Easter lll

Easter lll (Luke 24:36-48) “He opened their minds…”

Jesus is the eternal logos- the very pattern of the universe. He is infinite, eternal, active, dynamic, creative, rational and passionate. Jesus doesn’t just offer an opinion about what is true. Jesus is the very pattern of truth.

A disciple of Jesus Christ need never fear questions. A disciple of Jesus Christ need never fear observation, experimentation and classification- which is the basis for the scientific method of inquiry. A disciple is a student. The defining quality of a student is teachability. It has been said that those who know don’t tell; and, those who don’t know teach. It is also a matter of human experience that those whose minds are made up shout down all inquiry.

The prerequisite for a human teacher is that they must first of all be a student. They must be open to learn and indeed committed to learn. For those of us who are ordained and charged to teach what Jesus taught we must above all else cultivate the humility of a student.

The Apostles struggled with the concept of “teachability”. The religious and political leaders rejected that concept almost completely. They not only asserted that they knew the mind of God they made the assertion from the place of pride. The place of pride is the place of invincible ignorance. That place asserts: I not only know the mind of God- I know I know. My mind is made up. Do not confuse me with fact. A disciple of Jesus Christ need never fear fact.

The beginning of wisdom comes from the place of humility that agrees with the Holy Apostle Paul who wrote: now we know in part. As disciples of Jesus Christ we are called to delight in learning where our earthly knowledge is incomplete. And, all earthly knowledge is always incomplete.

Even after the resurrection the apostles struggled to surrender their false beliefs about God. Even in the personal presence of the Living Lord Jesus Christ, the apostles reverted to the place of pride and attempted to redefine Jesus as a ghost.

Today, some Christians define the resurrection in modern psychological terms. They assert with the apostles that dead is dead so the physical resurrection is impossible. As the apostles invoked an ancient superstition to redefine Jesus so some modern Christians invoke a more contemporary superstition to explain away the truth of the resurrection.

Jesus very patiently led the apostles through a study of Moses and the prophets to clarify for them what the Holy Spirit had already revealed about his life, death and resurrection.

My mother liked to teach my brothers and me through ironic quips. One thing she liked to tell us was: when all else fails- read the instructions. That is what Jesus did during those forty days between the resurrection and the ascension. He focused his brief time on teaching the leadership of the emerging Church. He set the standard by directing them to scripture. He knew he could only initiate a process.  And so he told his apostles and all of his future disciples (students) that another Counselor would come to teach.

That Counselor is the Helper- the Holy Spirit, The Holy Spirit always leads us to Scripture. And, He always invites us to cultivate a teachable attitude. He always seeks to transform pride into humility. He always reminds us that since God is both infinite and eternal we can never exhaust the possibilities for learning, growth and development.

Jesus is not looking for a closed mind. His purpose during the forty days of Easter is to open our minds to a new way of living. That way is formed by scripture, guided by the Helper (the Holy Spirit) and infused with divine love.

Jesus opened the minds of his apostles. He seeks to accomplish the very same process in us.