A mime paints his face, and he becomes an icon. If he were to wipe his face clean, we would not know him.
A good actor is the same. A new hair color, cheek implants, and a changed speech pattern, and the part the actor played yesterday disappears into the character of today. We see them, but we do not know them. The person they were is now invisible to us, and we only see the new person they have become.
In John 21, Jesus became invisible to his disciples. How was it that they did not know him? He was still Jesus, the man they had learned from, eaten with, and slept beside. How could they not recognize the true Son of God?
In the previous chapter, Jesus had risen from the dead. Mortality had taken on immortality. Corruption had taken on incorruption. Humanity had taken on Godliness. He had shown himself to his followers, and he had invited them to touch his wounds and hold his hands.
The disciples knew their risen Lord was at their side. They recognized him. Yet, in Chapter 21 and Verse 4, a number of the disciples were fishing, and a man appeared on the shore. He called unto them, “Can I get something to eat?”
The fishermen, tired from a night of fruitless fishing, simply called out, “No. We have nothing, for our nets are empty.”
This was Jesus on the shore, the one they had followed to his death. This was the Savior they had pledged their lives to. This was the risen Lord that had invited them to touch the wounds in his side. Yet, he stood on the shore, and they did not know him.
Jesus had become a mime, the actor we see in a new situation, and we do not know who he is. We fail to see the obvious, that the person is the same, and it is our senses that fail us.
It was when the disciples saw the miracle-working power of Jesus that their eyes were opened. In John 21:6, Jesus cried to them, “Cast your nets on the other side,” and the nets were suddenly so full that the men could not pull them in. The next verse tells us that the disciple whom Jesus loved, John, immediately recognized him.
What had blinded the disciples’ eyes? It was the risen glory of Jesus’ resurrection power. He had taken on his glorified body, and his aura of holiness hid him even from those who knew him best.
It was only by Jesus’ actions that the disciples knew who he was.
How have we missed seeing Jesus? More importantly, how have we allowed others to miss seeing Jesus in us? When our neighbors and coworkers see us, they look at us as ordinary human beings. It is our actions that tell them Jesus lives in us.
Jesus’ actions revealed who he was to his blinded disciples. Our actions reveal who Jesus is to those who have been blinded by sin.
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