In this post-resurrection appearance of Jesus conveyed by John, Jesus enters a locked house (quite ghostly, non-physical) and stands among the disciples, saying, "Peace be with you" (twice). He then commissions them to go forth and serve him and breathes on them (quite physical) saying, "Receive the Holy Spirit."
And so John presents this Jesus who moves about miraculously--very different from his pre-resurrection movements--yet is clearly a physical body, as he breathes on them, speaks to them, invites them to put their hands in his wounds and ultimately eats with them. It is clear that John wants us to understand that Jesus' post-resurrection appearances were mysterious. The disciples were a bit bewildered by this new Jesus--was he a ghost or a man? They did not understand this Jesus and their role in proclaiming this Jesus until Pentecost.
I like the prayerful meditation where you imagine the breath of God breathing in you and through you as you breath. This is a useful scripture to introduce this contemplative practice. An good Old Testament text to use is from the Genesis creation story where God forms Adam from the dust of the ground and breathes the breath (Hebrew word ruach or spirit) of life into him and he became a living being (Gen. 2:7).
You are breathing God's breath. Breath deeply, joyously.
This passage of John reminds me of Wes' suggestion to the worship committee a while back, that people should recognize our liturgy at first, but after a few moments be reminded Dorothy's Wizard of Oz line, “that this isn't Kansas, anymore.” We have at first a Jesus who seems physically the same, but upon reflection, the disciples understand that there were more and different qualities than they formerly perceived.
ReplyDeleteCould it be that their mourning the crucifixion opened their eyes to see Jesus as he really was? Maybe this is a lesson for us to look upon each other with new eyes to see the gifts that were always there, but because of the veils [such as pride, selfishness, greed, etc.] in front of our eyes, we never saw.