Jesus Showed Himself (Third Sunday of Easter)

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One of the questions that never really gets answered in the Gospels is where Jesus is in between his various appearances to the disciples.  It’s a particularly pronounced question in John’s Gospel, because Jesus’ appearances happen over a fairly long period of time and occur in different places. In today’s Gospel reading, for example, the disciples have all gone home from Jerusalem, and not really knowing what to do next, they do what they’ve always done (and maybe need to do for financial reasons) – they go fishing.

It seems that none of them really expected Jesus to show up back in Galilee, which maybe accounts for some of initial confusion. But yet, Jesus showed up. And it was perhaps because of experiences like this that the first disciples came to understand that the Risen Jesus was actually always near them. He was always around, even if they didn’t physically see him. And he was always helping them through the power of the Holy Spirit.

And yet, every once in a while, “he showed himself” to them, as he did in today’s Gospel reading. In fact, that’s probably why John says that Jesus “showed himself” instead of saying something like, “Jesus became present” or “Jesus appeared”. This word that John uses that we translate as “showed himself” is used by John in his Gospel to describe something heavenly which emerges and makes itself known in a concrete way in the lives of the people. But it’s there all the time, even when you don’t see it. So, for example, when Jesus changes water into wine, he “shows” his glory, which he always had, but in changing the water into wine, his glory becomes visible and tangible in human life…

And as we read the Resurrection appearance stories, all of them proceed from the understanding that the Risen Jesus is always near and always present in the lives of his disciples. Yet every once in a while, Jesus “shows himself” to them.  And he does that in a variety of ways. Sometimes, he “shows himself” through:

• simply being there with them – for example, last Sunday’s reading about his appearance to the group and later also with Thomas, where Jesus is just suddenly “in the room” with them …

• his words – in Luke’s Gospel, the disciples on the road to Emmaus for some reason don’t recognize Jesus from his appearance, but their hearts burn and they begin to recognize him through the words he speaks to them …

• what he does – in today’s Gospel reading, Jesus is too far from the boat to be recognized by his voice or his face. But in telling the disciples to let down the nets, and causing them to be filled with fish, he’s recognized as “showing up” in their lives…

And I think John’s way of describing this story is important because often these are the same ways that Jesus shows himself to us today. Although there are very few stories of people who say they’ve actually seen a vision of Jesus standing in front of them, there are lots of times and places where Jesus does indeed show himself in our lives; and, often through us, shows himself to other people.

So how does Jesus “show himself” to us? We say, and it’s true, that Jesus is always near us. But sometimes, he “shows himself” to us and to others in the world around us. In fact, that’s really what Jesus was telling Peter when he called him to feed his sheep. Jesus was calling Peter to be one of the many disciples through whom Jesus would continue to “show himself” to others in the world.

And often, Jesus does that through each of us when we:

• are simply present for others – often, we want to “do something” in a time of someone’s personal crisis. But often, just “showing up” and being there is the way we make Jesus’ presence known; and sometimes, when others show up in our lives at a particularly difficult moment, that’s how we’ve experienced Jesus’ presence and help…

• speak words of hope in the midst of tragedy and hopelessness – sometimes, we think things should go without saying, but at other times, they need to be said! And often, there is healing in telling and listening to each others’ stories; indeed, that’s why some of these Gospel stories have been written down, because it’s through the stories of God’s love and presence in our lives and the lives of others that Jesus is shown to us and through us…

• act in Jesus’ name to do what needs to be done, even if it seems like a small thing – Jesus made breakfast for the disciples, and it was through sharing bread and fish he also showed himself to them; sometimes, the simple act of giving someone a meal may be the way we show Jesus’ presence in the lives of others…

This last chapter of John’s Gospel seems to have been written a bit later than the rest of the Gospel. It’s as though John’s community wanted to include this last story as kind of an “oh, yeah, don’t forget this!” And what we’re called not to forget is not only that Jesus is present, but that Jesus continues to show himself in our lives. But it’s not always obvious at first. Sometimes, it just sounds like somebody calling out a question or walking along beside us.

And so we’re called to pay attention and remember that the Risen Jesus still shows himself to us, and often through us. And Jesus often does this when we’re simply willing to show up in the lives of people who are need. Jesus often does this when we’re willing to speak words of hope, even and especially when the world is consumed by chaos. And Jesus often does this when we’re simply willing to act in Jesus’ name and do even small and simple things that makes God’s love and presence a visible and meaningful reality in the life of the world around us.

Amen.