Easter Sunday

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/040812.cfm

Easter Sunday

This man God raised on the third day and granted that he be visible, not to all the people, but to us, the witnesses chosen by God in advance, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.

I've heard it said; I probably said it myself: "I can't believe what I am seeing!" Often, in our sinful world, there is a disconnect between our senses and reality. 
It's usually harmless. Someone says, "Did you notice...?" and I have to admit I did not. I wasn't looking for it; I wasn't expecting it; and I didn't see it. 
But sometimes it is not so harmless. People have been known to collide with dairy cows on the Interstate. By the time they realized that really is a cow and it really is on the highway, it was too late. That's why we see so many warnings in early spring, "Start Seeing Motorcycles!" They may not take much space in a rear view mirror but they are there. 


Not many people saw the Risen Lord Jesus. Even those who were told he had been raised couldn't see him. Like the two men walking to Emmaus. And the disciples cowering in the Upper Room. The walkers were discussing the "things that happened in the Jerusalem these last few days." They couldn't imagine this stranger -- who politely asked  "What things?"-- had been at the center of the drama. 


Certainly none of Jesus' enemies saw him raised up. Some people have argued throughout the centuries, "If Jesus wanted to prove he was God, why didn't he show himself plainly after he rose from the dead to Pontius Pilate and Caiphas and Annas and Herod and all the others?" But they had seen as much as they were ever going to see of Jesus. They had disposed of the problem of the Nazarene and wanted to see nothing more of the matter. 


Those who saw him, if they didn't recognize him at first, were at least prepared to see him. They would recognize him by the Breaking of Bread, and by his wounded hands and feet, and by the nail marks in his hand and the dreadful gash in his chest. 


They would recognize Jesus because he showed himself plainly to them and -- more importantly -- because they were fit to see him. As the Angel Gabriel had said of John the Baptist:

He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of fathers toward children and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to prepare a people fit for the Lord.”

 On this Easter Sunday we celebrate with Great Joy:

What was from the beginning,
what we have heard,
what we have seen with our eyes,
what we looked upon
and touched with our hands
concerns the Word of life—
for the life was made visible;
we have seen it and testify to it
and proclaim to you the eternal life
that was with the Father and was made visible to us—

what we have seen and heard....    (Hebrews 1:1-3)

The Lord is Risen
He is Risen Indeed!