Hide and Seek

This morning I was listening to our pastor's message from Resurrection Sunday last week, and I was thinking of all of the appearances of Jesus after He rose from the dead. They are so surreal! For someone who spent His time on Earth revealing Himself and His Father clearly and plainly, after He rose it's like He was playing games with them. First He appeared to a woman at His own tomb, but He seems just fine letting her think He was the gardener at first. He didn't lead with "Hey, check me out, I'm Jesus!" Then He appeared to two of His own disciples who were traveling, and He let them think He was just some random guy the whole time. They're telling Jesus the story of what happened to Jesus, and He never said "Um guys, did you notice that here I am, I'm that guy?" What He does do is explain to them what He had told them before He was crucified, without actually telling them that He is Jesus. Then as soon as they finally recognize Him, does He hang out and visit? Nope... He vanishes!

Then later he reveals Himeself to Thomas by just sort of appearing in a house with all of the doors locked. Then later the guys go fishing, and Jesus just shows up on the shore of the lake, and Jesus is like, "Hey guys! Catch anything?" He doesn't say "Hi, I'm your risen Messiah!" He just acts like He's a guy talking shop with fishermen. This time, though, John recognizes Jesus, and when he tells Peter, Peter recognizes Him too, and jumps in the water to get to Him faster!

Was Jesus just messing with them? That's the question I asked myself this morning. Was this a childish game of hide and seek or something? BOOM I'm here, BOOM I'm gone, hey check out my disguise, haha you didn't know it was Me! Obviously, that's not what Jesus is like. I think what was really happening was that Jesus was showing what it's like for believers between the Resurrection and the Second Coming. It's rare that someone actually visually sees Jesus. Sometimes things happen that are the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and we have to recognize them with the eyes of faith because they're not obvious. But Jesus is there, popping up at unexpected times and in unexpected places! We just have to open our eyes, remember what He has told us and what His Word says, and recognize the work of Christ in our lives!