News of the Resurrection: Do You Recognize the Risen Lord?

The disciples' plans, dreams, and hopes for a savior king were obliterated on Good Friday when Jesus is beaten, scourged, and nailed to a tree next to common criminals. Unlike the disciples, overcome with despair, we know how the story ends. Victory is ours! Easter morning is in essence a flashback for us. The tomb is empty. Good triumphs over evil and life conquers death. We wait in joyful expectation to hear the good news that Jesus is risen. We prepare the celebration!  

WAIT! There's a twist ending to the Easter story. The risen hero is not recognized by the disciples! Mary Magdalene returns to the tomb with spices to anoint Jesus' body and finding the tomb empty she turns to the gardener and asks, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away." Except the gardener IS Jesus! Later that day, two men walking the road to Emmaus have a chance encounter with a stranger who chide them for their "slowness of heart" to believe what the Scriptures had foretold about Jesus. They too do not recognize the stranger as the risen Jesus until he broke bread with them. A third time, Jesus stands on the beach calling out to the Apostles in a fishing boat, but they do not recognize him.  

Why is it difficult to recognize the risen Lord? St. Augustine proposes that the horror of seeing Jesus hanging on the cross shocked them so deeply that the disciples forgot Jesus' promise that he would rise on the third day. They never thought to "look" for his resurrection. Their grief, despair and disappointment were so great that it may have triggered a crisis in faith. Is this true for us? Do we doubt God when suffering finds us; when we are not saved, when there is no magic cure, no miraculous recovery, and no legions of angels to take away our pain? Are these the times when we lose faith; when we don't believe enough or trust enough? 

For a long while nothing was working. The writing was on wall; it was time to make a change. Frozen in fear, I persisted in misery. What if what comes next is worse than this? Would God open another door? "Jump and the net will appear!" a faith-filled friend would say. I'm not sure he'll put out a net for me, I confessed to a priest. "Look back on your life and remember other difficult times in your life," the priest counseled. "Was God there? If God was there then, what makes you think you won't be there for you now?" I flashed back on my life. Indeed! God was "there" time and time again! Taking courage, I jumped.

 

We face many deaths in our lifetime -- shattered dreams, disappointments, life's unfairness, and loss. How do we trust that when the suffering and death is finished the final word is not despair and death, but a new spirit of life? Otherwise we risk being like Mary Magdalene clinging to an old body - to what once was - and not recognizing God's presence walking beside us in the new life we are living now.

 

The first step to experience new life is to grieve wrote Henri Nouwen: "Mourn, my people, mourn. Let your pain rise up in your heart and burst forth in you with sobs and cries. Mourn the silence that exists between you and your spouse. Mourn the way you were robbed of your innocence. Mourn for the absence of a soft embrace, an intimate friendship, a life-giving sexuality. Mourn for the abuse of your body, your mind, your heart. Mourn for the bitterness of your children, the indifference of your friends and your colleagues' hardness of heart. Cry for freedom, for salvation, for redemption. Cry loudly and deeply, and trust that your tears will make your eyes see that the Kingdom is close at hand, yes, at your fingertips."

 

Unless we mourn our deaths and losses and all the life that we once had but that has now passed us by, we will live angry, bitter, and disappointed cautions Richard Rolhesier. We need to name our deaths, grieve what we have lost and adjust to the new reality. We do not cling to the old, but let it ascend to heaven. Then we embrace the new spirit of life we are already living. Rolhesier describes this as the paschal cycle that we must undergo, not just once, but each time when we lose our earthly lives as we know them.

I experienced a long hard year filled with anger and grief at what should not have happened, what I had lost, and what I wanted but did not get. I cried in anguish at not being fulfilled in the present and not having a clear vision or plan of where, what, or how to make it right. I sobbed to God, "Are you done with me? Is that it? There's nothing more for me to do?" One morning I woke up and realized that I was living a new life, richer and deeper as a result of what I had experienced, endured, and survived. My eyes were open to see God's providential care in the midst of my sorrow. Jesus promise of new life was true and now I live renewed in faith and trust in His promises.

 

Mary Magdalene did not recognize Jesus at first and thinks him to be the gardener. When

Jesus called her by name, she recognizes him right away! She runs to the disciples proclaiming, "I have seen the Lord!" One day we will see God face to face and there will be no more tears. Until then, our job is to daily carrying our crosses and daily rising to new life. In good times and bad, God will see us through.

"Lord Jesus Christ, open the eyes of my heart to recognize your presence with me and to understand the truth of your saving word. Nourish me with your life-giving word and with the bread of life,"  by Don Schwager  



Journaling with Jesus

Begin with a few minutes of silent prayer to become aware of God's presence and ask the Holy Spirit to speak to your heart. Then focus on the questions for personal reflection and journaling.

 

Do I recognize Jesus' presence in my daily life, and do I see his loving hand in the events of my life?

Is there anyone who has been a messenger of Jesus for me? Who? How? When?

In the past, when have I found my trust in God put to the test? What did I learn from that experience? List the reasons that come to mind for trusting God no matter what.

 
Listen for Jesus' response through Scripture, personal insight, and encounters with others. What do you think Jesus might be saying to you at this time?