The gospel for the third Sunday of Easter is always one in which the risen Christ appears, teaches the disciples, shares food with them, and sends them into the world. These stories are reflective of our pattern of worship – gathering, word, meal, sending. These appearances by the risen Christ also follow a pattern. Jesus’ presence with the disciples is real – he eats and drinks, he is fleshy and tangible. Jesus, though risen, does not appear “other worldly” but is known to his disciples by his crucifixion wounds. In the same way, Jesus appears to us in worship, and his presence is real – opening the scriptures to us, breaking bread with us, embodied in wounds like ours. Like disciples for generations, we too are witnesses of these things, of this good news of God’s triumphant love.
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