So, the first thing he said to them was: “You are wrong.” He didn’t say, let’s discuss this further. He didn’t offer to organize a seminar on differing visions of the afterlife. He didn’t decide to have a conversation on the subject. He simply said: “You are wrong.” Kind of blunt. Kind of direct. But, friends, this is the only Jesus we know. This is the canonical Jesus. He used strong terms. And he did not suffer fools gladly. It’s kind of refreshing – certainly different from the “gentle Jesus, meek and mild” that many of us were brought up on in Sunday School. I’m not saying that Jesus isn’t loving. He’s incredibly loving. But like C. S. Lewis’ Lion Aslan, he is good; but he is not tame.
The second thing that Jesus said to them was “you are ignorant of the Scriptures.” “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.” (v.29) This was like waving a red flag before a bull. They were the scholars, the elites, the educated ones. They had been to seminary. And they had degrees after their names. And who was he? Somebody from a nowhere place up north….
Decent homily, but the story with which he concludes (in lighter type) smells pretty fishy.