Do you think that it is a little strange that when Jesus appears to his disciples after the Easter Resurrection, they don’t recognize him? This happens more than once.  

It happened to Mary in the garden on Easter morning when she went to perform the funeral rites on his body. He was gone from the tomb, and she was frightened. She bumped into a man whom she thought was the gardener and asked him what he had done with Jesus’ body. When he speaks her name, she immediately recognizes that it is Jesus in a very different form and rejoices that he has returned to the living. 

Jesus approaches two unnamed disciples on their way to Emmaus. They don’t recognize this stranger, but they start up a conversation with him and ask him to join them for dinner. At the table, Jesus blesses and breaks the bread, and the disciples realize who he is.  Their eyes are opened.  

Then, there are the apostles trying to fish on the Sea of Galilee. While they are in the boat, they see a man on the shore who they don’t recognize. This “stranger” tells them to put the net on the other side of the boat which results in 153 fish! (I have always been fascinated by that number 153, but that for another day). 

There is quite a bit of comment about this phenomenon on the world wide web. The Bible doesn’t provide us with a clear explanation. Scholars have suggested it might be the light, the distance, the surprise of His return from the dead. None of these reasons satisfy my confusion.  

One scholastic comment that I found made sense to me: “knowing Jesus in the flesh was not the same as knowing him as a resurrected son of God.” (Biblical Hermeneutics 2019) 

Here’s my personal take on this situation: Jesus’ earthly body was glorified as will happen to ours when we return to the Father. However, I feel that there is a greater lesson available to us in not being able to identify Jesus. 

Perhaps the lesson is-let’s treat everyone we meet as if they are Christ Jesus. How do we really know that it isn’t Christ? What does it really matter if we give kindness and love to everyone, we meet regardless of who they are, where they come from or where they are going. How do we really know these people are not sent from God to enrich our lives and help us love God more? 

Remember God loves you unconditionally. He loves the people that come into your life unconditionally and He might just accompany one of those folks someday.  

Terri