I didn’t always wear glasses.  I spent most of my life being able to see clearly.  Up close, far away, day or night.  I could see just fine.  Now, things have changed.  Especially in the dark of night or early morning, or when I am trying to see far away… I need glasses to do both.  I was thinking about this the other morning as I was driving to work in the fog.  I wake up and leave for work quite early, usually around 5:00 AM, needing to beat the traffic.  The other day as I left, it was in the dark morning and there was a thick fog.  Even with my glasses things were hazy. 

Street lights I knew were there could barely be seen and houses I drive by every day seemed unrecognizable.  I was struggling to see and I had to take it slow.  I was anxious, not being able to quite see what was in front of me.  As I did so, I started singing the song, “Open the eyes of my heart Lord…”  I imagine you all know it.  I’m sure some of you are humming it now.  I sang this familiar song and carefully drove on.  It was what my anxious heart needed to keep driving. 

When I finally arrived at the 71 freeway, it was like I suddenly entered Oz.  Remember the scene when Dorothy comes from the black and white world of Kansas into the magical Technicolor world of Oz?  The fog was gone and it was a clear, crisp morning… the most beautiful in a long time.  I prayed aloud and thanked God for getting me through to this point of clarity.  Once I could see I didn’t speed up and try to make up for the lost minutes.  Instead, I took my drive nice and easy, and my mind began to wander.  I thought about the moment of clarity moments after I couldn’t see clearly.  This thought process brought me to the Easter story, which we had just celebrated days prior.  

In John’s gospel, we are told that at the tomb Mary Magdalene could not at first “see” Jesus.  After her encounter with the two angels (John 20:11-13) John continues…

“14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. 15 He asked her, ‘Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?’ Thinking he was the gardener, she said, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.’ 16 Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, ‘Rabboni!’ (which means ‘Teacher’)” (John 20:14-16 NIV)

How is it that Mary didn’t recognize Jesus at first?  Maybe her eyes were swollen with grief so deep that in her sadness that she couldn’t recognize Jesus? 

I also thought about a later story, the one about the Road to Emmaus, when the two men who were called his followers walked and talked with a man they didn’t recognize.  First Mary Magdalene, and later these men… They encountered the resurrected and living God, but they weren’t able to see what was in front of them.  I think to myself… “How is this possible?” 

 Once Jesus called her name, Mary Magdalene realized it was Jesus!  She immediately wanted to cling to Jesus after she had gained clarity.  Clarity!  The men on the road to Emmaus also gained clarity later in their story.  

“30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?’.” (Luke 24:30-32)

Clarity.  Like a visit to the eye doctor and they test your vision with different lenses.  “1, or 2? 1, or 2?” the eye doctor says.  Back and forth, back and forth, until, finally, you can see the last row on the chart clearly.   Clarity! 

For the women and men who encountered the resurrected Jesus, more than their eyes needed to be opened for them to see.  They had to see with their HEARTS.  Look at the passage in John again.  “Jesus said to her ‘Mary’.”  Jesus spoke to HER, identified HER by name.  He sees her in despair and reveals the resurrection Truth to her.  I can imagine her thoughts… “It’s all okay, there HE is!!  He is NOT dead!!”  Think again about the Emmaus story.  These two men are talking to someone who they think is just a fellow traveler.  In the story they share their hopes about who Jesus was, and they share their disappointment in him not fulfilling those hopes.  They even speak of the women and what they claimed to have seen, but still they do not see for themselves.  Jesus takes them through the scripture again, trying to help them realize the Truth about the Gospel. 

25 He said to them, ‘How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?’ 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. (Luke 24:25-27)

Then, Jesus “took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and began to give it to them.  Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him” (Luke 24:30-31)  Jesus shares a meal with the men, a sign of caring and fellowship throughout history.  Around the table with friends…the men could see.  Jesus calls Mary’s name and she sees Him.  Jesus fellowships with the men and they see Him. 

How do I encounter Jesus?  How do I “see” Him?  John 20 tells us that “blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (vs. 29)  This is my prayer, to be blessed even though I can't see Him with my eyes.  Someday, in heaven, I will see Him clearly. Until then, I pray.  "Lord, you showed me these stories about your resurrection. These people remind me that even when I am with you, I need to be mindful of you.  I need to know and understand your ways.  How else will I clearly see you?  Help me to be like John, spotting you off shore on a boat and knowing you by your voice.  Help me to walk to you, knowing that you are there.  Help me to see not with my eyes and glasses, but instead please open the eyes of my heart.  Let nothing block me from seeing you with Clarity. Amen."

Irma Bates
Nursery Coordinator