Have You Seen the Lord?
John
{20:11} But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, [and looked] into the sepulchre, {20:12} And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. {20:13} And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. {20:14} And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. {20:15} Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. {20:16} Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. {20:17} Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and [to] my God, and your God. {20:18} Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and [that] he had spoken these things unto her.
What an opener! That is my favorite Easter scripture. I’ve always been amazed that they didn’t recognize Jesus when they went to the tomb. I’ve always wondered why. Did he look different? Was it that they just could fathom seeing him?
When my wife and I were first married, there was this video that kept coming on MTV. (Now I’ve dated the story because yes, at one time, MTV actually played music) Anyhow, there was this guy’s video that kept coming on and he was playing his guitar and kept singing about a steal horse and he’s wanted dead or alive. My wife kept say how familiar that guy looked. He look just like a guy she knew in high school. The guy she know was a friend of a friend and was always at the high school parties singing and playing his guitar. What a coincidence, his first name was even John.
I asked what’s the chance it’s that guy.
Not much she said, different last name. Besides she said, the guy at the parties couldn’t really sing. In fact, she told him to keep his day-job!
This went on for a month or two, and then she was on the phone to one of her old high school friends and the subject of the guy in the video came up.
From my end of the conversation, I heard:
“Remember John? His mom was the hair dresser on the corner. Doesn’t he look just like the Bonjovi in the videos? I’d swear they were the same guy but the last names are different.”
<muffled other end>
“Wait… What??”
<more muffled talk from Jersy>
“That IS John?! He changed his name?!”
Now she always jokes about it. How was she supposed to know he’d become famous?
It’s so funny that we can run into people we knew for years and there is that flash of non-recognition. People can always tell from the look on my face, the mental Rolodex spinning. (Well, that dates me again! We said that to my son, and he asked, “What’s a rolodex?”)
If you think about the popularity of Jesus, he should be the most recognized person ever. The Bible is THE most printed book of all time. The estimates are, since Gutenberg first began printing the Bible in 1455 there have been over 8 BILLION copies made! (8 Billion copies) It has been printed more times, in more languages than any other book since writing began. You would think that if there are that many copies, and that there are 2 billion Christians on the planet, Jesus would be the most recognized person in the history of humanity. But I would be willing to bet there are un-told numbers who have seen him and have failed to recognize who he was.
We know as Christians that we can see Jesus everywhere. Lots of people think they’ve seen him. It’s in the news all the time about people seeing Jesus on grilled cheese, pancakes, and a pirogue with the burnt image of Jesus just sold for $1775 on eBay. But where can we really find him? I found a game on line “Where’s Jesus”. It’s kind of like the game “Where’s Waldo” where Jesus in amongst thousands of faced and you have to search and find him. When you click on the face it takes you to the next picture.
But do we really have to look that hard?
The real question is are you prepared to see him when you do meet him. When Christ came the first time, the Jews had the best description of who they were waiting for.
Isaiah {7:14} Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Micah {5:2} But thou, Bethlehem Ephrata, [though] thou be little among the thousands of Judah, [yet] out of thee shall he come forth unto me [that is] to be ruler in Israel;
Zechariah {9:9} Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he [is] just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
But having the description of who they were expecting didn’t help them all. It was very few that recognized him The Pharisees and Sadducees had great knowledge of what was written but that didn’t mean that they understood what they were expecting. They were being occupied by the Romans and were expecting a political leader who would free them from their occupiers. Part of this belief came from
Daniel {7:14}
And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion [is] an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom [that] which shall not be destroyed.
But they didn’t recognize the man who came as the lamb. They also didn’t recognize Christ because he was telling them what they didn’t want to hear. The Pharisees and Sadducees were living strictly to the word, so when Christ told them they were missing the mark, they just refused to believe him.
Do you think if you grew up in ancient Jerusalem that you would’ve been one of the few that knew Jesus is the Christ? Would you have been one of the Disciples that traveled with our Savior around the area of Galilee?
What about being at the tomb when the stone was rolled away? Would you have been one of the people that walked right past Jesus to go to the empty tomb? What about meeting Jesus when he appeared to the Disciples on those many occasions after his crucifixion. Would you see him for who he was?
I always wondered that. We see so many depictions of Christ in our culture but how close would they come to the real Jesus? Is it his face on the Shroud of Turin? Does he look anything like the Old Masters of the Renaissance had depicted him?
I once saw a History Channel special where they took a number of skulls and facial features from the era of a few years either side of 30 AD, and came up with an average face using the clay and forensics. Gave the face the proper skin tone and then they then added typical hair and cloths from the era. It didn’t look anything like we have in any of our painting.
Isaiah 52:2 says:
he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, [there is] no beauty that we should desire him
So, do we thing he’ll have the long flowing blond locks in so many of the paintings?
So, here we are in the modern world. We are all taught that Christ would return. We, like the ancient Jews have a description of what to expect. As a matter of fact, we happen to possess the Best description of Christ when he returns.
So what are you expecting? We are told that the first time Christ came, it was as the lamb. He will return as the Lion and rule over his enemies.
I guess we are expecting Christ to come back and smite the unholy. He will set those who had refused to believe straight. He will rule over the enemies of his church. He’ll judge the wicked and raise up his followers.
Soooo, what if I hear him say things that I don’t agree with?
Will I believe it’s the Christ if he’s telling me I not one of his children? If he’s telling me that I was living wrong? Will I be one of the Pharisees or Sadducees of our day?
What if Christ comes back and he’s not smiting who we think should be smitten? What if he comes back and starts smiting us, and not who we think our enemies are? What if all that smiting isn’t the way we thought those people should be smitten? Would you deny him?
If it’s not what you want to hear will you declare him a false prophet?
Although he said his return will be as though a thief in the night, we should especially be prepared. It could happen any time. If so, are you ready?
John 4:35 say:
Say not ye, ‘There are yet four months and then cometh the harvest’? Behold, I say unto you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest.
Of the wheat and tares, we want to make sure we’re the wheat and not cast aside. The best way to recognize the Lord is to pray and study. We’ve got to study who the Lord. We’ve got to make sure it is blaringly apparent to us.
Look for Christ and you will find him.
Deuteronomy
{4:29} But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find [him,] if thou seek him with all thy he art and with all thy soul.
You’ll Find Jesus in your heart. You will see him in the hearts of others. You see him in the miracles that he performs every day. You just have to look to recognize him in so many ways beyond just his physical body.
Jesus rose from the grave over 2000 years ago. When he arose, it had only been 3 days, and his most staunch followers, who had lived with him every day for the past 3 year didn’t even recognize him.
Easter is the celebration of our Lord’s triumph over the grave. This is the day he showed that he is the master of the universe. This day he showed us that he has power over life and death.
The most important question to ask yourself is, if he came in here today, would you immediately recognized him? What makes this so important? Because he’s coming back!
