Norman Perrin in his book Resurrection does a comparative study of the synoptic Gospels (Mark, Matthew, and Luke). We have been studying the Perrin book in the Men's Bible Study at the Egg and I restaurant on Friday mornings.
He writes:
"What actually happened on that first Easter morning, according to the evangelists, is that it became possible to know Jesus as ultimacy in the historicity of the everyday(Mark), that it became possible to live the life of a Christian within the church(Matthew), and that it became possible to imitate Jesus in a meaningful life in the world(Luke). With these claims these ancient religious texts become modern, and it is the validity of these claims that must concern us if we are to read the resurrection narratives as the evangelists who wrote them intend them to be read."
Sandy Sasso, in her book God's Echo suggests the way to understand the Biblical texts is to look at the way the sacred writings interpret us rather than concentrate on the way we interpret the sacred writings. Her approach is called "midrash". It calls for us to put ourselves into the texts and allow the writings to say something to us as we find ourselves in the middle of the flow of the sacred word.
Sunday I am going to try to do two things:
1. To discover how we find examples of Jesus in the people we know. Christ events happen all the time. Often we miss them.
2. To hear a story that seems to be merely contemporary and to find something in the story that parrots our Biblical texts.
I will share more about the story on Friday. It involves a high school reunion and a group of graduates meeting to pay tribute to one of their most important teachers.
The Biblical text comes from the Gospel of Luke. It is the story of the disciples, after the crucifixion, meeting Jesus in the stranger on the road.
Who are the Christ-characters you know?
What are their characteristics?
How do you recognize them?
If you have thoughts on this write me at charlesschuster@fcfumc.net. If you are willing to have others read your response click on the 'comments' box below.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Charles Schuster
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