Dead men don't eat fish.

What if it IS True? Blog

Discovering, wrestling with, and trying like crazy to live Gospel virtue.

04/24/14

Luke 24:35-48

The disciples of Jesus recounted what had taken place along the way,
and how they had come to recognize him in the breaking of bread.

While they were still speaking about this,
he stood in their midst and said to them,
“Peace be with you.”
But they were startled and terrified
and thought that they were seeing a ghost.
Then he said to them, “Why are you troubled?
And why do questions arise in your hearts?
Look at my hands and my feet, that it is I myself.
Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones
as you can see I have.”
And as he said this,
he showed them his hands and his feet.
While they were still incredulous for joy and were amazed,
he asked them, “Have you anything here to eat?”
They gave him a piece of baked fish;
he took it and ate it in front of them.

He said to them,
“These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you,
that everything written about me in the law of Moses
and in the prophets and psalms must be fulfilled.”
Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.
And he said to them,
“Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer
and rise from the dead on the third day
and that repentance, for the forgiveness of sins,
would be preached in his name
to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
You are witnesses of these things.”

Do ghosts eat fish? I personally doubt that you'd see ghosts eating anything. That is, if you see ghosts at all, but that's another blog. I'm sure somewhere in the blogosphere there's a page devoted entirely to speculation of what Ghosts eat. Just guessing, but why not? But it's the very essence of the eating that makes a point. Christ is alive. Touch him and see, he commands.

How can we touch Jesus today? Will he mystically appear to us as he did to the fishing apostles? Will he ask us for baked fish? Essentially yes. Matthew chapter 25 speaks vividly of how we can touch Jesus. Christ talks about how we not only have the opportunity to touch him, but we have an obligation. This is how we will be judged. Our eternity depends on our ability to see the risen Christ. And the place we'll most vividly see the face of Christ is in those who lack the most. Anyone who needs our help, for whatever reason, suddenly becomes Christ to us.

So how do we keep our eyes open? I think it's easier than we think. There are always people who are in need. Some of them might actually ask us for something. First, are we willing to see? And even more importantly, once we see, are we willing to treat that person like Christ? I dare say most of us, even if we don't respond to strangers would respond if we knew we were dealing directly with Jesus. But isn't that the Easter message? Christ is risen. He has not only risen in the flesh, but is risen in our flesh as well. Will we see him? That choice is ours.

Good luck and God bless,

Leo Brown