Seeing Is Believing

John 20-21; Luke 24:13-35

As the Gospels tell of what happened after the Resurrection, they make a point to tell us that no one recognized the risen Jesus immediately. Usually, we interpret this lack of recognition as either the result of blasted expectations--they did not recognize Jesus because they assumed, being dead, he would not be there--or being resurrected so radically altered Jesus’ person that no one could see him for whom he was. But there is another way to see this lack of recognition, a way that sees this vagary not as a lack, but as a way into a greater fullness.

Let me explain.

We are the Church of the Resurrection--i.e., we are a community of faith formed after Easter. Our Lord is forever risen. Our Lord will always be the eternal Christ. We will never encounter the earthly Jesus. We will never sit at the feet of a 1st Century Palestinian rabbi. Christ will be unseen. We will those of whom Christ spoke when he said, “Blessed are those who have not seen, yet believe” (Jn. 20:29). For us, we, too, are challenged to see Jesus and recognize his presence in ways that may not be readily comprehensible nor recognizable.

The Gospels say that the ones who saw the Risen Lord saw a stranger, a gardener, or a talkative traveling companion. 

Love comes in many forms and is spoken through many voices. 

It might come through a stranger who sees us struggling with an ATM in an airport where no English is spoken or written who comes over to help us negotiate an alien context.

It might come through the janitor in the college hallway who points out the Admin building to the prospective student.

It might come through the older passenger in the seat beside us who entertains our squiggly toddler on a five hour plane ride with story after story. 

It might come in the hungry person with whom we share a sandwich.

It might come with the willingness to listen to the frightened mother in the emergency room whose child has been in an accident.

It might come with a shared umbrella in a sudden downpour as we run from the parking deck to the office building across the street. 

In none of these moments do we immediately recognize the presence of Christ. Instead, we grasp the presence of love. But then it strikes us--Christ came to make connections between human beings. Christ came to forge bonds through simple acts of love like listening, comfort, and sharing. Christ came to reveal the power of love to bring the transcendent into the utterly mundane. Then we see--Christ was here! His love flourished in that encounter. The face was unrecognizable, but it was Christ with us, in us, and through us. 

So, no, the witnesses along the way did not see Jesus. They did not know it was him. Not at first. Recognition came with the experience of love. 

Open your eyes.

More importantly, open your heart.

You will see God.