Any reader of psychological thrillers will come across the “dead main character trope” fairly often. This is the famous Sixth Sense twist ending (I would say “spoiler alert,” but the movie is older than most of the people who work in Youth Ministry at your archdiocese, so you’ve probably seen it by now) where the reader finds that the main character has been dead for all or most of the story. I’m always a little disappointed when this happens. It delivers shock value, sure, but it also undermines everything that happens in the story. You’ve come on a journey with this character, only to find out that nothing you saw transpire was real in the way you thought it was. You feel a little stupid, because the whole time you only had part of the truth.
I suspect Jesus knows this about us. He knows we don’t like to have the rug pulled out. It’s why he is so up-front about his humanity following the resurrection. See how Jesus, resurrected, shows the disciples his feet, his hands. See how he asks them for food and lets them watch him eat it. See how this creates in them an understanding, a belief.
The humanity of Jesus Christ is absolutely crucial. It’s what bridges the divide between the sons of Eve and the God she defied. Our reconciliation with God cannot happen unless human flesh pays the price that will balance the scales. Human flesh: skin that can tear and bleed, bones that can break, a mouth that can thirst, a stomach that can ache with hunger.
The passion and death of Jesus Christ is not a thriller with a twist ending: he was a ghost the whole time! The twist, if anything, is this: he was human the whole time.
— By Colleen Jurkiewicz Dorman ©LPi
“Touch me and see, because a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you can see I have.” — Luke 24:39
