I've Just Seen Jesus

• A Jesus who accepted people as his disciples, but not a Lord who challenges us to walk the way of the cross, to lose our lives for his sake, and to find new life through sacrifice (Mark 8:35). [1]

Again – when they got to the tomb Peter and John were confused. John hesitated and Peter rushed right in. Both went home shaking their heads; it wasn’t what they expected.

Mary jumped to a wrong conclusion that the Romans or somebody was up to no good. But she hung around.

Incidentally, that’s a good thing if you’re struggling with how (or if) you want to follow Jesus – hang around. Mary did, and she was the one to first see the resurrected Lord. Hang around for more than Easter and Christmas – more than just when you have a special invitation.

Hang around for Bible Study and fellowship with the believers. Hang around until the resurrected Lord talks to you, even if He looks like a gardener.

What kind of Jesus DO you want?

The most telling part (for me) of this whole event, at least from the standpoint of human reaction, is the fact that none of them, Peter, John or Mary, got it. Confusion, shame, misdirection – but not understanding; they did not “get” the resurrected Jesus.

Even after Jesus spoke to Mary and she recognized that it was Jesus, she couldn’t do the one thing she’d been heartbroken without – hug him! Jesus told her, “not now,” and sent her to spread the word.

Interesting Question

If the ones who were closest to Jesus when he walked the streets of Palestine did not get the “kind of Jesus” they wanted, what makes us think we will?

I have two responses to that interesting question:

You cannot have the Jesus you’ve constructed in your mind – that’s only an idol

That Jesus is an idol. God told us our minds cannot come up to His standard

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:9 (NRSVA)

The true measure of who Jesus is not constructed in our minds – that’s only an idol we built on our own wisdom.

You cannot have the Jesus you demand…that’s only an illusion

There are plenty of people who read an isolated verse in Scripture and decide – THAT’s the Jesus for me. What they do is set up a fence and demand that Jesus only operate in their lives within those parameters.

For instance, you could read the verse in Malachi about tithing…bring all the tithes into the storehouse…see if I don’t bless you more than you can hold. Some folks take that to mean God will operate like a holy ATM; you put the tithe in – and presto – out comes big time return. (When it doesn’t happen they start thinking of God like Bernie Madoff….took my tithe, He did, and left me holding the religious bag!).

The problem is illusory. We read something that fits our agenda and demand that God act that way.

In the 17th century there was a great fire in London. Along with St Paul’s Cathedral, more than 80 churches were destroyed, along with hundreds of buildings. Sir Christopher Wren was the architect who was responsible for restoring more than 50 churches and many other buildings.