Resurrection: It Takes a Second Look
“Seeing things as they actually are usually takes time. How else are we to explain the fact that no one—no one!—noticed the resurrected Jesus at first sight? Seeing the resurrection requires a second look, another glance. It takes a while for our eyes to adjust to the light of the resurrection, and then all of life looks radically different…Seeing God’s “new thing” is about seeing an old thing in a new way through a new lens. Such is the miracle of Gospel sight—to see what has always been there in such a radically new way that it becomes a new thing. This is always a work of grace, and we can only handle so much of it at once.”
—Kris Rocke and Joel Van Dyke in Geography of Grace, Doing Theology from Below from Daily Quote, InwardOutward/ Church of the Saviour, InwardOutward.org, April 30, 2019.
When friends ask what life must be like in the resurrection, I remind them that our only stories are of the resurrected Jesus. After the resurrection, the disciples on the road to Emmaus did not recognize him. Mary Magdalene did not recognize him. The disciples meeting Jesus on the beach were not sure who he was. Jesus came and went through closed doors. The resurrected Jesus gave fishing tips, cooked meals, and ate dinner with his friends.
The Easter season is the perfect time to read and meditate on the resurrected Jesus’ appearances on Easter Day and the next forty days (Acts 1:3-8).
We may be most familiar with the four Easter Day appearances of Jesus (Mary Magdalene in John, Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary in Matthew, two disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke, disciples in the upper room when Thomas is absent in John). There are at least 12 appearances of the resurrected Jesus. This Easter Season is an excellent time to practice Ignatian meditative practices, putting ourselves into unfamiliar scenes.
Jesus appeared to the disciples eight days after the resurrection (John 20:24-29), with Thomas present in the upper room. He appeared to seven disciples at the Sea of Galilee, asking Peter to feed His sheep (John 21). Jesus appeared on a hillside in Galilee (Matthew 28:16-20), perhaps to over 500 people, as referenced by Paul (1 Corinthians 15:6). Jesus was later seen by his brother James (1 Corinthians 15:7). Jesus’ final appearance was the Great Commission, after the disciples returned to Jerusalem and were led out to Bethany at the Mount of Olives. (Luke 24:50-52, Acts 1:9-11). Then we know that Paul also encountered Jesus a few years later on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:5, 1 Corinthians 15:8).1
The fact that people have difficulty recognizing Jesus tells us at least two things. First, the resurrection was so overwhelming that it was almost impossible initially to believe. Second, Jesus looked different in the resurrection.
May we, in turn, learn from these stories what resurrection is in this life and the next.
1Msgr. Charles Pope, Blog, April 9, 2012, blog.adw.org
From his Native American heritage, Bishop Steven Charleston constantly reminds us that we have gotten through this pandemic and racial and social unrest with the help of those who love us in the resurrection in the next life. Through them, God prays, walks beside us, and nudges us to care for ourselves and others.
Caravaggio supper at Emmaus. National Gallery London