DEACON ANTHONY’S REFLECTION

On Easter Day we heard from the Gospel according to John of how Mary Magdalene went to the tomb where the body of Jesus had been placed for burial. She arrived and found the tomb empty. He was not there because he had resurrected. He had been raised from the dead. Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene and called her by name. It was when Jesus spoke her name that she knew and recognized that it was Jesus. Mary Magdalene left the burial garden and went to the disciples to tell them what had happened, not announcing that he was risen but excitedly proclaiming, “I have seen the Lord.” 

We hear more accounts of Jesus’s appearances after the resurrection on the Sundays following Easter Day. We hear how he appeared to the disciples. They later told Thomas, who was not with them when Jesus appeared, “We have seen the Lord.” 

We hear of how Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias while they were fishing. Seeing that they were catching no fish, he told them to cast their nets on the other side. They did as he told them and they caught so many fish they could not haul them in. One of the disciples recognized Jesus and exclaimed, “It is the Lord.”

The Acts of the Apostles tells of how Saul, also known as Paul, encountered Jesus while traveling on the road to Damascus. Saul, who was known to persecute Christians, encountered Jesus who called him by name saying, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”… “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” Saul later proclaimed, “He is the Son of God.” He had seen the Lord. 

Those who encountered Jesus were changed. They wanted to tell others not just that Jesus had risen, but that they had seen the Lord! We may know and hear that Christ is risen, but have we ourselves seen the Lord? Have you encountered him in the bread? In the Word? In others? In the world? Are we proclaiming, “We have seen the Lord!”?

O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread: Open the eyes of our faith, that we may behold him in all his redeeming work; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. 

~ Deacon Anthony Jones