Mark 16:6 …you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid
John 20:15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”
Luke 24:13 Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
Matthew 28:16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.
In each of the Gospels, in the narrative immediately following the resurrection, disciples are described as being afraid, filled with doubt and unable to recognize Jesus. They are described as being unable to recognize Jesus even when he is standing next to them or walking beside them. As a people of faith that has just celebrated a joyous Easter Sunday for the 10th, 20th or even 80th time in our lives, this response on the part of the disciples might strike us as odd or even lacking in faith. We might wonder how it is possible that a disciple could greet the Risen Christ not with joy and wonder but rather with doubt and fear. We might wonder how it is that a disciple who has lived with Jesus for a year can not recognize that it is he standing right there in front of you or that it is Jesus who has been walking alongside of you for those seven long miles on that road going back home.
We might wonder about the disciple’s inability to see the risen Christ in their lives but then perhaps we might remember that at times in our life, perhaps even today, this has also been true for us. Perhaps our arrogant inclination to ridicule those early disciples for their lack of faith and their inability to recognize Jesus’ presence is tempered into humility when we recall how rare it is for us to see Jesus truly present in our lives, truly present in our families, truly present in our communities and truly present in our world.
So how did the disciples come to see Jesus truly present in their lives?
For those early disciples, it required more than simply thinking the right thoughts and believing the right things in order to recognize Jesus. For Mary, it was when she was able to hear Jesus calling her name. For Cleopas, all those long miles of walking together on the road to Emmaus wasn’t sufficient, it took the sign of the blessing and the breaking of the bread.
For Thomas, it didn’t happen until he was able to stick his hand in the wounds of Jesus. For Peter, it didn’t happen until he confessed his love for Jesus the same amount of times that he had also denied knowing Jesus and in doing this came to the acceptance that he was forgiven by Jesus.
So how do we see Jesus truly present in our lives? The answer to this question is probably unique to each of our lived faith experiences but may well have similarities to the experiences of those disciples as offered in the Gospel narratives For a few of us, we may find that our personal faith practices of daily reflection and prayer is sufficient to enable us to hear Jesus call our name. Like Mary Magdalene, hearing Jesus call our name with the request to “Come follow me” will be sufficient to transform the path of our lives.
For some of us, like with Cleopas, we may be able to ultimately recognize the presence of Jesus in our lives as we experience our worship together as a community of faith. We may well come to recognize the true presence of Jesus in our lives and be transformed as we celebrate sacramental rituals, sing of God’s love for us and listen to His word proclaimed.
For some of us, in a way very similar to Thomas, we won’t be able to recognize Jesus until we are able to put our hands into the very wounds of the Body of Christ and experience the healing presence of God. For me, this is the true faith experience of Christian service to those in need. The experience of feeding, clothing, caring for and even fighting for those members of the body of Christ who have been wounded by our society, transforms me to be able to see Jesus truly present in this world. I see Jesus present both in those caring for others and in those being cared for.
Finally, for some of us perhaps even for most of us, in a way very similar to Peter, we need to directly experience unearned, unmerited and unconditional forgiveness in order to recognize that Jesus is truly present in our lives. For some of us, this experience of the grace of Jesus in our lives is what will ultimately transform us.
By whatever means that we may ultimately be able to see Jesus truly present in our lives, whether through experiences of prayer, worship, service or grace, I believe that it is not God’s plan that we keep it to ourselves. Like with the early disciples, Jesus is telling us now that we have recognized him, be transformed and go and show others so that they might experience the risen Christ in their lives and be transformed. Then they may do the same and so on until ultimately the world might be transformed. I believe that ultimately, that is how God’s Kingdom will come on this earth as it is in heaven. It is more than simply a prayer; it is living a transformed life.
May we all experience the true blessings of this Easter Season!
Pastor Terry |
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