Why be troubled ? (4)

"Jesus stood himself among them and said to them : Peace to you ! And they, all frightened and full of fear, thought they saw a spirit. But he said to them : "Why are you troubled, and why do reasonings arise in your hearts ?" Luke 24. 36-38

On the evening of the first day of the week after the crucifixion, the eleven apostles and their companions gather in a house in Jerusalem. The two disciples of Emmaus have just arrived. Even before they could tell how Jesus made himself known to them by sharing the bread, those of Jerusalem announce to them that the Lord is really risen and that he appeared to Simon Peter.

What great news ! And suddenly Jesus stands in the midst of them and says to them : "Peace to you !" The reaction of the disciples is strange : rather than leaping with joy at seeing the Lord in their midst, they are frightened by this apparition. They do not believe their eyes ! They put forward an explanation : it is "a spirit", a being of the invisible world having only the appearance of a body ! The Lord then said to them : "Why are you troubled, and why do reasonings arise in your hearts ?" Jesus lets them understand that their fears come only from their imagination. Then he openly declares to them : "See my hands and my feet : it is myself" and he invites them to touch him to convince them that they are not dealing with a spirit. What a paradox : all, while they had not seen him, with the exception of Peter and the two disciples of Emmaus, believed in his resurrection ; now that he himself is in the midst of them in flesh and blood, they are troubled ! Despite these audible, visible and concrete proofs, they still do not believe ! To convince them that he is not a spirit, the Lord offers them additional, material proof : "Do you have something to eat ?", And he eats before them.

So Jesus is appealing to their memory : had he not told them before his death that everything that had been written about him would come true ? He opens their minds to understand the scriptures. This enlightenment to accept and understand the testimony of the scriptures continues today with the work of the Holy Spirit.

When we are troubled, let us remember that even today the Lord is with us and in us through his Spirit.

Source (Pleasing the Lord)