Appearing

At the end of the gospels, we see Christ appearing to His deeply discouraged and troubled disciples. In Mark 16:14, we read, “Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.”

In His post-resurrection appearances, Jesus would appear to His disciples and then disappear. This happened in Jerusalem and on the road to Emmaus, where two disciples were walking. He came alongside them and spoke to them. He rebuked them and exhorted them, expressing His disappointment in their unbelief. At another time, He appeared to them on a mountain, which some Bible commentators believe was Mount Tabor, on the north side of the Jezreel Valley. He also appeared in the northern part of the Sea of Galilee region, when the disciples had returned to fishing, as recorded in John 21.

Helping Unbelief

For 40 days after His resurrection, He was with these men, coming and going. Consider how the devil had worked against Christ throughout His ministry. After Christ was raised from the dead, the focus of the attack shifted to His disciples. The devil could not overcome Christ, but he could work against the disciples through their unbelief and instability. When Jesus met with them, appearing and disappearing, He was concerned about their unbelief.

It is much like us. He appears, and then He seems to be gone, and we begin to worry. Sometimes we imagine that once the disciples saw the empty tomb and Christ appeared to them, everything was wonderful. But in a way, His resurrection brought a new kind of stress. They had experienced the stress of His death, and now, with His resurrection, they faced new questions: What does this mean? What is going to happen now? Where do we go from here? Why does He appear, warm our hearts, and encourage us, only to leave us feeling alone with our own thoughts, ideas, and problems?

Relationship

In the closing chapters of the gospels, it seems that Christ is teaching His disciples some important final principles. During this period, He is concerned about their instability, just as He is concerned about ours. There is one thing they need that we also need: relationship.

We were made for a relationship with God. Our stability does not come from always understanding what He is doing or from constantly feeling His presence. It comes from knowing Him, trusting His Word, and learning to walk with Him even when we cannot see what He is doing. The risen Christ had not abandoned His disciples when He was no longer visibly present with them. He was preparing them to live by faith, in a relationship with Him that would continue beyond His physical appearances.

The same is true for us. When Christ seems distant, we can remain close to Him through faith. Our circumstances and feelings may change, but His faithfulness remains the foundation of our lives. Our relationship with Him does not depend on our works or performance, but on His grace and the finished work of the cross. We are not striving to earn His presence or maintain His love through our own efforts. He is teaching us to trust Him even when we cannot see Him, resting in the assurance of who He is and what He has done for us.

Photo by Jennifer Lynch