Acts 9:1-20
The Conversion of Saul
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https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%209%3A1-20&version=NRSVUE
 
In last week’s scripture, the word “seen” helped us to understand the importance of seeing the Risen Lord and being seen by him in order to believe. In this week’s scripture, we explore Saul’s inability to see, his sudden blindness on the road to Damascus, and what role this played in his conversion.

Saul was an ardent persecutor of the early disciples. The Risen Christ appeared to Saul in the form of a bright light that blinded him and caused him to fall to the ground. He didn’t see Jesus, but he heard him ask, “Why do you persecute me?” (v.4). Saul didn’t know Jesus’ voice and asked, “Who are you?” (v.5). The others who were with Saul didn’t see Jesus either, but heard Jesus’ voice. Jesus identified himself, and then told Saul to “get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do” (v.6).

Saul blindly followed Jesus’ instructions, and while in the city, he prayed and received a vision about Ananias healing him. Jesus gave Ananias a vision as well to look for Saul to heal his blindness. Although Ananias questioned Jesus’ instructions at first, he found Saul, and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit” (v.17).

Saul had “something like scales” over his eyes that prevented him from seeing who Jesus was or understanding who Jesus is. It wasn’t the revelation of Jesus that caused the scales to form. Saul was already blind. He was blind with rage when he persecuted Jesus’ followers. God’s glory on the road was the beginning of Saul learning how to see. While he was still blind physically, Jesus gave him a spiritual vision to see that Jesus is the Son of God and that he would be healed by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ light healed his blindness and allowed him to see others through his eyes.  

The scales over his eyes probably resembled a fish’s scales which are opaque and would not allow light to pass through. A similar traditional Jewish story told about the healing of Tobit’s eyes when scales or films fell from his eyes. A flaky film might not cause complete blindness, but it would make it hard to see clearly.

Saul was a staunch Pharisee whose rigid views about God and tradition caused him to not see Jesus clearly. After Jesus’ death and resurrection, he double-downed to actively persecute and remove any trace of Jesus or his followers to prove his understanding of God was the only “right” one. His refusal to change and his self-righteousness were the scales that caused his blindness. The light of Christ removed the spiritual scales from his eyes, so he could see the truth about Jesus.

We all have scales or a flaky film covering our eyes, preventing us to see the truth. It could be our refusal to change or self-righteousness like Saul’s, or it could be anger, grief, or addictions. It could be deeper ‘isms that cause us to persecute others. Jesus wants to remove our scales to let the light in and to help us to see more clearly and truthfully. What scales are preventing you to see? How can you remove the scales from your eyes?
 
Reflection Questions:
Have you heard Jesus’ voice before but wasn’t able to see him in your situation?
Has he ever given you instructions like “Get up” and “Go”? Do you follow them like Saul?
How did this cause you to see?
 
Pray: Risen Lord, appear to us this day and show us the scales that need to fall from our eyes. Help us to see you fully and truthfully.
 
Act: Remove the scales that cause you to persecute others.
 
*New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. 

John 29:19-31
Jesus Appears to the Disciples

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2020%3A19-31&version=NRSVUE
 
Last week, the women at the tomb believed the resurrection when they remembered Jesus’ words. The angels told them to, “Remember how he told you” (Luke 24:6), and they finally understood his words. That night, Jesus appeared to his disciples who were still gathered in the Upper Room. The doors were locked out of fear, but Jesus appeared to them and showed them his hands and his side. They recognized it was Jesus by his wounds, and “then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord” (v.20). They believed the resurrection when they saw Jesus.

It seems as though they would have seen the person enter the room through a locked door, but it sounds as if they didn’t really recognize it was Jesus until they saw his wounds. That begs the question if the Risen Lord looked differently than before or were the disciples so distraught and fearful that they couldn’t believe their eyes. Did they blink several times or rub their eyes to make sure they were seeing what they thought they were seeing? Jesus confirmed they were truly seeing him by showing his wounds. I love that if the Risen Lord did look differently, he still carried the wounds of the world.

This scripture suggests to me that in order for a person to truly be seen by another, one has to reveal all of oneself including one’s wounds. And, in order for a person to truly see them, they must be willing to not turn away from the wounds. There’s no judgment or blame about how the person became wounded. There’s no guilt or shame if the person helped cause the wounds. There’s just love and an openness to see the person fully.

