NOTES:
1] For the context, read the preceding verses. 2] Compare the Resurrection stories in the Gospels & we find a number of  differences. We must make of them what we can. 3] In 37-40 the word translated 'ghost' is the same as 'spirit'. 4] Many versions omit v.40 ('borrowed' from JN 20:20?).

WARMING UP: Have we ever had a bad experience of being disbelieved?

TREASURES OLD & NEW: Identify God at work in anything this week?

ENTERING INTO THE STORY:

36-40    Do we have any sense of being 'scared' of Jesus in our church? What emotions are we conscioius of that do centre on him? If we were asked to describe Jesus raised from death, how would we explain that Jesus' body is now a 'spirit' body, no longer bound by physical limits? What's the difference, in Jesus' case at least, between a ghost & a spirit? Why might Jesus be so keen for them to see that he has 'flesh & bones'? Does Jesus having 'flesh & bones' or not make any difference to our understanding of his resurrection & its effect on us?

41-43    Do we ever stop to think how important eating & drinking with people was to Jesus in both earthly life & resurrected life? Is 'commensality' (an old word for eating & drinking together now often used by theologians) part of the ongoing life of our congregation (apart from receiving token Bread & Wine Communion) or is it usually reduced to the level of tea & a biscuit? What about your Home Group? Are there ways  we could re-introduce this practice obviously so important to Jesus? Or wouldn't it work?

44-48    How important is it to you that Jesus fulfilled what was written in the Law, the Prophets, & the Writings? Why might it have been so important to Jesus, the first disciples, & the early church that this was so? Does it make any real difference to our own believing or not believing in Jesus today?
             Does it seem to you that 'opening our minds to understand the Scriptures' is a high priority  agenda for today's church? In what ways do our minds (still) need to be opened to Scripture? How does that 'opening' take place today? Is it something we can do for / by ourselves, or is there more to it than that? How can we be sure that we are interpreting Scripture as closely as possible in accordance with the mind of Christ? What about when it's interpreted (Isn't everything in life interpreted?) according to either an over-liberal agenda on one hand, or an over-literalist agenda on the other?
             Do we think of repentance as positively as we do forgiveness? And experience it that way too? On the part of ourselves & other humans as well as on God's? If repentance has a pretty negative press in many quarters, is there some share of responsibility for this that we must accept, e.g. because we're not witnessing as authentically & effectively to Jesus as he wants us to do? What difference can people see repentance & forgiveness making to our everyday life?
             Realistically, is proclaiming 'repentance & forgiveness of sins' to all nations beyond our reach these days? Or doesn't God see things 'realistically'? How do we get beyond only 'seeing things realistically'?