2014-04-22 Ron W. Nikkel (Prison Fellowship International)
Jesus Incognito
Ever
get something in your head?
It's nothing you heard
Or something you read
Ever had a cut but you never saw a blade?
Brought to your knees
But you never prayed
Jesus in disguise
Jehovah passing by
The burden of a tear
Hanging in your eye
Jesus in disguise
A scar across the sky
You were looking for a king
You would never recognize…
So open my eyes wide as I can
Blind as I am…
(From “Jesus in Disguise” by Brandon Heath)
Why Mary did not recognize him is a mystery; if ever there was someone she
should have recognized it was the man who was her friend and teacher, the man
she dearly loved. How could she have mistaken Jesus for the gardener?
And how could two of his followers mistake Jesus to simply be a fellow traveller
on the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus? But then we may not have recognized
him either. So many people, then as now, don’t see him because they
don’t believe he is alive.
The resurrection of Jesus is a wonderful story, a magnificent inspiring story of
triumph over inhumanity and injustice, evil and the dark reality that threatens
every one of us – death. If the story is true that Jesus defeated death,
then He did just come back to life for a time - but for all time and lives among
us still. So if Jesus was standing next to us or walking down the
street with us or grilling fish on the shore of a lake – would we recognize
him?
Martin of Tours grew up in a Roman military family that was not particularly
religious other than in a traditional pagan sort of way. Against the grain
of family expectations and the cultural ethos in which he grew up Martin
increasingly found himself attracted to a man called Jesus who had risen from
the dead, and who was being worshipped by a small but growing number of people
who believed that he was God. Despite his parents wishes, Martin began
meeting with a group of believers and it wasn’t long before he became one of
them. As his spiritual thirst to know Jesus more intimately so did his
desire to devote his whole life to him.
Although it was the last thing Martin wanted to do, in keeping with family
tradition and expectations he joined the army and served in a largely ceremonial
heavy cavalry unit. On one bitterly cold and
blustery day as he was returning to the garrison with his unit Martin happened
to see a ragged beggar stumbling along the roadway. His clothes were so
thin and ragged that he was practically naked and his wheezing, shivering body
was turning blue with cold. Seized with compassion for the man, Martin
broke from the formation of soldiers, reined in his horse and dismounted beside
the quaking beggar. Quickly he removed his heavy military tunic, cut it in
half with his sword and handed one half to the shivering man in rags and wrapped
the other half around his own shoulders.
Martin’s impetuous act and “half-cloak” uniform made him the laughingstock
of his comrades’ jokes throughout the evening. But that night as he
slept Martin had a dream in which he saw Jesus surrounded by angels; Jesus was
wearing the “half-cloak” that Martin had given to the ragged beggar.
“See,” Jesus was saying to the angels, “this is the cloak that Martin gave
me.” That night Martin’s eyes were opened in a new way to the reality
of his faith and the presence of Jesus, and he soon left the army to follow
Jesus as a simple monk.
Like Mary in the garden and Cleopas with his companion walking along the road,
Martin’s eyes had to be opened to recognize the presence of Jesus. Mary
Magdalene was weeping near the entrance of the empty tomb when Jesus came and
stood beside her. She saw him but did not recognize him, assuming him to
only be the gardener until he spoke her name. Cleopas and his companion
were walking to Emmaus from Jerusalem when they were joined by a fellow
traveller. They became so engrossed in conversation about Jesus and all
that had taken place in Jerusalem that on reaching their destination they
invited him in for supper and to stay the night. As they sat down at table
the guest began to break bread and give it to them, suddenly their eyes were
opened and they knew that their guest was actually the risen Jesus.
We also walk in blindness, too seldom recognizing Jesus among the people who
cross our path through daily life. Mother Teresa said that we fail to
recognize Jesus because he often comes to us in disguise, sometimes in
distressing disguises that cause us to look the other way – beggars on the
street, homeless kids and families, migrant workers, prisoners and ex-prisoners,
poor people living on welfare, political opponents, and so many others. On
one occasion Mother Teresa stood near an open grave where the dead bodies of
lepers had been thrown and were being covered with lye. Looking into the
grave, she bowed her head saying “Jesus, what have they done to you?”
St. Martin’s eyes were opened to realize that the cloak he gave to the poor
beggar was being worn by Jesus. Mother Theresa’s eyes were opened to see
the face of Jesus in the poor and dying people of Calcutta. Mary’s eyes
were opened to Jesus standing beside here in her grief. Cleopas and his
companion realized that their fellow traveller and guest was Jesus. How
often, I wonder, does the risen, living Jesus come up beside us during and we
fail to recognize him because we don’t expect to see him – we don’t look
for the living Jesus in real life. Jesus doesn’t only wear distressing
disguises, for he often shows up among familiar faces we expect to see in the
shops and streets and work places of everyday life.
Jesus the Christ is risen and he is really present.
Now
that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus …
They were talking with each other about everything that had happened.
As they talked and discussed these things with each other,
Jesus himself came up and walked along with them;
but they were kept from recognizing him.
He asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk
along?”
They stood still, their faces downcast.
One of them, named Cleopas, asked him,
“Are you the only one visiting Jerusalem who does not know
the things that have happened there in these days?”
“What things?” he asked.
“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied….
As they approached the village to which they were going,
Jesus continued on as if he were going farther.
But they urged him strongly,
“Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.”
So he went in to stay with them.
When he was at the table with them,
he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to
them.
Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him,
(From Luke 24:14-35 NIV)
© Copyright by Ronald W. Nikkel, Article may be reprinted with acknowledgement
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THE
CORACLE is published weekly as a reflection on faith and life.
It is available free by subscription. The name CORACLE - refers to a
small leather boat that was typically used by Celtic monks during the 8th and
9th Centuries. One of the most famous was St. Brendan the Navigator who
undertook a missionary voyage of faith. Without navigational maps and
instruments he trusted that by waves and wind and current, God would bring him
to the place and places where he was meant to be. Yet far from being
fatalistic, his voyage was the deeply spiritual account of a man’s journey in
surrendering to the will of God and trusting God to guide and protect him from
danger and disaster. Brendan’s voyage became famous as an ideal for the
Celtic monks of Ireland who dared to venture into unknown and wild places in
order to spread the gospel. Setting sail in their fragile coracles was at
once a courageous act of faith and a profound expression of their passion to
follow Jesus Christ no matter where the journey would take them or what the
journey would entail.
BOOKS by Ron - Radical
Love in a Broken World and Your
Journey with Jesus are available in print and Kindle
format through Amazon and Christian
Focus Publications
ARTICLES - Ron's articles frequently appear in the
Huffington Post and many can be found online at The
Huffington Post
Ron Nikkel is President Emeritus of Prison
Fellowship International after having led served as the Chief
Executive for 32 years. Ron has traveled extensively meeting with
political leaders, criminal justice officials as well church and community
leaders in more than 140 countries. He holds the distinction of having
been in more prisons in more countries than any other person. Considered a
leading voice for Justice that leads to restoration and reconciliation, Ron is
in demand as a speaker on issues of justice and faith, justice and society.
BOOKS by Ron - Radical
Love in a Broken World and Your
Journey with Jesus are available in print and Kindle
format through Amazon and Christian
Focus Publications
ARTICLES - Ron's articles frequently appear in the
Huffington Post and many can be found online at The
Huffington Post
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