This works with Jesus too. When Jesus comes to us, he wants us to see him. He reveals to us all of himself. That could come through words of challenge or words of peace. That could come through a cup of water on a hot day or a smile from a stranger on your worst day. That could come with feeling a guilty conscience when we need to confess our wrongdoing or that could come with a warm presence surrounding us when we feel lost and alone. Jesus wants us to see him – all of him – and we can if we remain open and not turn away from what Jesus wants us to see.

The phrase “seeing is believing” seems to apply in this scripture because Jesus knows if the disciples see him fully, they will believe the resurrection. Unfortunately, Thomas was not with them during this appearance. The other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord” (v.25). But Thomas said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe” (v.25). Thomas thought he needed to see AND feel Jesus for himself. He could not rely only on his eyes. He needed to touch Jesus’ wounds in order to believe.

When Jesus appeared to Thomas, Jesus offered to him what Thomas thought he needed. Jesus said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe” (v.27). Thomas thought he needed to see and feel Jesus in order to believe, but he just needed to be near Jesus. He needed to feel seen. When Jesus revealed that he knew what Thomas said and was willing to give it to him, Thomas felt seen by Jesus.  

Jesus pointed out, however, that Thomas believed because he had seen Jesus, but “blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe” (29). Seeing with our eyes is only one way to believe and only a few saw Jesus after his resurrection. Many more believed because of their witness. None of us today have seen the physical Jesus, but we have seen the spirit of Jesus in many people. We have believed because we have seen people’s wounds and the healing power of Jesus. We have believed because we have revealed our wounds to another and felt seen by Jesus’ loving presence in them. Where have you seen the Lord? What has caused you to believe?

Reflection Questions
Where have you seen the Lord?
Have you ever seen Jesus or felt seen by Jesus?
What do you need to believe in the resurrection?
How do you draw near the Risen Christ?
 
Pray: Risen Lord, appear to us this day and show us your wounds. Help us to see you fully. Give us the courage to reveal all of ourselves to you.
 
Act: Listen lovingly and without judgment to someone who reveals a wound to you.  
 
*New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. 

Luke 24:1-12
The Resurrection of Jesus
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2024%3A1-12&version=NRSVUE
 
The Resurrection is a foundational belief of our faith. As the Apostle’s Creed says, “I believe in Jesus Christ, … was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to the dead. On the third day he rose again.” Further in the creed, it says, “I believe in…the resurrection of the body.” These statements about the Resurrection are an affirmation of our faith. So much rests on the Resurrection, that if archaeologists ever found the bones of Jesus, our faith would need to be re-examined. Even so, there are many who believe the resurrection is just “an idle tale” (v.11).

The women go to the tomb to take the spices they prepared for Jesus’ burial, and they discover the stone rolled away. Two angels appear and tell them that Jesus has been raised, just as Jesus had told them. They remembered Jesus' words and returned to tell the others, but the others didn’t believe them. Even though they had heard Jesus’ words too, they thought the resurrection was “an idle tale” or “nonsense,” as the New Living Translation says. They didn’t believe it from someone else’s report.

Peter then runs to the tomb to see for himself, and he returns home “amazed at what happened” (v.12). The Message says he was “puzzled, shaking his head,” and the New Living Translation says he was “wondering what happened.” Shaken, puzzled, and amazed, but not quite believing. Even though he was present to hear Jesus’ words and now he has seen the evidence (the linen cloths) for himself, he still wonders what happened. Perhaps he is turning it over in his mind whether this could be true or if this is nonsense, that it is too good to be true. Perhaps he is fearful to let himself believe such an idle tale could have real significance.
Many feel the same about the Resurrection. They believe in Jesus and his teachings, they’ve read scripture with Jesus’ own words foretelling it, but they just can’t believe in a bodily resurrection. It is not scientifically possible.

It is not until the Risen Christ appears to Peter personally that he believes, and the idle tale becomes a real significance in his life. The same happens to Thomas. He cannot take the others’ word for it. He has to see it for himself, and when he does, it becomes real.

That’s how faith works. We can view all the biblical stories as idle tales, and the historical events that happened to other people have no real significance to us. Or, we can open ourselves to the Resurrected Lord’s presence in our lives, and truly experience for ourselves the Resurrection. Christ resurrected so we can be resurrected from our dead lives. We often feel buried in the tombs of our lives, but Christ enters our tombs and we rise with him to receive new life.

