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During the season of Easter we hear of the many times that Jesus appeared to his disciples after his resurrection: Mary Magdalene finding the empty tomb and seeing Jesus in the garden, the two on the road to Emmaus who didn’t recognize Jesus at first but their eyes were finally opened when he broke bread with them, Thomas who needed to see and touch Jesus himself before he could believe he was truly alive. But forty days after Easter that all ended.
This past Thursday was Ascension Day. The day Jesus’ time with his disciples ended. The disciples went with Jesus to Bethany, which is right outside the city walls of Jerusalem. It is a place where Jesus had spent a lot of time. It is where his friends Martha, Mary and Lazarus lived. It had been forty days since he left the tomb.
The number forty appears many times in the Bible. Noah waited forty days after he sees the mountain tops emerge from the flood waters before he released the first bird.
Moses and the Israelites wandered in the desert for forty years waiting to go into the promised land.
The devil tempted Jesus for forty days and forty nights.
In the Bible, time periods of forty, forty days or forty years, are times of preparation or a transition from one stage of life to another. The forty days before Easter, we call Lent, is a time we spend in preparation for Easter and reflecting on what it means to be a follower of Christ.
Jesus spends the forty days after his resurrection preparing his friends for their next roles in their journey as his disciples. They are told that they will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and that they have work to do. They were to be witnesses of the Good News that he had taught them. Witnesses to Jerusalem and to the ends of the earth. And then he raised his hands and blessed them. And while he was blessing them, he was carried into heaven.
As you might imagine, the disciples probably stood there with their mouths wide open, not believing again what they had just seen. Where did he go? Where is his Body? In Acts, Luke tells us that God sent two angels to help. They ask, "Why are you guys standing there looking up to heaven? The body you are looking for is not there."
Then Paul tells us in Ephesians where Jesus’ body is. Paul says for God has "...put all things under Christ's feet and has made him the head over all things for the Church, which is his body…”
The church is now the Body of Christ. Jesus demonstrated the love of God through His death on the cross. The work of the Church is now to demonstrate the love of God to the world.
Jesus intentionally chose Bethany to be the place where he would end his bodily presence on earth. It wasn’t a nice neighborhood. It was where the people of Jerusalem sent the poor and the sick. It was a place for the homeless and lepers. That was why Jesus chose to spend most of his time there. These are the people Jesus wanted to be with and show God’s love to. Jesus chose Bethany as the last place on earth to be, among the poor and the suffering.
Among the poor and the suffering is where we as the body of Christ are called to be. There is so much to do to help the needy that individually we cannot do it all. We have to work together as the Body of Christ. Remember that Paul also tells us that the church, as the Body of Christ, like all bodies, has many parts and that each part is important. He said that we each have gifts and that we are called to use those gifts in service to God. Some preach, some teach, some heal the sick, some are advocates. Some of us may work with and bring love to the homeless. Some may use their skills to build homes, prepare meals, or provide clothing to the poor. Others may be advocates by writing letters or making phone calls speaking up for those who cannot speak for themselves.
St Teresa of Avila said it very clearly. She wrote:
Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet on earth but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses all the world. Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are his body. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”
We are called to serve God and to love one another and we are called to share the Good News of God’s unconditional love for us.
For your reflection today I ask:
How can you be a contributing member of the body of Christ?
How can you actively serve God and share Him with others?
