Again, reading and reflecting from Pope Benedict XVI's book, Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection:
In the last blog, I mentioned three things Jesus did during the 40 days between the Resurrection and the Ascension. He appeared to them; He spoke with them; He sat at table with them --- and they came to recognize Him through fellowship with His Spirit.
The Greek word used by Luke (synalizomenos) translated in modern editions as "sitting at table with them" is very significant. Literally translated, it means "eating salt with them." During the time of the Roman occupation of Jerusalem, salt was such a precious commodity that often Roman soldiers were often paid with salt rations -- the origin of our word "salary." Salt was a guarantee of durability, a remedy against putrefaction, against the corruption that pertains to the nature of death, Eating means holding death at bay -- a way of preserving life. Salt preserved food, especially meat and fish, and to share salt with someone was a sign of friendship.
In the Old Testament, the shared meal of bread and salt, or of salt alone, served to establish lasting covenants (cf. Num.18:19; 2 Chron. 13:5). The "eating of salt" by Jesus after the Resurrection is a covenant event, a sign of new and everlasting life and friendship with God established by Jesus in the New Covenant of the Last Supper. What we call Heaven is nothing less than communion with God and with one another through our participation in the Body of Christ. Jesus had said, "Have salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another." Jesus is drawing the disciples into a new covenant-fellowship with him, and with God, and with one another. Today, that table fellowship with the risen Lord and with one another continues through the Eucharist.
Through the Resurrection, a new dimension of life emerges, a new dimension of human existence. Jesus, complete with His Body, now belongs totally to the sphere of the divine and eternal. Christ's transformed body is the place where men enter into communion with God and with one another, creating for all of us a new space of being.
The Resurrection is not simply another historical event such as the birth or the crucifixion of Jesus. It is something new -- the self-revelation and verbal communication of the risen Christ. At the Last Supper, Jude asked, "Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?" (Why do you reveal yourself only to a small flock of disciples instead of to everyone?)
The implication of the Resurrection is that we now also have friendship with God and communion with one another through Christ. It is daily, ongoing, and accessible. God is present to us; we are present to one another. We have already begun to live eternal life. This fellowship is available to all, without exception, if they will only receive it. The world depends on our testimony that God is with us in the Risen Jesus!