Rejuvenating the ‘Defeated’ Church by the Power of the Resurrection
(Acts 3: 13-15, 17-19; 1 John 2: 1-5a; Luke 24: 35-48)
Fr. Nelson Lobo OFM Cap
The disciples had very intense roller-coaster experience of the events since the Palm Sunday leading up to the stories of the Resurrection of Christ. Their faith had been tried and tested. When all was said and done, most of them ran for their lives in fear. Planning to save themselves. One had even denied ever knowing him. Talk about defeated. In today’s gospel we find that they have gone back to the life they lived before they had ever even heard of this man Jesus Christ.
Post resurrection the disciples think he is a ghost. They can’t believe he is real. Why is this surprising? The resurrection of Jesus is already well established amongst his followers yet we find this morning that they are still in disbelief. In fact, they have already gone back to who and what they were before Jesus had called them. Friends, that’s what the defeated church looks like. Going back to who you were before Jesus called you. If Jesus hadn’t intervened, we would never have had the Gospels. We never would have heard the name of Jesus Christ. If not for Jesus showing up post resurrection there would be no church today no Christianity. Verse 45 says “Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.”
Even after the resurrection, it’s pretty clear that they still don’t get it. It is not until this morning that we hear “Jesus opened their minds.” I believe that this awareness came to them only as a gift from Jesus. Their minds never were able to grasp what God was saying to them until he imparted it to them through his Spirit. Why? Because our minds will never be able to grasp what God is saying to us until he imparts it to us through his Spirit. I think the first thing we need to do is to acknowledge that our awareness of God is extraordinarily limited until such time we receive the gift of his Spirit. Understanding God cannot be learned it must be experienced. As beneficial as Scripture is, it is incomplete without the Holy Spirit. That is why the disciples were at such a loss. They simply could not grasp the message without the gift of the Spirit.
Resurrection of Jesus makes all the difference. Resurrection of Jesus rejuvenates the defeated disciples. The resurrection of Jesus rejuvenates the almost dead churches. Malcolm Muggeridge was a Marxist before he found Christ. During the Cold War he travelled to Russia to write a story about the Communist party and the decline of religion in that atheistic regime. After conducting a series of interviews with officials in the Kremlin, he attended a Russian Orthodox Easter service. The church was packed. At the close of the service the priest said, “Christ is risen”, and the people shouted back, “He is risen indeed!” Muggeridge looked into their faces and instantly realized that they were right and that Stalin was wrong. He said it was the reality of their joy that tipped the scales of his soul toward Christ.
Professor Charlie Moule, the famous NT theologian once said: “the birth and rapid rise of the Christian Church … remains an unsolved enigma for any historian who refuses to take seriously the only explanation offered by the church itself – the resurrection.” The Resurrection is a major pillar of our faith. St Paul puts it like this: “…if Christ has not been raised from the dead, your faith is futile” (I Cor. 15: 17)
Reflect: What does a defeated church look like? What does it take for new life to take place in the church?
