of stardust that are scattered throughout the cosmos.

Each body comes from and is nourished by the dirt of the earth and is also made up of the stardust of that first Big Bang of life.  Each body reflects a piece of the image of God.  Jesus’ resurrection is about bodies because bodies matter to Jesus.  Bodies are part of our whole selves and when we create this false binary that divides souls from bodies, we fracture who we are.  We lose track of the fullness of our humanity and our belovedness by God.  We don’t just do this with words and ideas, we fracture the whole body of Christ, the image of God that we bear together, in physical ways as well.

Before moving to Iowa, I served as a pastor in rural southeastern Minnesota and I spent quite a bit of time with beloved children of God who worked on farms near town—not only those who owned or ran the farms, but especially those who make the oftentimes difficult and life-threatening trip north from Mexico and Central America to get up in the middle of the night to milk the cows, or early in the morning when it’s still below freezing to start harvesting the crops.

Their immigrant bodies, which carry so much of the burden and weight of feeding our country, are part of Jesus’ death and resurrection and Jesus loves them.

The bodies of those who cultivate the earth on farms, in personal or community gardens, and even in potted plants are also part of Jesus’ death and resurrection and Jesus loves them.

Your bodies, our bodies, weary from carrying us through decades of life, from backpacks full of school books, from the energy and demands of new babies and young children, or from the pressure to be or act a certain way are part of Jesus’ death and resurrection and Jesus loves them.

The bodies that struggle with stairs, standing, or even eating are part of Jesus’ death and resurrection and Jesus loves them.

The bodies of victims of violence, whether the violence happens in the confines of their home, at a party late at night, in the stares and fear of others on the street or at the coffee shop, across the world with chemical weapons and bombs in Syria, or anywhere in between are all part of Jesus’ death and resurrection and Jesus loves them.

The bodies of refugees, fleeing violence, seeking hope and compassion, allowed in some countries and not in others are part of Jesus’ death and resurrection and Jesus loves them.

The bodies around the world, in our fullest possible diversity—bodies that don’t look anything like yours and bodies that are so similar it isn’t possible to deny that you are kin—all of these bodies and your very own body are part of Jesus’ death and resurrection and Jesus loves them.

Bodies contain wisdom and understand truths that can be hard for us to grasp.  Jesus presents first a body with wounds—a broken, yet resurrected body—knowing that once the body understands the reality, the structure or skeleton, of the resurrection, then the words can give flesh to those bones.  Jesus’ words are good, but first Jesus’ body must convey the truth.

Jesus’ resurrection is bodily.  Jesus blesses and breaks bread.  Jesus eats broiled fish!  Jesus loves bodies.

And so a blessing from Pastor Beth:

“Friends: the resurrection is for bodies.

The resurrection is for: skinny bodies, fat bodies, in-between bodies.

The resurrection is for: brown bodies, black bodies, olive bodies, white bodies.

The resurrection is for: female bodies, transgender bodies, male bodies, tall bodies, short bodies.

The resurrection is for: undocumented bodies, citizen bodies, visitor bodies, immigrant bodies.

The resurrection is for: wrinkly bodies, smooth bodies, hairy bodies, swimsuit-ready bodies, sweatpants-ready bodies.

The resurrection is for: old bodies, young bodies, able bodies, disabled bodies, tired bodies.

The resurrection is for: any bodies, every body, your body.

Jesus loves your body enough to give it new life. Treat your body and your neighbor's body with the same respect you'd show to anything beloved by God.”

Amen.