Hunger Mountain Christian Assembly

Early Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. 2She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. She said, "They have taken the Lord's body out of the tomb, and I don't know where they have put Him!"  3Peter and the other disciple ran to the tomb to see. 4The other disciple outran Peter and got there first. 5He stooped and looked in and saw the linen cloth lying there, but he didn't go in. 6Then Simon Peter arrived and went inside. He also noticed the linen wrappings lying there, 7while the cloth that had covered Jesus' head was folded up and lying to the side. 8Then the other disciple also went in, and he saw and believed— 9for until then they hadn't realized that the Scriptures said He would rise from the dead. 10Then they went home. 11Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. 12She saw two white-robed angels sitting at the head and foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13"Why are you crying?" the angels asked her. "Because they have taken away my Lord," she replied, "and I don't know where they have put Him."  14She glanced over her shoulder and saw someone standing behind her. It was Jesus, but she didn't recognize Him. 15"Why are you crying?" Jesus asked her. "Who are you looking for?"  She thought He was the gardener. "Sir," she said, "if You have taken Him away, tell me where you have put Him, and I will go and get Him."  16"Mary!" Jesus said. She turned toward Him and exclaimed, "Teacher!" (Rabboni) 17"Don't cling to Me," Jesus said, "for I haven't yet ascended to the Father. But go find My brothers and tell them that I am ascending to My Father and your Father, My God and your God." 18Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, "I have seen the Lord!" Then she gave them His message. 

 

Introduction: Today, we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is a story that we retell year after year and hopefully find something new to encourage each other with. As I began to reread the “Passion of Christ” I looked for something new to share with you and I was drawn by the Holy Spirit to verse 14 where Mary didn’t recognize Jesus until He spoke to her. The Lord brought to my spirit how we don’t recognize the Christ in each other and so my message this morning is “Will You Recognize Jesus When You See Him?”
 

What does recognize mean?
1. Dictionary: To know or identify from past experience or knowledge.
 

Other times they failed to recognize Jesus:
1. Luke 24:13-16 (MsgB) 
That same day two of them were walking to the village Emmaus, about seven miles out of Jerusalem. 14They were deep in conversation, going over all these things that had happened. 15In the middle of their talk and questions, Jesus came up and walked along with them. 16But they were not able to recognize who He was.

2. John 21:4 (MsgB) 
When the sun came up, Jesus was standing on the beach, but they didn't recognize Him.

3. John 21:12 (MsgB) 
Jesus said, "Breakfast is ready." Not one of the disciples dared ask, "Who are you?" They knew it was the Master.
 

We may not recognize a time of visitation.
1. Luke 19:41-44 (NKJV) 
Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, 42saying, "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, 44and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation."

How about us, do we recognize Him when we see Him in each other?

Do people recognize Him in you?

1. Matthew 5:13-16 (NLT) 
"You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it useful again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. 14You are the light of the world—like a city on a mountain, glowing in the night for all to see. 15Don't hide your light under a basket! Instead, put it on a stand and let it shine for all. 16In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.

Conclusion: Just as the disciples and Mary failed to recognize Jesus, so do we today. Just as Jerusalem failed to recognize its time of visitation, so do we today. We hide our saltiness and light, trying to be politically correct and hide our Christ likeness. Jesus is risen and alive. He lives within us and desires that we show Him off to others. Take a good look around you this morning. He is here.

Close: 1 Cor. 15:1-10 (MsgB) 
Friends, let me go over the Message with you one final time—this Message that I proclaimed and that you made your own; this Message on which you took your stand  2and by which your life has been saved. (I'm assuming, now, that your belief was the real thing and not a passing fancy, that you're in this for good and holding fast.)  3The first thing I did was place before you what was placed so emphatically before me: that the Messiah died for our sins, exactly as Scripture tells it;  4that He was buried; that He was raised from death on the third day, again exactly as Scripture says;  5that He presented Himself alive to Peter, then to His closest followers,  6and later to more than five hundred of His followers all at the same time, most of them still around (although a few have since died);  7that He then spent time with James and the rest of those He commissioned to represent Him (us)  8and that He finally presented himself alive to me.  9It was fitting that I bring up the rear. I don't deserve to be included in that inner circle, as you well know, having spent all those early years trying my best to stamp God's church right out of existence. 10But because God was so gracious, so very generous, here I am.