A Very Busy Week - Part 1: Rise & Shine

Luke 24:44-53

Three things happen this week in the life of the lectionary: The ascension of Jesus into heaven, the visitation of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth, and the call to prepare for the coming of the Holy Spirit. It's a very busy week indeed.

Let's begin our week with one of my favorite New Testament stories. The Ascencion as told by Luke comes at the very end of his Gospel and is the final, most tender moment (in my opinion) that Jesus has with his disciples while here on earth.

The 24th chapter of Luke moves through the resurrection and appearances of Jesus rather quickly. It's as though Luke knew he was going to write a sequel, so he felt he didn't need to focus much on the reactions of the disciples. Actually, now that I think about it I see Luke moving on to write about the actions of the disciples, instead of their reactions. Hmm.

Getting back on track...

Today's reading is in the same chapter as the visit at the tomb by the women and the appearance of Jesus on the road to Emmaus. Jesus is now with his disciples (or so it's assumed, because Luke never mentions the word "disciple"...another hmm) and is sharing a meal with them when he gives them one final lesson.

The verse which caught my eye this morning is verse 45; "Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures." The Greek word used for understanding is nous, which is defined in several ways with the one thing in common as using all your mental, physical, and spiritual capacities to know the meaning of something.

It's not easy to understand some things. The death of a loved one, the torture of young children, and the greed of gathering as many riches as one can are just some of the things I have difficulty understanding. I also understand that I'm not one of those people, and until they understand the pain they cause to others, there really isn't much I can do except to continue to be the example of Christ and speak out against injustice whenever I can.

The life I choose to be in - a life centered in the love of God as shown to me through Jesus Christ - is what helps me to focus on the things which are important to me: compassion, justice, unconditional acceptance, care for creation, and relationship with self, others, and God.

Jesus went away from the disciples after helping them understand what his teachings were about, but as he did so he promised that another was coming to help them move forward. That "other" is known to Christians as the Holy Spirit. As the weeks move forward towards the day of Pentecost, let's find a way open ourselves in order to learn what God is doing, or wants us to do, in our lives.

To be continued...