Recognizing the Risen Lord
April 15, 2018
It is the third week of the Season of Easter and we are invited to keep the dream and message alive. We are to sustain the energy of the joy of Easter and gift it with enthusiasm to others. We are to go back to the joy of the promise and gift of eternal life and live it with a passion that cannot be quenched. So how are we doing? Have we been unpacking the mystery?
In the Gospel the disciples are led to the places of recognition. Jesus wants to be seen, to be recognized. We live in a society where recognition and security are often connected. We have voice recognition electronics. “Alexa play this, Alexa tell me the score of the game.” We have voice recognition of television sets, so we can speak into the remote “BBC News” and the channel comes up. Smart phone technology does the same. A password, a voice command and now a fingerprint or face picture unlocks the device. All of this runs on recognition. In a society that gets it, as we do, we are called to recognize Jesus. The early disciples are quick to tell us how they recognized Him in the Breaking of Bread. They are quick to tell us how it energized them returning a whole day’s journey in the dark filled with joy. Jesus shares with them His wounds. This is another place of recognition. We are invited to go to the places of our pain and find the Risen Lord. We are called to recognize the pain of His suffering is now transformed and so will ours be. We are called to also find Him in the fulfillment of God’s promises. Jesus opens the minds of the early disciples to gather an understanding of the power of God’s covenant which leads to the forgiveness of sins.
There is wisdom in our society which links recognition with security. We find the security of knowing God’s love when we recognize the Lord Jesus. When we find Him in the places He tells us to find Him; in the Scriptures, in the Breaking of Bread, in all of the Sacraments, in the wounds of pain in our lives, both the pain inflicted upon us and the pain we inflict on others. He is in the forgiveness that transforms pain to glory. He transforms sin to grace. He transforms death to new life.
Join the journey to recognize Him. Watch as He removes all of the obstacles that keep us from believing.
Recognizing Him is our security for Eternal Life
Reverend John J. Ouper