“Jesus was standing on the shore; but the disciples did not recognize that it was Jesus.” (John 21:4)

The Gospel of John reports that seven of the disciples went fishing sometime after Jesus’ resurrection, but they did not recognize him as he called out to them from the shore.  It was only after he suggested they cast their nets on the right side of the boat and they caught 153 large fish that John said to Peter, “It’s the Lord!” (John 21:7)

During the days following Jesus’ resurrection, most of his closest followers did not recognize him in their first encounter. 

Mary Magdalene thought he was the gardener and did not recognize him until he said her name, “Mary.”  The disciples on the road to Emmaus did not recognize Jesus even after he spent time with them explaining what all the scriptures had to say about him.  It was only at his breaking of the bread while dining with them that they recognized him.

How often do we fail to see the risen Lord in our lives?  Like Mary Magdalene, he may be calling us by name.  Like the disciples on the road to Emmaus, he may be opening our minds to the meaning of some scripture.  Like the seven disciples fishing, he may be suggesting we take an action that will have a surprising (miraculous) result.

This past week we celebrated the 39th birthday of our daughter Emily who was born with Down syndrome.  At the time of her birth I did not recognize the presence of the risen Lord in our midst.  Later I came to see Jesus in her big beautiful smile, her purity of heart, and her natural inclination to love and hug the people she meets. 

While we may not always recognize Jesus in the people or circumstances of our lives, the apostle John in his first letter says that “God is love, and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him.” (1 John 4:16)

Wherever there is love, Jesus is present.  Jesus is telling us that when we love others through our actions, we love him, and he is present to us.  Let us offer love and receive love, so someone can say, “It’s the Lord.” 

Do you recognize the risen Jesus when you see him?  

We have just celebrated the most important event of our Christian faith – Jesus’ resurrection.  Yet, as significant as it is for us and human history, God was rather restrained in bringing it to people’s attention.

There was no proclamation from a choir of angels as at Jesus’ birth announcing that “A Savior has been born unto you.” (Luke 2:11)  In fact, God let Jesus’ followers kind of stumble into what had happened. On the morning of Jesus’ resurrection, we have a couple of angels asking the above question to the women who had come to anoint Jesus’ body.

The angels went on to explain that Jesus had risen from the dead just as he said he would, but the women did not understand.  For them, the only conceivable explanation was that someone had taken Jesus’ body.  Peter and John, upon hearing the women’s report had a foot race to the tomb only to find that the linens which Jesus had been wrapped in were neatly folded in two different places.  Neither did they understand, although Luke reports that Jesus did appear later to Peter. (Luke 24:34) 

Jesus also appears to Mary Magdalene, and two of the disciples on the road to Emmaus, but there was no recognition of who he was until he called Mary by name and broke bread in front of the disciples.  In spite of all the times that Jesus told the disciples before his crucifixion that he had to suffer death and rise from the dead, they did not understand. 

Why?  It was not until they had personally encountered the risen Jesus and were anointed with the Holy Spirit at the Feast of Pentecost that they began to fully comprehend what Jesus’ resurrection meant for them and human history.  St. Paul reports that Jesus appeared to more than 500 at one time. (1 Cor. 5:6)

The resurrection radically changed how the apostles and early Christians lived and modeled their lives.

Like the disciples and the early Christians, we too, need to personally experience the presence of the risen Jesus and the anointing of the Holy Spirit before we can comprehend the effect of his resurrection on our lives.  No announcement, no teaching by itself will get the job done.

That was true for me 48 years ago on an October evening when I had a personal encounter with Jesus. Through God’s grace and the power of his Holy Spirit he opened my mind and heart to the reality of his risen presence in my life.

Have you met the risen Jesus and experienced the outpouring of his Holy Spirit?

“Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43)

These were Jesus’ words to one of the two thieves crucified with him who has become known as the “Good Thief.”  The other thief had reviled Jesus, challenging him that if he were the Christ to save himself and them.   The good thief rebuked him, and then said, “Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom.”  Tradition tells us that the good thief’s name was Dismis.   

Jesus makes the amazing promise to Dismis that he would be with Jesus in paradise that very day.  Jesus  made this promise to no one else.    

We should take comfort in this story because it demonstrates the extraordinary mercy of God working through Jesus.  Dismis was a convicted murderer, but he witnessed the injustice of Jesus’ crucifixion and in contrast to the other thief, was persuaded that Jesus was truly the Son of God and wanted to follow him at this late moment in his life. 

A similar story played out in real life with a friend of mine, John, who was a county prosecutor in Duluth, Minnesota.  One of his early cases involved a high school friend named Jim.  Over the next twenty-six years, John would prosecute Jim a dozen times on theft-related charges to support a chemical dependency.  In the last prosecution of Jim, it was determined that he was terminally ill with sclerosis of the liver.  The judge assigned him to a hospice outside of prison.

Over the next six months, John visited Jim two or three times a week at the hospice facility.  They reminisced about growing up in the 1950s and talked about their favorite baseball teams.  They also started reading the bible together.  That fall, Jim repented of his sins and surrendered his life to Jesus Christ.  He died in late November. 

John says, “Over the last six months I frequently called Jim ‘brother’ because we were brothers in Christ.  Jim loved reading and praying the psalms.  God used Jim to teach me about acceptance of suffering and perseverance.  He showed me it’s never too late to say yes to the Lord, no matter what we have done in the past.  I know he is in paradise today – just like another thief who died on the cross next to Jesus.” 

Is there anything we should repent of during this Holy Week? 

“If you knew me, you would know my Father also.” So, Jesus said to Phillip. (John 8:19)

For most people, God as a person may be a challenge to fully comprehend.  Even if we accept the words of Genesis that God created all that exists, including us as human beings with rational minds and the capability to think and reason, it is difficult. 

The coming of Jesus made it easier for us. As he said to Phillip, “Don’t you know me, Phillip, even after I have been among you such a long time?  Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.”  (John 14: 9)

While we can experience Jesus through baptism and the other sacraments, at some point there needs to be a personal encounter with Jesus in which we invite him into our lives.  It takes a personal invitation by us – asking Jesus to come into our hearts and be a part of our life.  Jesus will not push his way into our hearts. We have to open the door and invite him in.  This happened to me when I was in my 30s and it was a watershed moment in my life.  All my priorities began to change.  I am still capable of messing up, but with my friendship with Jesus, I know he will forgive me as soon as I go to him and ask him.

Jesus says, “For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”  (Matthew 7: 8) We come to know God through Jesus — just as Jesus said to Phillip.  As we become familiar with what Jesus said and did in the four gospels, we become familiar with God.  The way Jesus loved, forgave, and related to people, is the way God relates to us.  Just as Jesus was very approachable, so too, is God. 

The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are available for us to come to know personally, but we need to extend the invitation.

Have you made the invitation?    

“My son you are here with me always; everything I have is yours.” (Luke 15:31)

These are the words of the father to the eldest son in the Parable of the Prodigal Son.  In the parable the younger son asks for his inheritance, leaves the home of his father and elder brother, and goes to a distant land where he squanders the inheritance on loose living.  He comes to his senses, and decides to return home.  His father welcomes him home and has a feast to celebrate his return.

When the elder son finds out, he is resentful and refuses to join in the welcoming festivities.  He complains to the father that he has always been obedient, but the father has never given him even a young goat to share with his friends.  The father responds that the elder son is always with him and that everything the father has is the elder son’s. 

What a beautiful illustration of God’s love for both sons.  The loving forgiveness for the younger repentant son is obvious.  The love for the elder son is more subtle.  Some of us may have experienced times in our lives, when like the elder son, we have experienced jealousy or resentment of the attention and forgiveness someone has received whom we deem unworthy.      

We brood, we fume, we get ourselves all worked, but God says to us, “My son, my daughter, you are here with me every day, and I am always with you.  Everything I have is yours – my grace, my love, my forgiveness, my healing; my promise of eternal life.  All of these are mine which I share freely with you.  Accept my love and the grace of these gifts.  Accept my invitation to join in the family celebration!

Over the years, I have quietly struggled with being judgmental and seeking recognition. Like the older son, these sins set up barriers in me to experience the fullness of the Father’s love and grace.  Not that the Father withholds his love and grace from me, but that these actions interfere with me being able to fully experience his love and grace.   

Like the older son, do you set up barriers that interfere with your experiencing all that the Father has for you?