An Encounter with The Risen Christ.
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In moments of sadness, disbelief, hatred, and meaninglessness of life, the Risen Christ appeared to several people and gave them peace, certainty, and purpose in their lives.
In this message, we will explore the encounters of Mary Magdalene, Thomas, and Saul with Jesus after he was resurrected.
It is our fervent – desire that you too have a real encounter with God.
An Encounter with The Risen Christ.
Life can be hard at times, and we often go through times of sadness and depression.
In those moments it seems that our Lord is not there, that he has gone, or that we have distanced ourselves from Him.
And, it is true that blinded by our sadness, we may not be able to see Him.
Jesus’ disciples and followers were devastated after his friend, with whom they shared three years, died.
Many of them no longer knew what to do and others hid.
Mary Magdalene went to the tomb, but she did not find the body of her Master, and now she was even sadder.
Confusion, sadness, and helplessness dominate Mary and she can only express it through crying.
In Mary’s mind, it seems that it was not enough that her friend died, but that her body was also stolen.
It seems that instead of getting better, everything keeps getting worse: the night gets darker before dawn.
But a man enters the scene and asks her why she is crying and who she is looking for.
At that moment she gives Mary the opportunity to be honest with him and tell him the reason for her sadness.
She tells him what she thinks has happened.
At that moment this man calls her by her name: Mary;
and now everything is quite clear, the sadness that was obfuscating her has gone due to her meeting with her Master, with her “Raboni”.
In moments of sadness, it is difficult for us to see our Lord.
Even if we feel that God is not there or that He is gone, He can surprise us, call us by name, and discover that He was always there by our side and that He never left.
Our only duty is to recognize Him even in those moments, to recognize that He is our comfort, our joy, our guide, our teacher, our “Raboni”.
An Encounter with The Risen Christ.
John 20:11-16 KJV
[11] But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre,
[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.
[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.
[14] And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.
[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.
[16] Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.
An Encounter with The Risen Christ.
Disbelief that God can perform miracles, and wanting to explain everything with reason, can lead us to spiritual aridity.
Blindly trusting our reason can make us miss out on the wonderful works that God does in our lives and in the lives of those around us.
The first condition for believing in miracles is that we believe that they can happen.
If we do not accept that, then we will explain any event from pure reason.
Thomas spent three years of his life watching Jesus do things that reason could not explain:
turning water into wine, multiplying food, resurrecting people, walking on water, calming a storm, healing people, and casting out demons.
Apparently, when everything was going well, it became easy for the disciple to believe that his Master could perform miracles.
But when Jesus died doubts arose.
Everything he had seen, now he could explain rationally, no longer left room for believing in miracles, in the power of God.
He thinks he can explain everything. When the disciples tell him that Jesus was resurrected, Thomas cannot believe it.
He even asks for proof of this: he trusts more in himself than in the power of God.
Jesus appears to Thomas and tells him to do whatever proof he needs to believe it.
At that moment Thomas recognizes him as his Lord and God.
As Christians, we live seeing the wonders of God in our lives,
but there are stages in which we believe that He has done nothing and we give credit to our efforts or even luck before God.
We must pray fervently so as not to reach that spiritual aridity.
Let’s try to keep in mind everything that God has done for us.
I hope that the encounter we have with Jesus is constant and that we do not demand proof of it in disbelief.
May we proclaim Him daily as the one and only Lord and God of our lives.
An Encounter with The Risen Christ.
John 20:24-28 KJV
[24] But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came.
[25] The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord.
But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.
[26] And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them:
then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.
[27] Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.
[28] And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God.
An Encounter with The Risen Christ.
Anger and hatred prevent us from seeing God in our neighbor, they do not allow us to have an encounter with Jesus.
The most concrete way to perceive God through our senses is through our neighbors.
Saul could not distinguish God in his neighbor,
let us not forget that Saul was “of the lineage of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin;
Hebrew of Hebrews and, as to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, a persecutor of the church; as for justice that is based on law, blameless.”
An Encounter with The Risen Christ.
Acts 9:1-6 KJV
[1] And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,
[2] and desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.
[3] And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:
[4] and he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
[5] And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
[6] And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
An Encounter with The Risen Christ.
So, we as Christians are not free from the same thing happening to us that happened to Saul.
His hatred for people who “were not like him” blinded him so much that he sought to kill anyone who did not believe the same as him.
In the middle of one of his persecutions, Jesus himself appears to him and asks him why he is persecuting him.
In this meeting, Saul recognizes Jesus as his Lord and is willing to do whatever He asks of him.
Perhaps we do not have such a drastic encounter with Christ,
but we must remember that if we are made in the image and likeness of God then He reveals Himself to us through our neighbors.
Jesus himself said, “Whatever you did for one of the least of my brothers, you did for me.”
We have never talked with simple people, simple neighbors, simple co-workers, simple friends, or simple family members,
we have always talked with people who represent God in this world.
That is why the most important commandment after the love of God is the love of your neighbor.
These three encounters with the Risen Christ occur in different situations,
but as we can see a real encounter with Jesus changed them, perhaps their circumstances did not change, but their way of seeing and understanding their reality did change.
I hope this message makes you more aware of the surprising encounters you can have with God.
Keep praying and attentive to these unexpected encounters with Jesus: the Risen Christ.
Also Read: Today May Be Your Friday: Sunday is Coming! – Diademng (thediademng.org)
An Encounter with The Risen Christ.
