Do you ever wonder what the risen Christ looked like? No one knows. There are no selfies, no video or audio recordings.
The gospels attest to a series of post-resurrection appearances because someone returning from the dead was remarkable. But even more remarkably, no one seemed to recognize the earthly Jesus in the risen Christ—most notably the people who’d known him best.
Instead of ascending directly to his Father, the risen Christ stuck around and let people get used to seeing him in his new, resurrected state. Resurrection doesn’t give us the old Jesus back again; resurrection gives us grace beyond imagining, the risen Christ.
The message is an excerpt from “What did the risen Christ look like?” by M.E. Stortz in the April 2020 issue of Gather magazine.
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