Today’s Reading: Luke 24:36-48
Daily Lectionary: Exodus 15:19-16:12; Hebrews 10:1-18
And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate before them. (Luke 24:41-42)
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. Jesus loves to eat! This is quite remarkable! The resurrected Christ breaks bread with those grieving men at Emmaus, turning their tears and confusion into hope and purpose. Then Jesus shares in eating fish with the disciples in Jerusalem, with a similar impact. For Luke, Easter is less about an empty tomb then it is about food shared around a table! Ghosts and spirits cannot eat real food. The resurrected Jesus asks for and eats this fish to prove that He is truly resurrected in body and soul. If a high point of your Easter celebration was a big family meal, how appropriate–it would appear that Jesus spent Easter Day eating, and calling the ones He loved to the place where bread is broken and food is shared.
Luke challenges us to think of Easter in terms of food. We should not have difficulty in doing that. Central to our Holy Week remembrance is that wonderful meal that Jesus provided for his followers in the Upper Room on the night before He was handed over to His enemies. We hear of Jesus sitting with the disciples on that first Maundy Thursday. Jesus took the Passover bread, blessed it in a special way, then broke the bread and shared it with His friends. In words that have become woven into the fabric of our believing hearts, Jesus gave His new covenant in His blood for us to eat, drink, and be forgiven and sustained. This great act is not only a defining memory for us, but it is the way we are fed by Jesus Himself: in, with, and under the bread and wine.
This points us to the promise we hear, again and again, in the great resurrection banquet” that no one will be hungry and all will be satisfied. The last will be first and the first will be last, and the feasting will continue forever. Christ is risen: Come and let us feast! “Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him” (Psalm 34:8). In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
O Lord, in this wondrous Sacrament You have left us a remembrance of Your passion. Grant that we may so receive the sacred mystery of Your body and blood that the fruits of Your redemption may continually be manifest in us; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Collect for Holy Thursday)
-Rev. Kent Schaaf is pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Little Rock, AR.
Audio Reflections Speaker: Rev. Duane Bamsch
Over eight sessions, The Messiah: Revealing Jesus in the Old Testament will lead you through the entirety of the Old Testament with daily readings, questions, and discussion prompts. After a brief introduction that reviews Christ’s earthly ministry, you will dive into the heart of the Holy Books that have spiritually nourished God’s people from creation to today! Now available from Concordia Publishing House.
