Mary Magdalene thought he was a gardener. Cleopas and his friend on the
road to Emmaus mistook Jesus for a fellow traveler until he broke bread
with them. When Jesus stood on the shoreline and called out to his fishing
disciples, Peter and the others could not recognize him. John writes that
when the eleven first saw the risen Jesus, they believed they had seen a ghost.
And then there is that passage from Matthew 25:31-46 where Jesus promises
his followers that when he reappears it will be as the beggar, the stranger, the
sick person or the prisoner. In these cases, it will not be the church that
brings the risen Christ to the world. Instead, it will be the world in all its broken
messiness that teaches the church how to recognize Christ.
Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again, and again, and again,
and again. But you probably won’t recognize him when he does. Instead you
might see a person who feels like nothing more than a distraction, an obstacle
or a burden. An outsider you don’t have time to let in.
This is the repeated message of the Easter story. Jesus is already out there in
the world, waiting for his followers to catch up and recognize him. The Holy
Spirit and God’s love are bound by no human structure, no conventional
limitation.
How appropriate it is that this Holy Week, one of the biggest current news
stories is one of Christians claiming and celebrating their right to exclude
those with whom they disagree. We still don’t get it. We still think we’re Peter,
holding the keys to the kingdom of heaven.
Luckily for us, even though Jesus supposedly handed over those keys, he also
has no problem ignoring all our locked doors. He comes and goes as he
pleases, takes whatever form he sees fit, and consistently reminds us, “Do
not fear.”
I love that about Jesus. I marvel at his complete disregard for human convention
and limitations. I am grateful that every Easter we hear once again
how untamed God’s love really is. As limited human beings, we try to bind,
beat and destroy God’s unsettling presence in our world. We look upon others
who are different, knowing the Bible tells us they are made in the image
of God, and still we fail to see Christ in them. But God can’t be bound, beaten or destroyed. And Christ will always show up in those faces we look upon
with fear or disgust.
Easter reminds Christians to be humble. It retells that story of how we human
beings tried our hardest to kill off the ultimate example of God’s love
on earth. It shows us that even our best attempts at denial and destruction
end up looking feeble in the light of God’s ever-present, life-renewing love
for this world. Easter stories also recall how much trouble even the faithful
had with understanding God’s redeeming work. We seem bent on underestimating
God. Thankfully, God is just as intent on defying our expectations.