Witnessing to Christ Experience!

Sunday, April 14, 2024

Third Sunday of Easter

Acts 3:13-15,17-19; 1 Jn 2:1-5; Lk 24:35-48

The Lukan version of today’s Gospel invites us to be witnesses to Christ experience. 

Luke presents the Risen Christ both in his glorified and real natures.

The Christ who entered the glory can suddenly appear in their midst and wish them, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then, the Risen Lord, as a real human, asks, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ And ‘he took the baked fish and ate it in front of them.’ 

Through his appearances and instructions, the Risen Lord means something. What is that?

Two questions help us understand what the Risen Lord wants to accomplish. 

1.‘Why are you troubled?’ After the death of Jesus, the faith of the disciples was truly shaken. They spent their lives in fear and despair. It is to them that Jesus gives the message of peace. The troubled minds needed peace, and the Lord, who knew them, offered exactly what they wanted. Besides wishing them peace, Jesus also invokes their faith in him by saying, ‘It is I myself.’ The disciples were having doubts about the identity of the Risen Lord. Hence, the Risen Lord proclaims peace to the battered band not just by words but by revealing his own self. ‘It is I Myself’ gives them inner peace and joy.  

2. Why do questions arise in your hearts? Jesus raises this question and immediately invites them to verify their questions and doubts. He wants them to see that he is a real person and not a ghost. It is as if to prove himself to be the real person after the resurrection that Jesus asks them, ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ Thus, Jesus abolishes their doubts and questions. 

Why does the Risen Lord do this? What does he want to make of the disciples? 

The answer lies in the second part of the Gospel. The Risen Lord opened their minds so that they would understand the Scriptural teachings about Christ’s death and resurrection.

We now realize that the Risen Lord opens their minds both through his instruction and appearance. 

The Risen Lord wants his disciples to believe so that they will be witnesses to his resurrection. 

If the disciples are not rooted in Christ experience, announcing the Good News cannot happen. 

Thus, the Risen Lord turns the fearful into the faithful. They are now the heralds of the Good News. 

The first reading becomes the best example of how the disciples witnessed to the resurrection of Christ. Peter, who denied Jesus thrice out of fear, now proclaims, ‘You put to death the author of life’ and calls them to repentance and conversion. 

The second reading underlines the redeeming sacrifice of Jesus Christ. John wants people to discover the truth of Christ and follow the Lord by keeping his commandments. This cannot happen unless the congregation internalizes the Christ experience. 

The third Sunday of Easter invites us to be rooted in Christ experience so that we can be convincing and fearless witnesses to it. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar