Questions in a Locked Room

Luke 24:36-48 [NRSV]

While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 37 They were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost. 38 He said to them, “Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he took it and ate in their presence.

44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46 and he said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.

Have you ever done something wrong by mistake? Do you remember that feeling of horror when you realized what you had done? When I was a child, my grandfather gave me a pocketknife. I was about ten years old, and it was the coolest thing that had ever happened to me to that point in my life. You can imagine how much excitement coursed through my veins.

The first thing I wanted to do was carve my initials into the tree in my backyard, and I knew just the tree; This excellent mimosa tree. Well, when I started carving into the tree, it did not go as I expected. The bark did not cut the way I wanted it to; it started coming off in strips. I pulled the bark and tried to carve deeper into the tree, but it didn’t look right, so I moved to another spot, and when the same thing occurred, to another. Then, from around the corner, my stepmother came. She was horrified at what I had done to the tree. You see, in my zeal to make my mark, I had almost removed all the bark as high as a 10-year-old can reach. The tree never recovered, and as punishment, I had to cut it down.

In our lesson today, Luke is telling us about Jesus’s appearance to the disciples. This story is similar to the story we find in John’s gospel, with some added information. He tells us that the disciples were in a room together. Jesus tries to put the disciples at ease. When he enters the room, he says to them, “Peace be with you.” He also invites them to touch his hands and feet to show that he is flesh (like in John). And lastly, Jesus asks for something to eat and then eats it in front of them. Each action, designed to put the disciples at ease, is also a way to tell the reader that this is flesh-and-blood Jesus, not a ghost. “Peace be with you” is an echo of John’s gospel and a reference to the kingdom of God. The invitation to touch his wounds shows he is Jesus and not an impostor. But Luke adds the eating of fish. This simple act proves to the disciples and to the reader that Jesus was alive, with a functioning body. [a simple action, performed so many times with the disciples before]

If this is the retelling of what John has in his gospel, the disciples are locked up in this room. I ask the question, why else would the disciples be in this room together? They indeed were not there to party or plan their next big outing. They entered the room because their leader was dead, and the body was missing. They were hiding. Let’s look at it like this, suppose you follow Luke’s book back a little. The story that takes place just before this story is the famous road to Emmaus. Jesus appears to the followers who were leaving Jerusalem to go to Emmaus, a seven-mile journey. Another question came to my mind: why were they leaving Jerusalem to go to Emmaus? And then it hit me, they were getting out of town before the authorities started to look for the followers of Jesus. Is it possible they were leaving Jerusalem for the same reason the disciples in the story today are hiding? Could it be fear? They knew something went wrong. Their plans have gone awry.

Can you imagine the fear that the followers of Jesus felt after the crucifixion? Can you imagine the loneliness, the questions, and the panic they must feel? I mean, just a week ago, they were entering into Jerusalem triumphant, people were shouting Hosanna! People were laying down olive branches at Jesus’ feet as he entered the city. And now they have watched him die, and they have watched his body disappear. To top it all off, Mary says she saw him at the tomb. Now people are running around saying they saw Jesus walking with them down a road to another village. But his most loyal disciples, his inner circle, have not. That feeling must be so devastating. To know that your plan, your triumphant plan, is now something you have no control over. Let that sink in for a minute.

My proud moment of triumph, with the tree, turned into one of the most humiliating experiences of my life. And worst of all, the look of disappointment in my stepmother’s eyes and the trust I lost with my grandfather made me feel guilty about having that knife. I gave it to my stepmom and did not take it back until I turned 21 and moved out. To this day, I still think about it.

Fear is a powerful motivator, but fear, if not augmented by something, can cloud judgment. Fear can lead one down a dark path. When I was ten, I had no fear walking up to that tree with my grandfather’s pocketknife. I had no fear when I entered that state of being that allowed me to kill that tree, a beautiful tree that I loved to climb. But when I saw my stepmother round that corner, fear came over me. Oh, at that moment, I knew my backside was going to get tanned. I knew that my punishment would be harsh. And the fear of discipline made me lose all of my previous excitement. At that moment, I had no control over what would happen next. I wanted to hide.

Suppose one is not mindful of the world around them. Ignorance is bliss; there is no fear. For others, they are too aware of what the world around them can do to them. We must find a balance.

John Calvin writes a lot about fear; About Christ, he says in his famous Institutes of the Christian Religion, “For what a small thing it would have been to have gone forward with nothing to fear and as if in sport, to suffer death! But this was a true proof of his boundless mercy, that he did not shun death, however much he dreaded it. There is no doubt that the apostle means the same thing when he writes in The Letter to the Hebrews: Christ “was heard for his … fear” [Heb. 5: 7 p.]. (Others render it “reverence” or “piety.”). He goes on to say… Christ, therefore, “praying with tears and loud cries, … is heard for his … fear” [Heb. 5: 7 p.]; he does not pray to be spared death, but he prays not to be swallowed up by it as a sinner because he there bore our nature. And surely no more terrible abyss can be conceived than to feel yourself forsaken and estranged from God; and when you call upon him, not to be heard. It is as if God himself had plotted your ruin. We see that Christ was so cast down as to be compelled to cry out in deep anguish: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” [Ps. 22:1; Matt. 27: 46]. (Calvin, MCMLX)

Our disciples in the room, I believe with no pretense, were hiding, fearing for their very lives. What they had experienced was exponentially more tragic than what I went through that day. And believe me when I say I wouldn’t wish feelings like that on anyone. But they also did not suffer as Christ had suffered.

