18 April 2020 - to every creature

Today's Readings

(Audio)

But later, as the Eleven were at table, he appeared to them
and rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart
because they had not believed those
who saw him after he had been raised.

Jesus is risen! Do we believe the witnesses to the resurrection? They tell us a story that is almost too good to be true. The disciples clung to the sadness of what they had experienced, of the loss they had endured. They did not, perhaps could not, immediately believe the witnesses. The joy of the messengers might have even seemed repugnant at first. Pain and sorrow made the disciples defensive in a way that made it hard for them to hope.

Jesus wants to appear to us to give us confidence about the message of his witnesses. He wants us to be able to believe them even when what they says seems to be to good to be true, beyond all we can ask or imagine. We too tend to cling to the sadness of past disappointments as protection against future ones. Jesus rebukes us for the hardness of our hearts. But this rebuke itself is precisely to soften those hearts, to teach them to hope again.

Hearts softened by mercy daring to hope now feel compelled to proclaim this mercy to others.

He said to them, “Go into the whole world
and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.”

We will still come up with rationalizations about why it might be better in this or that situation not to speak up for Jesus. But when those thoughts of ours order us not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus we, strengthened by the revelation of the resurrection, will reply,

“Whether it is right in the sight of God
for us to obey you rather than God, you be the judges.
It is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard.”

If we don't feel there is anything worth our speaking out then we probably need to spend more time listening to the witnesses of the resurrection proclaim the tidings of Easter joy. Let us truly take those tidings to heart. Let them rebuke us where our hope had gone cold in order to light a new fire of love within us. This fire will make us too his witnesses.