There are gospel texts which we find difficult to understand, others we see as very demanding.
But there are some which, somehow, are encouraging.
On many occasions, the attitude of the apostles can make us feel that we are not so far from them!
They had lived for some three years with Jesus.
They had heard him teach people about many things.
They had seen him perform miracles, even raising some dead people to life.
And yet, yet… so often they did not understand him, nor recognize what he was about.
I
n today’s gospel text, as Jesus appears to them, his disciples think they see… a ghost ! (Luke 24:35-48).
Of course, they knew he had been tortured and had died a cruel death on a cross.
They thought – rightly so – that he had really died.
How could he be there alive before them?
He has to repeat that he is truly their Master.
He has to give them some proofs – the kind of proofs that they will understand:
he shows them his hands and feet that have been pierced,
he asks them food to eat, and he eats in front of them.
But he has to do more.
The evangelist Luke tells us:
“He opened their minds so they could understand…”
Understand what his whole life was about.
Understand what his suffering and death were for.
Understand how they had to share with others what they had seen as witnesses do.
Perhaps we need the same kind of understanding…
The Risen Christ can open our own minds… if we ask him to do so…
Note: Another text is available on a different theme, in French, at: https://image-i-nations.com/3e-dimanche-de-paques-annee-b-2024/