Jesus the man is not coming back. He is the risen Christ !

John 20

¹¹ But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; ¹² and she *saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. ¹³ And they *said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She *said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” ¹⁴ When she had said this, she turned around and *saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. ¹⁵ Jesus *said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing Him to be the gardener, she *said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” ¹⁶ Jesus *said to her, “Mary!” She turned and *said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher). ¹⁷ Jesus *said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’” ¹⁸ Mary Magdalene *came, announcing to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and that He had said these things to her.

Luke 24

¹³ And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. ¹⁴ And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place. ¹⁵ While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them. ¹⁶ But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him. ¹⁷ And He said to them, “What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?” And they stood still, looking sad. ¹⁸ One of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, “Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?” ¹⁹ And He said to them, “What things?” And they said to Him, “The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, ²⁰ and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to the sentence of death, and crucified Him. ²¹ But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened. ²² But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, ²³ and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive. ²⁴ Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see.” ²⁵ And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶ Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” ²⁷ Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.

²⁸ And they approached the village where they were going, and He acted as though He were going farther. ²⁹ But they urged Him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening, and the day is now nearly over.” So He went in to stay with them. ³⁰ When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. ³¹ Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight...  ³⁵ They began to relate their experiences on the road and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread.

In these two accounts we see a common occurance, Mary and the two disciples did not recognize the resurrected Christ. He was there with them, physically in their presence, yet they failed to recognize Him. Why was that? How was that possible? Their inability to recognize Jesus points to something we need to understand today.

We tend to read the gospel accounts to learn about Jesus. What He said, what He did, everything there is to know about the 33 years Jesus walked this earth as a man. Many people try to model their lives around doing things as Jesus did. It's not that it is wrong to do that, but we must understand that the Jesus who walked this earth, the Jesus we read about in the gospels is not the same Lord and king who is returning. If we know Him only by who He was and what He did, we might also not recognize the risen Christ, Who He is and what He is doing and wants to do. Jesus the man is not coming back.

In the accounts above their eyes were opened when Jesus did or said something familiar. He called Mary by name. He broke bread with the two. Our eyes will be open to the revelation of Jesus in a way that is familiar. We need to understand that Jesus is eternal. 

John 1:2-4 says, He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. ⁴ In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. 

Mark 16:19 says,  So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.

Jesus said that He and the Father are one. He also said in John 4:24  God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

Jesus Christ the risen Lord is eternal. He is one with God. If we are to know Him and recognize Him as He reveals Himself to us, we must know Him by the spirit. That must become what is familiar to us. Jesus came the first time to be the perfect sacrifice for our sin. He lived as an example of how we should live. But He said He was coming back. He said we would do the works He did and greater works through the Holy Spirit. 

If the Almighty God were to manifest His presence right now where you are you would fall on your face. If the risen Christ appeared to you right now you would again fall to your face. The Holy Spirit is more than a voice and a guide. The Holy Spirit is God. Why then do we have such difficulty bowing our hearts, our minds and our wills to Him?

The revelation of Jesus comes by the Spirit. To know Him we must know Him by the Spirit. As we wait for the return of the coming King we are to do kingdom works. We can't do that by knowing Jesus the man. We must know and yield to the Almighty God, the risen Christ and the Holy Spirit.

Open the eyes of our spirit that we might see and  know the full revelation of Christ in our lives.