'Christ is risen indeed.' The importance of words of scripture today

Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed! These are the words of great news for today. Out of the sacred word in scripture, today Christians recall that the tomb is empty, the burial clothes are discarded, and the risen Lord walks among his most beloved followers. Yet for all the miraculous joy of the risen Messiah, it is a stark reality that Jesus is not easily recognized. Proclaiming Jesus alive is one thing. Seeing the Risen Lord for who he is, however, can be a radically different reality.

Mary struggled with the identity of the risen Jesus when she mistook him as the gardener and begged him to take her to the body of her presumably dead friend. Cleopas and another disciple walked for miles with Jesus between Jerusalem and Emmaus engaging in amazing conversation and did not recognize they were connecting with the risen Messiah. Frustrated with the reality of not being able to comprehend the mystery of the empty tomb, several of the disciples went out for a night of fishing only to catch nothing. Then in the early morning hours, Jesus suggested to the discouraged fishermen that they cast their nets to the other side, and they had a miraculous catch. The disciples did not recognize it was Jesus until Peter associated the miracle with his risen friend and called out, “It’s the Lord!”

All three situations are vastly different, yet they hold in common the apparent difficulty of those who knew Jesus very well from seeing him for who he was. On this Easter Sunday, Christians can take a lesson from this mystery to reflect on our own understanding of who Jesus really is.

It is easy to proclaim the good news that Christ is risen! Yet, even today many Christians struggle to see the risen Jesus. This struggle is not indicative of a lack of faith or failure of belief. The realities of the world unfortunately cloud faithful vision and hamper belief with mixed messages, unrealistic expectations, and distorted theology. Often Christians fail to see the risen Jesus because we unintentionally look in the wrong places and fail to recognize the means by which Christ and Christ’s presence are most profoundly communicated.

For Mary, the revelation came through intimacy. Long before the crucifixion, Jesus referred to himself as the Good Shepherd and taught that the sheep hear and know the voice of the shepherd. In Mary’s case the one she presumed to be a gardener seemed a stranger to her until Jesus called her by name. For Cleopas and the other disciple, the revelation was in the moment that Jesus took the bread and broke it. For them, the intimacy was in the sharing of bread and the sacredness of the eucharistic meal. For the frustrated fisherman in the early morning hours, the revelation was seen in the blessing of following Christ’s commands. In doing so, they benefited from Christ’s blessing and were subsequently able to recognize the true source of that blessing—Jesus Christ!

Intimacy with the Good Shepherd, the sharing of Communion, and faithfully following Christ’s commands are ways that Christians today can still see the risen Jesus in the routines and experiences of everyday life. We find intimacy through scripture, prayer, and engaging with the beloved community of Christ. This can be within the context of church, but also through engaging others—even non-believers—with the intimate love of Jesus in the ways we treat one another. The honest sharing of the Lord’s Supper is so much more than a religious ritual. It needs to be a genuine expression of our shard love for one another and lived forgiveness found in Christ. Following Christ’s command is simply found in loving one another as Christ loves.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: 'Christ is risen indeed.' The importance of words of scripture today