Recognizing the Risen Christ
Easter Sunday
Reflection By Scott Stoner & Robbin Brent
When Jesus was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him.
- Luke 24:30-31
This Easter morning, we find ourselves drawn into the mystery at the heart of the resurrection stories: recognition. On the road to Emmaus, two disciples walked with the risen Jesus without knowing who he was—until he broke bread with them and their eyes were opened. At the garden tomb, Mary Magdalene and the other women encountered the risen Christ and recognized him not only with their physical eyes but with the eyes of their hearts, shaped by their intimate journey with him.
These women had walked with Jesus through the depths of suffering and death, remaining faithful even as others fled. Having witnessed the full extent of his love poured out on the cross, they had a unique capacity to perceive the resurrection reality breaking forth that morning.
The journey from Palm Sunday to Holy Saturday traces a path from heartbreak to hope, brokenness to redemption, isolation to loving communion—a path Jesus walks with us in his risen, scarred body. As we reflect on our own journey through Holy Week, we might ask what this week has revealed about the depth of Jesus’ love and the power of his resurrection. Have we, like the women at the tomb and the disciples at Emmaus, been changed by our encounter with the crucified and risen Christ?
Those who stayed by Jesus’ side show us what this kind of relationship with Jesus looks like. The more we walk with him through the valleys of shadow, the more we recognize his risen presence in our midst—even and especially in the places of our deepest woundedness and longing.
This Easter morning, we celebrate not only the miracle of the empty tomb but also the miracle of the faithful witnesses who had the love to stay present to Jesus through it all. Their witness emboldens us to keep walking with Christ through the dark nights of our own lives, trusting that dawn will come, and with it, the joy of recognizing our risen Lord in our midst.
As we carry the gifts of this Holy Week forward, we continue to grow in our capacity to recognize the risen Christ in every moment, in every encounter, in every heartache and every joy. Like Mary Magdalene and the disciples on the road to Emmaus, we become witnesses to God’s love bringing new life, sharing the good news of resurrection with all whom we meet.
The journey to Emmaus was a journey of recognition and change. May this Lenten journey to Easter have been one of recognition for each of us. Our prayer is that God has opened our eyes to the ongoing presence of God’s healing and wholeness in our lives, and opened our hearts to how we are called to be instruments of healing and wholeness in the world.
Now may the God of peace, who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, make you complete in everything good so that you may do his will, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory for ever and ever. Amen.
- Hebrews 13:20-21