Throughout our lives, we experience tiny deaths that seem like huge, encompassing deaths, like the loss of loved ones, the loss of the dream of what we thought our life would be, the loss or change of careers (or retirement), the loss of relationships that may or may not have been toxic to us (but they hurt nonetheless). When we come to the end of significant chapters in our lives, it may seem like a death. We all experience seasons that aren’t lifegiving, and we feel burned-out, buried, and quite frankly, dead. Christ is with us during these times and is waiting to rise with us. Christ can resurrect us from the deaths we encounter throughout our lives, and we rise to live a new chapter in a new life.

Until we experience the resurrection first hand, it may seem like an idle tale. I invite you to open your heart and allow the stone to roll away, to receive a new, resurrected one. A resurrected heart is filled with Christ’s presence that embraces the life you were meant to live, a life that is filled with love and newness. Will you rise and embrace the new life that is waiting for you? 
 
Reflection Questions
Do you think the Resurrection is an idle tale?
Have you experienced Christ’s resurrection where Christ has raised you from death into a new life?
Is there an area in your life that needs to be resurrected?
What would it take for you to trust that Christ can resurrect that part of your life?
During this Easter season, will you rise and embrace the new life that is waiting for you?
 
Pray:
Rise within us, O God, so we may walk out of our tombs into the new life you have waiting for us.
 
Act:
Reflect on something that is dead in your life. Let it go. Open yourself to something new.
 
 
*New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America.

Luke 19:28-44
Jesus’ Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem 
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2019%3A28-44&version=NRSVUE
 
The traditional reading for this upcoming Sunday stops at verse 40, in which Jesus told some of the Pharisees that there’s no stopping his movement of peace and love. No one will remain silent about Jesus. If they would remain silent, “the stones would shout out” (v.40). The moment had come when God’s reign could not be squashed. Creation will sing God’s praises if the people can’t. That typically sounds like a great end to the story, but the Spirit nudged me to keep reading this week.
 
The next four verses were like a gut punch. Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem did not end with cheering and celebrating. There was more to the story. According to the gospel of Luke, after Jesus’ processional, Jesus wept. Jesus wept over Jerusalem – again. This is the second time Luke shows us how emotional Jesus was. He lamented over Jerusalem in Luke 13 when some of the Pharisees were not willing to see Jesus for who he was. Now, Jesus wept when Jerusalem would not recognize “the things that make for peace” (v.42). He knew that within a generation, the city would be destroyed. Rome’s army would surround Jerusalem and destroy it in AD 70, and the people would be lost. This brings Jesus to tears.
 
The gospel of John adds to Luke’s depiction by telling us that Jesus wept over the death of his friend, Lazarus (John 11:35). Jesus was not afraid to show his emotions and wept over the loss of his people, which is opposite of the image depicted in the fundamentalist “bro culture.” Young men are attracted to this idea that manhood is a strong arm that rules by force and violence, so they can reclaim positions of power in the name of Jesus. This depiction does not represent who Jesus was. Perhaps the “colonizer Jesus” was made into that image, but the gospels do not show us a “king” who ruled by force. The gospels show us a deeply emotional, loving man who resisted with nonviolence and protested their harmful discriminatory purity laws by healing the sick, welcoming the outcast, and eating with sinners. 
 
Some men in power prefer the “King Jesus” image they created because they get to rule over the people by force in the name of religion. If we truly read the gospels, we would see that the Roman tyrants fit closer to this image, not Jesus. This image describes Herod who oppressed the people and occupied Jerusalem. Jesus tried to show them a different way, than fighting violence with violence, but they did not recognize Jesus’ way of peace. Jesus even said that perhaps things could have been different if they recognized “the time of [their] visitation from God” (v.44).
 
If the people had been willing to see that God was present among them in the person of Jesus, perhaps the story would have a different ending. If the people could have embraced the vision of the kingdom Jesus offered, perhaps they would receive God’s peace instead of destruction. If the people had been willing to change their minds about their understanding of God, and open themselves to a God of love and peace, then perhaps we’d be telling a different story of the gospel.
 
But they didn’t, and that grieved Jesus. He wept over the loss of the people. He wept over people’s stubbornness that caused their demise. He wept over their unwillingness to see that God is always doing a new thing that is rooted in love. He wept when the people tried to force their own way instead of embracing God’s way.
 
