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Thought for the
Week 26 April 2009 – Easter 3
Open
minded?
Have you ever been told to
do something you thought was really stupid, only to find that it was actually
very sensible? “Take an umbrella
“, “Phone if you miss the train “. Sometimes we come
across people who seem cranks or fanatics — they have got some weird idea and they try to convince everyone else
that it is true. Let me tell you about a few people who others thought were
cranks but whose ideas turned out to be right. When Christopher Columbus
sailed off to find When Jesus said that he
would rise from the dead after three days, people just didn’t think it was
possible, and they laughed at him. When he was crucified, they thought that
was the end of him. Jesus was dead and buried, but as Christians we believe
that he came to life again. It is easy to dismiss the seemingly impossible;
when you do you dismiss the truth! I have a very good friend
who believes that Jesus lived and died, and this friend also believes that
Jesus died for the sins of the world, but my friend cannot bring himself to
believe that Jesus rose from the dead and that he appeared to many. Like so many people he has not the ability
to step out in that much faith, he has not the openmindedness to trust and believe.
That seems too big a leap for him. How many people are the same as my dear
friend? It is a real step…. isn’t it?
But for those who have made that step, it is the greatest way of really
living, being a follower of Christ and knowing him. There are many references
to Jesus and his appearances after his death, to Mary Magdalene in the
garden, the women returning from the tomb, the two disciples on the road to
Emmaus, Peter in Jerusalem, the ten apostles in the upper room, seven by the
sea of Galilee, 500 on mount Tabor and the eleven on the Mount of Olives.
Jesus knew full well the temptation that would come to his disciples to think
that they had been mistaken about His resurrection, so He appeared to them
over a period of forty days, therefore building up the evidence and piling up
the proof. We heard last week, from
John’s Gospel, and again in the gospel reading today we read that on the day of his resurrection, Jesus
appeared to his disciples and showed them his hands, feet and side, the marks
of his love to us all. Then, while remaining with them, he said what he had
said before he died, but this time, he opened their minds so they could
understand what the scriptures were saying. “This is what is written; the Christ will
suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and
forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations”. What did it
say? ….HE OPENED THEIR MINDS SO THAT THEY COULD UNDERSTAND THE SCRIPTURES… I thought about this, and have wondered why
Jesus did not do this earlier? Why didn’t Jesus open their minds to
understand the scriptures explaining to them before he died? Surely it would
have been easier for them, easier for them to follow him, believe in him and
to accept the miracle of his resurrection. Surely everything would have gone
so much better if his disciples had understood the scriptures at that time.
But, they didn’t understand. Instead, throughout the gospels we see the
disciples stumbling and making a mess of things! Jesus had to rebuke them
time and time again. So why didn’t Jesus just open their minds,
so that they could understand? Do you think the answer is that the
disciples had to experience the reality of Jesus’ death and resurrection
before they could really understand? Their hearts and minds could not be
opened, they could not possibly understand, until they were prepared for it,
by all of what they had heard and seen and felt with Jesus…. I think that many people
today are in the same situation as my friend who knows and accepts a lot of
scripture, but cannot enter into the wholeness of the message. Just like the disciples
before Easter Sunday, we shrink away from a lot of Jesus’ teachings; we don’t
want to hear things like… Carrying the burdens of others, suffering for love,
giving up family and home for the sake of the gospel, nor do we want to hear
about good people like Jesus, having to die. This material from the Bible is
not good news to us, just as it was not good news to the disciples. We, and
they, like to hear about the glory being given to the faithful, how the
righteous will be given power and the humble given the earth, and the poor in
spirit the This is why Jesus did not open the minds of
his disciples before the resurrection. Until Jesus rose, the disciples did
not have the experience they needed to have open minds; until He rose, the
link between death and resurrection existed in their minds only as an
unpleasant idea, it certainly was not a great reality! On the first Easter Sunday
Jesus did not give his disciples special knowledge so that they could
understand the scriptures. What he did was open their minds, he reminded them
of what they had experienced with him, and he made the connection for them; He said; “this is what I
told you while I was still with you; everything must be fulfilled that is
written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms. This is
what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third
day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to
all the nations. Jesus waited before he
opened the minds of his disciples because he could do no other; the story was
not complete until his resurrection occurred. The disciples could not
understand the scriptures until they witnessed the fact that he rose from the
dead. We too, like the disciples
cannot understand until our minds have been opened by our experience with
him, and by our faith in his resurrection. We can gain all kinds of
knowledge about scripture, but, if we want to understand what the scriptures
says then we must not only open them, we must let Jesus open our minds, let
His Holy Spirit guide and help us — trust and believe and He will give us so
much, everything in fact, life forever more, with Him, we just need to be
OPEN to Him. Judy Wilson: Reader, Anglican
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