Imagine, if you will, the questions going through their minds after the initial shock of the crucifixion. The fear would turn to doubt. Were they wrong? Were they caught up in the whirlwind of Jesus’ ministry? They might ask themselves; Did we abandon Jesus too soon? If we had not left him, would we have suffered the same fate that he did? I imagine, behind those locked doors, countless questions were bubbling up within them. Not only could the human authorities be looking for them for punishment, but maybe even God was mad at them. There seemed to be no light at the end of the tunnel. Imagine yourself in that room… I imagine everyone’s pulse just raised a few beats.

The doubts that they had, and the questions could only lead to one conclusion: the disciples felt guilty. Just as that little 10-year-old Rob felt guilt for killing that tree with his grandfather’s pocketknife, but on a much bigger scale.

For Christians, the Holy Spirit has a way of reminding us that God’s grace is sufficient. The Holy Spirit is a motivator that gets us out of our heads and lets us know that God has a plan. But Jesus had not sent the Holy Spirit yet (that’s still to come later in the book), so Jesus shows up himself. Amen! God’s plan is at work right here in our lesson—a personal house call. Jesus gets the disciples to calm down and then explains everything. (Hold that thought a minute)

Now let’s take a minute and look at the word doubt. On the surface, doubt seems like something we do not want to have. But doubt is biblically based. Jesus doubted his path when he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. Matthew tells us that Jesus prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me; yet not what I want but what you want.” [Matthew 26] Luke tells us, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet not my will but yours be done.” Then, an angel from heaven appeared to him and gave him strength. In his anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground.” [Luke 22:42-44] (Can you feel the doubt?)

 There are moments of doubt throughout scripture. Moses doubted if he could speak on God’s behalf to Pharaoh; Peter doubted when he denied Jesus three times. If you look for it, you can find it in every book of scripture. There is doubt, but God’s grace reaches through every story.

As readers, we don’t always understand the plan within the account, and we may doubt the characters’ motivations, sometimes even God’s intentions, and the writer’s purpose. However, we can count on one thing: we can trust that God has no doubt. God’s plan unfolds in God’s time, not always when we want it to. This is something only the wisest prophets understand… but only after their doubts are addressed...  back to our story.

Jesus then explains all the events that happened to him and describes how He fits into scripture. Which, in Jesus’ time, is the Old Testament. He says to them in verse 45, “Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, ‘thus it is written that the Messiah is to suffer and rise from the dead on the third day and that repentance and forgiveness of sin is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem.’” This is when the disciples’ minds were calmed. Jesus explains that everything is going according to God’s plan, even if that was not how they saw it.

When we are at our worst, God can still find a way to reach us. God’s grace has a way of clarifying the events of our lives. What was a horrific mistake on my part, with my grandfather’s pocketknife, became a lesson in planning. It became a lesson in taking care of God’s creation. I learned to try to see things from different points of view. To try to reckon the outcome of a given situation. I learned on that day empathy for a tree that no longer exists.

At this point, the disciples were almost ready. Have you ever heard the saying that the mind is prepared, but the body is not willing? The disciples had it all explained, and as Luke says, their minds were opened. But today’s lesson stops at verse 48. I think it should have gone maybe to verse 49. It says, “and see I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so, stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

When God reaches out to us in our most troubled times, we may not understand what God’s plan is. Even when we look past ourselves to have empathy for beings who are not us, we still need a push to move forward. Jesus instructs the disciples to wait. Jesus tells the disciples that what God has promised is coming. The Holy Spirit is that force that God has placed upon the earth to motivate us in worship, in day-to-day life, in times of trouble, and in times of joy. You see, we may not know God’s plan for us, but rest assured, God does have a plan. God will reach out, even when you think you’ve been left alone. When you have made a mistake, or your dreams do not go the way you intended.

When you are locked in that metaphorical room, hiding from the consequences, know this. Jesus appeared to the disciples. He had already shown himself to others. Others out there know, because they have seen him. Others in here know, because we have seen him.

As we celebrate the Easter season, it’s ok to have doubts about… whatever! Because God has answers to your questions in a locked room.

Let us pray… Oh, wise God, you know our doubts and questions before we even ask them. You know the answers, but you know we must ask to understand, for our sanity. We know that God, the creator, has a plan for all creation. We know that God the Holy Spirit is the motivator that pushes us through the fear and the doubt so we can trust entirely in God, the redeemer, who died on that cross, and after three days dead and buried, walked out of that tomb, fully alive. It is for the love of the triune God, and in the name of that Redeemer, Christ Jesus, we all pray. Amen!

Works Cited

Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion [Book] = 2:16:11 / auth. Calvin John/ed. McNeill, John T. / trans. Battles Ford Lewis. - Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, MCMLX. - Vol. I: II.

Luke24:36-48 [Online] = Luke24:36-48 // Bible Gateway. - Biblegateway.com. - April 23, 2024. - https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2024%3A36-48&version=NRSVUE.

NRSVue [Book]. - Washington, D.C.: National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America, 2021.

The Harper Collins Study Bible, New Revised Standard Version with the Apocryphal and Deuterocanonical Books [Book] / ed. Meeks Wayne A. [et al.]. - New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1993.