The
Invisible ManBy the Revd David Burgess
Something strange and wonderful was going on in the six weeks after the first Easter Day. Jesus was different. He was able to hide his identity from his friends (Mary and the disciples on the Emmaus Road), he could appear and disappear at will; he could walk through locked doors.
What are we to make, then, of this invisible man?
Jesus always did things for two reasons. He helped those who needed it; and he showed the kingdom of God at work.
The Jesus the disciples had known was in the process of leaving them, but he was with them long enough to prepare them for this. He was saying, “I’m around, but I’m not really around; and I won’t be around for much longer.” Jesus wasn’t rooted on the Earth any more. His rightful place was in Heaven and He was about to return there.
And, in the kingdom of God, things are different when you've been resurrected. He’s the only one it’s ever happened to – thus far. But it’ll happen to all of us; the Bible teaches us that we’ll each rise again to appear before God; we'll each have a resurrection body; but the afterlife will be different.
Have you ever seen Jesus standing in front of you? No; nor have I. We’re two thousand years away from when Jesus belonged firmly to this world, and from that intriguing, enigmatic six weeks when he had a foot in each camp.
How does the risen Jesus make himself recognised in your life and mine? How does he make himself recognised in our churches? He chooses to do it only through the glimpses which we give to each other of what he means to us.
Here’s what I think the invisible man says to us; “You can’t contain me or hold me; I am who I am. Don’t hold on, don’t grab; don’t try to control; just accept me for who I am and receive what I give you”.
The disciples held on to this throughout their experience of the visible, half-visible and invisible Jesus; how can we do any the less?