Hello friends,
This is Mark Gladman,
Also known as Brother Frederick James,
Your friendly neighbourhood monk in dogs.
Welcome to another Lectio Divina,
Where we reflect on the questions Jesus asked.
As we begin,
As always,
I invite you to take a slow breath in.
Gently out.
Allow yourself to become still.
Let your body rest.
Let your thoughts settle.
Don't force the silence.
Just let them come to a place of stillness.
And wherever you find yourself today,
May be peaceful or anxious,
May be clear or uncertain,
Hopeful or weary.
Whatever the case may be,
Just allow yourself to arrive honestly in this moment before God.
Today,
We sit with a question that Jesus asks after the resurrection.
It's a question that's not spoken in anger or disappointment.
But with gentleness,
So keep that in mind as we continue.
So this moment takes place after the crucifixion.
After the grief and after the fear.
And the confusion that's shattered the disciples.
Everything they understood.
Of everything they thought would happen has been destroyed somehow.
Jesus suddenly stands among them and says,
Peace.
Be with you,
But instead of immediate joy.
The disciples,
As you could understand,
Are startled and terrified.
They think they're seeing a ghost.
And Jesus responds by asking.
Why are you troubled?
And why do doubts rise?
In your mind.
Now understanding that it was spoken in gentleness,
There's something deeply compassionate about this.
There's no shame here from Jesus because they're struggling to believe.
He doesn't rebuke them because of their fear.
He also doesn't demand.
Instant certainty after their trauma and their loss rather he meets their confusion with presence.
And this matters because most people will assume that doubt is the opposite of fear.
That spiritual maturity means becoming completely untroubled or emotionally steady,
Intellectually certain all the time.
But the resurrection stories tell us a very different truth.
Even the disciples,
The ones who walked with Jesus for three and a bit years,
Listening to him,
Witnessing miracles,
Even they.
.
.
Struggled to understand what was happening right before their eyes.
Faith in the Gospels.
Is not about the absence of questions.
This is so important.
Faith rather is the willingness to remain open in the midst of your questions.
And maybe that's important for us to remember because there are seasons when life unsettles us,
Moments when prayer seems unanswered.
There's moments when suffering doesn't make sense.
There's moments when God feels distant and even silent.
There are moments when old certainties no longer hold together the way that they once did.
And quite often,
Alongside these experiences comes fear.
And sometimes even fear about our fear.
We become troubled by the fact that we're troubled.
And then we judge ourselves because of our uncertainty.
But Jesus approaches the disciples with tenderness.
Why are you troubled is not an accusation,
It is an invitation.
He's drawing attention to the movement within them,
The fear,
The confusion.
With inner turbulence,
Contemplative spirituality teaches us that transformation begins with honest awareness of all the feelings.
We can't bring what we refuse to acknowledge into the light of grace.
And maybe that's the deepest invitation of what's happening here.
That we don't have to eliminate doubt,
But we can actually remain present with it.
We can stop pretending certainty that we don't actually possess,
That we can stop performing confidence while we're inwardly anxious,
That we can allow ourselves to be human before God.
The disciples' doubts certainly don't prevent the presence of Christ from appearing among them.
In fact,
Jesus enters the room precisely while they are confused and afraid.
And this means resurrection presence isn't reserved for people who have everything figured out.
Christ comes into locked rooms,
Frightened hearts,
Into uncertainty and grief and questions,
And in doing so says,
Peace be with you.
The mystery's still there.
But the divine presence remains even inside mystery.
So as we move into the reading today,
Notice the emotional atmosphere of the passage.
Notice the fear,
The confusion and the gentleness of Jesus within it all.
And maybe hear Christ speak those words not against you,
But compassionately towards you.
Why are you troubled?
And why do doubts rise in your mind?
As we reflect on Luke chapter 24 verses 36 to 43.
While they were talking about this.
Jesus himself stood among them and said to them,
Peace be with you.
They were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost.
He said to them,
Why are you frightened?
And why do doubts arise in your hearts?
Look at my hands and my feet.
See that it is I myself.
Touch me and see.
For a ghost does not have flesh and bones,
As you see that I have.
And when he had said this,
He showed them his hands and his feet.
While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering,
He said to them,
Have you anything here to eat?
They gave him a piece of broiled fish and he took it and ate in their presence.
While they were talking about this.
Jesus himself stood among them and said to them,
Peace be with you.
They were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost.
He said to them,
Why are you frightened?
And why do doubts arise in your hearts?
Look at my hands and my feet.
See that it is I myself.
Touch me and see.
For a ghost does not have flesh and bones,
As you see that I have.
And when he had said this,
He showed them his hands and his feet.
While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering,
He said to them,
Have you anything here to eat?
They gave him a piece of broiled fish and he took it and ate in their presence.
While they were talking about this.
Jesus himself stood among them and said to them,
Peace be with you.
They were startled and terrified and thought that they were seeing a ghost.
He said to them.
Why are you frightened?
And why do doubts arise in your hearts?
Look at my hands and my feet.
See that it is I myself.
Touch me and see.
For a ghost does not have flesh and bones,
As you see that I have.
And when he had said this,
He showed them his hands and his feet.
While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering,
He said to them,
Have you anything here to eat?
They gave him a piece of broiled fish and he took it.
And eight in their presence.
As we end our time together today,
Please join me in prayer.
Risen Christ,
You enter the locked rooms of the human heart without force or condemnation.
You see our fears,
Our confusion.
Our unanswered questions and the quiet doubts we often try to hide.
Yet you remain present among us.
Teach us not to fear our own uncertainty.
Teach us to bring our troubled hearts honestly into your presence.
Teach us that faith is not perfection,
But openness to you,
Even in mystery.
When anxiety rises within us,
Breathe your presence into us.
When certainty collapses,
Hold us gently.
When we feel distant from you,
Remind us that you still come near.
May we learn to trust that Your Presence isn't dependent on the strength of our understanding� but on the depth of your love and in all the changing seasons of life.
May your words continue to echo within us,
Peace be with you.
And may that peace,
Grace and love be with us and go with us into the day,
Today and always.
Amen.
Until next time friends,
Peace be with you.
