I was recently in the Holy Land. While there I was able to see and touch many fascinating and unique things. I was able to go to the Mediterranean Sea and view the ancient aqueducts engineered by the Romans. We went to the Sea of Galilee and saw the “Jesus Boat” – a wooden sailing vessel which dates to the time of Jesus. I went to Jerusalem, and was able to see the Mount of Olives where Jesus was captured, the Golden Gate where Jesus entered the City of Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, and to see the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, where Jesus was crucified and buried on Good Friday. As I was going through the photos I took on this trip, I searched for a representation of something which reminded me of the first Disciples immediately following the crucifixion of Jesus. It came to me that they must have felt low, they must have felt that all that they had worked for, all that they had hoped for in life was gone with the capture, trial, and terrible crucifixion of Jesus on that first Good Friday. They must have felt as low as this photo I have included in the photo below, marking the lowest spot on land anywhere on the surface of the earth.
What they did not know yet was that on Easter Sunday, God had different plans for them, and that the seeming end was but the beginning of something better and something new.
In the Gospel of St. John, there is a post-Easter story of an encounter between Jesus and his disciples. The Gospel tells us that “Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach; but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus” (Jn 21:4). The story does not tell us what Jesus looked like, but it seems to relate that when Jesus came to them, he did not appear in a way that they could immediately recognize him. It was only after they followed what Jesus told them to do that the presence of Jesus became real to them.
Life does not always give us what we want it to, or expect it to. Life often deals some harsh lessons, lessons that we wish we did not have to learn. What we can learn from Easter is that Jesus can relate to you because Jesus lived a life just like your life.
How did the Disciples live in a different sort of world than they had imagined? First, they did what Jesus told them to do. Second, they when their old mindset didn’t work any longer, they changed it. Third, to use a phrase of Joseph Campbell, they followed their bliss. For them, a living a life with and for with Jesus was exactly where they needed to be. For you and me, we are given talents and aptitudes which, if followed, help to make one content, happy, and give energy. If your life is not what it can be now, follow your bliss. It will lead you to places where you need to go. It will take you from the low place to the mountaintop. It will make you glad for the journey. One sure constant in life is change. Embrace the good change and opportunity, and you will be blessed.
In the season of Eastertide,
Keith