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RESURRECTION: WHAT IT IS AND WHAT IT IS NOT—The Biblical Witness
The Risen Jesus Appeared to the Disciples
John 20:24-27
But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he 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.” A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he 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.”
[New Revised Standard Version]
Luke 24:36b-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.
[New Revised Standard Version]
One can hardly develop a theology that includes all the themes and meanings of Scripture. Such a theology would certainly be marked with bias and less than a complete understanding of God, humankind, the cosmos, and our relationship with all. It would be more dangerous to construct a theology on a mere pericope of four verses, like those above from the twentieth chapter of the Gospel According to St. John. Such would likely raise more questions than it answers. Bearing this in mind, I dare to make some comments that this account of the Risen Christ's appearance to the disciples leads me to.
The Risen Christ is known to be both the Christ and the Resurrected One by the wounds of crucifixion. His hands (i.e. wrists) and feet (i.e. ankles) and side bear the injury that execution by crucifixion would certainly leave. It was by these wounds that Thomas, as one of the "now" eleven followers was able to recognize Jesus. We know not if he actually placed his finger and hand into those wounds. But, it would seem that the visual sight of the wounded Jesus was sufficient for him to believe that standing there, amid their gathering, was Jesus crucified and risen.
The fact that Jesus' wounds are not only visible but a presence of his resurrected body, leads me to a question: If resurrection means healing, why would Jesus still bear the wounds of his death? I mean, if following the resurrection there are still wounds, what kind of healing allows for such wounds to remain?
I would suggest that we tend to think of life after death as a perfecting, undoing all that is wrong, bringing brokenness to wholeness. After all, is that not the meaning of the Hebrew word "shalom"? As has been stated often and well, peace is not the absence of violence or chaos, it is much bigger than that. Peace is a wholeness wherein we and all of creation is transformed into the fullness of our creation. There is to be a holistic sense of