Arulvakku

07.04.10 JESUS WALKED ALONG

Posted under Reflections on April 6th, 2010 by

Now that very day two of them were going to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus, and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred.  And it happened that while they were conversing and debating, Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him. He asked them, "What are you discussing as you walk along?" They stopped, looking downcast…

 And he said to them, "Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into his glory?" Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the scriptures…

 And it happened that, while he was with them at table, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to them. With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him, but he vanished from their sight. (Lk 24, 13-35)

 

A beautiful story. Two disappointed disciples were on their way back home. All the miracles they had witnessed and all the teaching of Jesus were of no use to them at the moment. While they were walking they were also talking about the events of the days. They were true to fact about their narration of events (at least as the gospel presents). They were reading/narrating the events as they happened.  They read the events humanly and historically and factually. They did not read the events theologically (in faith perspective).

Jesus came into the story as a passerby. He began to read the same events biblically (events as the fulfilment of the Old Testament). He read the same events in faith perspective. God was read into the events. All what happened were according to the plan of God, and in fact, God had revealed these things earlier, in scriptures.

Finally, they re-lived the breaking of the bread. This re-living made them experience the risen Jesus. This experience is sudden and short-lived. There was sufficient time to recognize him and as soon as thy recognized him he vanished from them. Historical reading, biblical reading, and theological reading are stages towards an experience. Jesus walks along until one gets this experience through these stages. But as soon as one recognizes the presence of the risen Lord, immediately He disappears.   WHY? Because experience has to be lived, professed and proclaimed.

  

06.04.10 EXPECTATION & EXPERIENCE

Posted under Reflections on April 5th, 2010 by

But Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the body of Jesus had been. And they said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken my Lord, and I don't know where they laid him." When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" She thought it was the gardener and said to him, "Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him." Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni," which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, "Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, 'I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" Mary of Magdala went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord," and what he told her.(Jn 20,11-18)

  

Mary of Magdala was looking for the body of Jesus. That is why she went to the tomb. The body was not there, in stead there were two angels. This was not sufficient for her to believe in the resurrection of Jesus. To the angels also she complained saying they had taken the Lord. Thirdly when she saw Jesus standing there she thought he was the gardener, and again, the complain was that the Lord had been taken away.

This story clearly depicts the mentality of the disciples after the death of Jesus. Even though Jesus had spoken about his resurrection, still his disciples believed in the earthly Jesus. They accepted his death and they wanted to hold on to the dead (body of) Jesus. They wanted to see his body in the tomb and they wanted to anoint his dead body etc. Or they believed in some other type of resurrection.

So, what they experienced was totally out of the ordinary. They never expected that the risen Jesus would behave as they experienced. Expectation was different from experience. The experience of the risen Jesus was exactly like the Jesus while he was alive before death. (He called her by her name and he had human form = gardener). But he was different. She did not recognize him immediately.

The experience of the risen Lord took her by surprise. But when she realized that it was the Lord then her proclamation was all the more, louder. Experience speaks louder than expectation.

 

  

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