Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study for Tuesday, 22 April 2014 "Puzzled followers: 'They didn't find his body'"

Leawood, Kansas, United States - The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Daily Guide grow. pray. study for Tuesday, 22 April 2014 "Puzzled followers: 'They didn't find his body'"
Reflection Questions:
Just as Luke shared details about Jesus' birth that no other gospel included, his research found this unique story about the resurrection day. Jesus, unrecognized, walked with two disciples discussing recent events. They were disillusioned ("we had hoped"), sad about the crucifixion, and stunned that some women said Jesus' body was not in the tomb. Note that these two followers gave no sign that they believed the report—just that it puzzled them.
Scholar N. T. Wright noted, "It wasn't simply…that they couldn't recognize him. This is a strange feature of the resurrection stories, in Matthew (28:17) and John (20:14; 21:4, 12) as well as here….Jesus' body, emerging from the tomb, had been transformed. It was the same, yet different—a mystery we shall perhaps never unravel until we ourselves share the same risen life." In what ways does Easter make you long to share that risen life, to experience dimensions that for now remain mysterious to us?
Cleopas, like the other disciples, was still in the grip of preconceived ideas of what the Messiah would be and do (cf. Luke 9:44-45). In what ways can preconceived ideas today make it harder for you to trust the Bible's testimony? When have you found greater joy and peace after letting God alter or overturn some fixed idea you may have held for years?
Today's Prayer:
Loving Lord, when I am discouraged, disillusioned or disbelieving, please come and join me on the road. It is at those times in particular that I need your living, loving presence with me. Amen.
Daily Scripture:  Luke 24:13 Behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was sixty stadia[a] from Jerusalem. 14 They talked with each other about all of these things which had happened. 15 While they talked and questioned together, Jesus himself came near, and went with them. 16 But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 He said to them, “What are you talking about as you walk, and are sad?”
18 One of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who doesn’t know the things which have happened there in these days?”
19 He said to them, “What things?”
They said to him, “The things concerning Jesus, the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people; 20 and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. 21 But we were hoping that it was he who would redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. 22 Also, certain women of our company amazed us, having arrived early at the tomb; 23 and when they didn’t find his body, they came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. 24 Some of us went to the tomb, and found it just like the women had said, but they didn’t see him.”
Footnotes:
a. Luke 24:13 60 stadia = about 11 kilometers or about 7 miles.
Insight from Rev. Anne Williams
Rev. Anne Williams is a Congregational Care Pastor at Resurrection.
This weekend in one part of the Easter sermon, Pastor Adam challenged us to consider, “What is your defining story?” He invited us to think about those narratives we tell ourselves again and again that soon become our truth. And then, he challenged us to think about how the people we surround ourselves with support our beliefs and opinions. As we see in today’s GPS reading of the disciples who didn’t recognize Jesus on the road to Emmaus, sometimes those narratives and defining stories hold us back from seeing the transformation that is right before our eyes.
Author James Bryan Smith talks about something similar in his book The Good and Beautiful Life. He describes how his own preconceived notions of the Gospel message were challenged and redefined even years after his graduation from seminary. All this he attributes to “some gifted teachers,” but I would say he could also give himself some credit for being open-minded and willing to re-evaluate his defining story. He came to understand that the Good News is not just about entering heaven when we die, but also about entering heaven now.
Today, as we seek to live as Resurrection People, I wonder if you’d be willing to consider if there are ways your preconceived notions are holding you back from noticing God’s transformative work in and around your life. Is there one idea or attitude that you could stand to let go of? Is there one attribute or practice that adding would open your eyes to the stories of resurrection all around you? Today, I pray our narratives help us seek the Kingdom of God that is here and among us even today. Happy Easter!
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