We have reached the eighth day of the Octave of Easter, the solemnity or feast which is the reason for our faith. As St. Paul wrote: “If Christ has not been raised, then empty is our preaching; empty, too, your faith.” (I Corinthians 15:14) Throughout this past week, we have read the various Gospel stories of Jesus’ appearances to various individuals. Each of the Gospels tells a different story, but there are two points upon which they all agree. First, the tomb of Jesus was found to be empty. Second, the risen Jesus appeared to various people as a living human being.
As human beings, we are intimately tied to time and space. We cannot think of ourselves except in these two contexts. It is for this reason that we find it far easier to read the timeline that is provided for us in the Acts of the Apostles, written by St. Luke. Jesus rose on the first day of the week (Sunday), appeared over the next forty days, and ascended to God on a Thursday, forty days after the resurrection. After another ten days, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit upon his apostles and disciples as they gathered in the Upper Room. However, careful reading reveals that all of the Gospels, but in particular the Gospel of St. John, think of these events as all happening on the same day; namely, the first day of the week.
Consequently, we really need to think of the Paschal Mystery without the constraints of time and space. Perhaps the easiest way to do this is by recognizing that the words “resurrection” and “ascension” speak to two different realities. Resurrection speaks of Jesus alive and in our midst whereas Ascension speaks of Jesus alive with God. The Gospel of John tells us that on the evening of that first day of the week, the disciples discover that Jesus is still in their midst but is also with God.
Earlier in the Gospel of St. John, Jesus had said to Mary Magdalen: “Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” When he appears to the apostles in the Upper Room, he has no difficulty in showing them his wounds and even in allowing Thomas to touch his wounds. In addition, it is clear that Jesus imparts the Holy Spirit upon his disciples after greeting them with “Shalom,” “Peace be with you.”
The simultaneous presence of Jesus as both resurrected and ascended emphasizes that he is a bridge, connecting the disciples with God and God with the disciples. He is the mediator between the divine and the human. That was what he was in his incarnate life, and that is what he is in his resurrected life. Even though he is ascended and living with God, he is also resurrected and living with us.
There is a major difference between the pre-Easter and the post-Easter presences of Jesus. The post-Easter Jesus does not enter through doors as people with physical bodies must do. The doors are locked, yet he was in their midst. This strongly suggests that the disciples have a spiritual realization of the presence of Jesus. He does not appear as an outer form as he previously did, but he manifests himself as a presence emerging from within and allaying their inner panic. His presence is known by the fact that he brings peace in the midst of their fear.
You will remember that on the night before he died, Jesus promised his disciples that he would not leave them orphans. That promise is realized in his resurrected body as well as in the Eucharist. The Gospels all mention that at first Jesus is not recognized by his disciples. They panic when he appears. He must calm them down and assure them that he is with them, that he is not a ghost. It is St. Luke who goes on to say that the two disciples on their way to Emmaus came to recognize Jesus in the breaking of the bread. The Gospel of John builds upon that by saying, “Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.” St. John concludes by telling us that this is all written so that we may come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
As we gather around the table of the Lord, we recognize Jesus as both resurrected and ascended; and we receive his wounded Body and Blood as the assurance of his presence among us.
Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator