Recognising Jesus as the Risen Lord

‘He will call his sheep by name and they will follow him because they know his voice’ John10.27

Think about somebody you love who has died.

Think about an action or gesture that you think captures something of their character. If you were writing their Eulogy, what one thing could you say so that everyone would think ah yes, that was? ….

One of the defining elements of Jesus’ resurrection appearances was that at first his disciples and followers didn’t recognise him when he first appeared to them. It is so with Mary Magdalen; she was there at the tomb weeping, she turns round and sees a man she assumes is the gardener. But she does not know that it is Jesus. It is not until Jesus addresses her by name that she sees it is him. ‘Mary’ he says. And when he calls her, addresses her directly, only then does she know it is him.'Rabouni' she replies.

Why?? Why might it be that people didn’t at first recognise Jesus? One thing it suggests to me is that seeing Jesus as the resurrected Lord, is not so much about physical sight, but about seeing with the eyes of faith. Moreover, faith depends upon the quality of our relationship with Jesus Christ.

John’s Gospel teaches that Jesus:

 ‘will call his sheep by name and they will follow him because they know his voice’.

This shows us quite simply that we cannot follow Jesus, we cannot believe in him if, we don’t know who he is. God communicates with us, fully, in Jesus Christ. Jesus came and built specific, personal and real friendships with his disciples and followers. They knew him; he was their friend and teacher.  All the people that Jesus appeared to had a relationship with or knowledge of him and what he said and did before he died. He came back to them not as a stranger but someone who they already knew. Their prior understanding of him enabled them to recognise him when he called them by name, or blessed and broke bread: actions that defined him. God in Jesus takes time to individually get to know us, so that we might follow him when he calls us.

But how do we have a relationship with Jesus now? There are different ways that we can do this. One way is through participating in worship, in particular Eucharistic worship. The Eucharist re-enacts again and again what the Bible tells us Jesus did. ‘On the night before he died at supper with his friends…’. The other is through reading the Bible, in particular the Gospels which tell us about Jesus’ life, teaching, death and resurrection. Another way is through prayer and another still is through fellowship with other believers.

But, the simple message of Easter is:

We cannot recognise Jesus as the Risen Lord if we have no relationship with him; just as you would not be able to recognise the description of someone in their funeral service if you had never met them. Belief depends upon knowledge and God gives us knowledge of Himself in the most direct and clear way through His Son, Jesus Christ.