I dwell in hope
Every time I am reminded of Jesus’s humanity, it blows my mind. Here in today’s reading, we find God, standing in front of His followers, a man made of flesh and bone, and He hungers. In the act of eating a simple meal of grilled fish - provided by someone else, mind you, not conjured by a miracle - He displays his authentic frail ‘humanness’ to them and to us all.
"Why are you so agitated? And why are these doubts raised in your hearts? Look at my hands and feet; yes, it is I indeed. Touch me and see for yourselves; a ghost has no flesh and bones as you can see I have.” Luke 24:38-40
His humanity reassures me that God truly knows me. He knows what my hunger feels like in all its painful yearning. He understands that sense of excitement fizzing inside me when I’m overjoyed. He knows how good it feels to embrace a friend, and laugh and sing. Perhaps most importantly, Jesus knows what I’m going through when I’m walking with that black dog at my heel, full of grief, fear, and desolation. We witness Him going through it all and considerably worse in the Gospels.
God reduced Himself to this vulnerable state for our sake. He came to earth as the son of a young girl, and her betrothed, a modest Jewish carpenter. He was born in a lowly dwelling with animals as witnesses. He didn’t come as a King in a flash castle in Europe, or a Roman landowner in some safe corner of the empire. He became the flesh of a member of an oppressed people. In this way, he takes on the pain and suffering of the oppressed and the broken in all the world, in all time.
Not only, as flesh and bone, does God know my troubles but he also knows the suffering of the people of Gaza and Ukraine, and the many other places where the innocent are paying the price of conflict and oppression. Christian lady that I am, I like to think that he is right there with them in their suffering, helping and loving them. His suffering, and the Resurrection that follows, gives us hope.
Through Him there is peace.
“Lift up the light of your face on us, O Lord.
You have put in my heart a greater joy
Than abundance of grain and new wine can provide.
In peace will I lie down and fall asleep,
For you alone, Lord, make me dwell in hope.”
Psalm 4:7-9
Today's Readings: Acts 3:13-15,17-19 Psalm 4 1 John 2:1-5 Luke 24:35-48
Photo: ZMS istock
Source: Third Sunday of Easter
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