I think it’s important for us to see that there’s always more to the story. Tears behind the crowd’s cheers show us the real Jesus. We see the One who wept because he will not be able to save them from Rome. We see the One who cared deeply for their loss and destruction and who was not afraid to show his emotions. We see the One who showed us that manhood brings peace not force. His tears do not make him weak. His tears bear God’s heart for his people.
  
Reflection Questions:
What is your image of Jesus? Is it rooted in your own image or the gospels?
What do the tears of Jesus mean to you?
Are you willing to embrace Jesus’ kingdom of peace? What does that look like in your life?
How do you see the end of the story?
 
Pray:
May your way of peace, O God, usher us into your dream for our world.
 
Act:
Allow your tears to fall like Jesus'. Weep for those who do not see Jesus’ way of peace.
 
 
*New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America.

John 12:1-8
Mary anoints Jesus
 
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John%2012%3A1-8&version=NRSVUE
  
When one walks into a room, and notices an unusual aroma, one begins to question, “What’s that smell?” When the aroma is sweet, the tone in the room is pleasant and uplifting. When the aroma is foul, the tone is one of disgust. Whether a good scent or a bad one, the sense of smell sets the tone of the room.
 
In biblical times, the sense of smell was used as a means of divine communication. The scent of the anointing oil was a reminder that God’s presence was with them whether the anointing was for ordained service or the sick and dying. A fragrant incense offering made the lifting of prayers an act of worship as the sweet-smelling prayers wafted up to God.
 
Paul teaches in Ephesians 5:1-2 that Jesus’ sacrificial offering smelled sweet to God, so we should also strive to present ourselves as a similar “sweet-smelling aroma” in the way we live our lives. Mary’s sweet-smelling act certainly pleased God. Her extravagant gift filled the room with the fragrance of devotion that carried Jesus through his final week.
 
What other fragrances filled the room? Judas opposed her sacrificial gift by saying it was a waste of money. Instead of offering this gift to Jesus, he said it should have been used to care for the poor. The narrator quickly told the reader that his intentions were not pure, as he frequently stole from the common purse. He saw “denarii signs” on what he could have purchased with that money. His greed filled the room as he voiced his opposition.
 
The room was also filled with the fragrance of tension and anticipation. The anointing of Jesus is a turning point in Jesus’ ministry. This dinner followed shortly after the raising of Lazarus, which was the event that set things in motion for Jesus’ walk to the cross. Many people believed in Jesus after witnessing Lazarus’ resurrection, and some ran to the Pharisees to tell them what they saw. The Pharisees called a special meeting of the High Council to determine what to do with Jesus. Jesus’ death was quickly approaching, so the stench of death also hung in the air.  Perhaps Mary hoped to cover the foul aroma of greed, plotting, and death with her extravagant fragrance of devotion.
 
Her devotion sprang from gratitude for raising her brother and from belief in seeing with her own eyes who Jesus is. She knew he could have healed her brother, but seeing that he was also able to raise him from the dead confirmed for her that Jesus was the Son of God. She was eternally grateful to be in God’s presence, so the anointing was an act of worship.
 
Mary demonstrated her worship and devotion by lowering herself to anoint Jesus’ feet. Only servants touched people’s feet. She also sacrificed a year’s wage for the cost of the perfume to show that Jesus was worth the sacrifice. Using her own hair, which would normally be covered, suggested a tender moment of offering her whole self. She gave everything to Jesus.
 
Mary’s offering matches Jesus’ offering. In just a few short days, he would give his whole self. He gave everything for us as his act of devotion. Our lives are filled with the fragrance of his never-ending love, and it continues to linger through our sweet-smelling acts of faith. Our devotion to Christ through acts of service certainly set the tone for living a life that is pleasing to God. The tone in the room at Jesus’ anointing included many things, but the one Jesus sought to prioritize was Mary’s devotion.          
 
Reflection Questions:
How do you express your devotion to Jesus?
Do you prioritize it in your life?
How can you express more devotion to Jesus?
 
Pray: Loving God, we want to live a life pleasing to you. Give us courage to live out sweet-smelling acts of faith.
 
Act: Express one act of devotion this week, perhaps one that you have not done before or one that you have not done in a long time.
  
*New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America.