Then saith he to Thomas, (in the upper room) Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. Jn. 20:27
Thomas wanted physical proof of the resurrection and got it, the risen Christ was touchable, tangible. He had risen bodily from the tomb and, on reflection, anything less doesn't cut it.
What dies when we die, the spirit? Hardly, it doesn't have any physical parts to decay and return to the dust from which they came. The body, notoriously, does; we don't bounce like we used to, to put it mildly. So what has to be resurrected? The body, rejoined to the spirit, between them both making up the whole person.
Without this, we're left with spirit only or in other words, a shade or ghost, and the rising becomes a haunting. This is not the case in the upper room on the 8th day, the Sunday following the Resurrection. On the contrary, Jesus stands before Thomas, the whole man, body and spirit, risen from the grave.
In an explosion of divine power, Christ had taken humanity to a new dimension of existence, a new mode of imperishable, glorified being. No wonder Thomas fell down and worshiped, he touched the Glory, "My Lord and my God." And note this.
When Christ appeared to the disciples on Easter Sunday, the "doors were shut" for fear of the same people who'd crucified Jesus crucifying them. For fear of death. With the reality of the resurrection upon them, made concrete on the 8th day, the fear was gone. And so they went out and died in the proclamation of the Faith, knowing they would rise in and with their Lord.
What hope! As opposed to the dismal, wretched, con-trick despair of our disbelieving age. God grant us the faith, hope and love of the disciples in the upper room, and with Thomas the grace to fall down and believe, "My Lord and my God."
Christus Surrexit,
LSP
5 comments:
Hope is something we all need.
We know not what we shall be, but we shall be like Him.
Have you any insight on how we get 40 days to the Ascension?
NFO, I was thinking exactly that. And we have it. So.
Good question, Ed, and forgive the late answer, I've been taking time off in Dallas.
40 days?
In the first instance it's a literal time frame, see St. Luke. But of course we're reminded of Exodus and the Temptation, which point to Christ awaiting Ascension.
As the Hebrews traveled through the wilderness to the promised land, so will Christ move through 40 days till he finds his rightful home at the right hand of the Father. Likewise, as he prepared for his public ministry in the wilderness, so too for his heavenly ministry as our eternal High Priest and intercessor at the throne of glory.
Something like that. Helpful?
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