Tuesday 18th April 2017 - Daily Reading:
Luke 24:18-35 - Do You Recognise Me? By Karen Cowing
Jesus, having raised from the dead, and walking out of the tomb began appearing to his disciples. In John 20:11-18 we read how Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene as she remained at the tomb after Peter and John had left. Mary does not recognise the resurrected Jesus, and she assumes he is the one who has taken Jesus' body away, and begs him to tell here where to. It is only when Jesus speaks her name that she recognises his voice.
In Luke 24 we see another point where the resurrected Jesus is not recognised by his followers. Two of his followers were walking towards Emmaus. They were seven miles from Jerusalem and were talking about everything that had happened, how they had seen the man they thought would save Israel, die and be buried. They probably felt let down, sad and lost. Jesus, comes up and walks with them, and asks what they are talking about.
Cleopas then goes onto 'explain' to Jesus everything that has happened; how Jesus was a prophet, how they saw him handed over to his death, how he died on a cross and how they thought he was there to redeem Israel. They even said 'and now it is the third day'. They went on to talk about how the women had seen the empty tomb and even how Peter and John had been down and seen that Jesus body had gone. Yet, unlike John, they didn't believe, and so had left the city to go back to their normal life.
Jesus' response was: "How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
However, even with this explanation they did not recognise the risen Christ before them. It was only when he later broke bread and gave thanks that their eyes were opened and they realised; only for Jesus to then disappear.
They thought back over their conversation and how when Jesus was talking to them their 'hearts has burned within them.' Here are people that would have spent a significant amount of time around Jesus and they did not fully recognise him. It was only when he did something he had done with them countless times before that they recognised who was stood before them. God will do, and is doing things in your life and the lives of those around you that are new, and fresh, sometimes you won't even be sure that it is God. However He will do things, little things that he's done many times before just to say: 'Yes this is me'.