“They were startled and terrified,” Luke tells us of the disciples when they saw the Risen Lord.
Of course! As Robert Barron says, there were two reasons for this: First, this is a strange and unknown phenomenon. A dead man is now alive again? Who wouldn’t be startled and terrified?
Second, the disciples are terrified because “the one they abandoned and betrayed and left for dead is back—undoubtedly for revenge!”
Of course that is what they must have thought. After all, that’s the way everybody thinks and acts.
But here’s the great plot twist: Jesus isn’t everybody! And he doesn’t respond like everybody. He responds by saying, “Peace be with you.” What is this?! As Barron puts it, the terrible evil of betrayal, denial, and crucifixion “is addressed no through an explosion of divine vengeance but through a radiation of love.”
Jesus is showing us how God acts: with merciful love that brings healing, forgiveness and new life.
And Jesus is showing us how the children of God act: with merciful love that brings healing, forgiveness, and new life.
So, you and I: are we like everybody else? Or are we the children of God?
Amen. Alleluia.
Easter Peace,
Fr. Liam