Episode 40: Why Wasn't Post-Resurrection Jesus Recognizable?

Jesus is risen!  Hallelujah!  Death on the cross could not keep him.  He is alive.

Jesus made many appearances to people during the forty days he walked the earth again after his resurrection.  But people didn't recognize him!  Why?  Laurie analyzes some of these appearances and offers her opinion on explainable reasons why people who accompanied him for three years didn't recognize him when he was resurrected, and also those cases where supernatural reasons were involved.  Pretty fascinating stuff.

For the finale episode of her The Year I Read the Bible podcast, Laurie welcomes the delightful and insightful Dina Clarke.  Dina is the co-leader of Women in the Word Bible Study in Pawleys Island, SC.  Through her humor and emotional teachings, Dina has educated hundreds of Bible readers, leading to increased understanding.

A few links to supplement the conversation:

Paul's lesson on the mysteries of the resurrection:  I Corinthians 15

The Sacred Slow by Alicia Britt Chole

Transcript

Speaker 0:01

Hi, I'm your host Lori Larson, and this is the year I read the Bible. Welcome a Lifelong Christian. I thought I was familiar with the Bible, but in 2023 I accepted the challenge of reading the whole thing, cover to cover. Whenever I encountered something I didn't understand or wanted to learn more. I jotted it down, but I kept reading to stay on schedule. Then I reached the end Imagine Confetti rating down on me, and a huge sigh of relief. I had 40 topics to research in 2024. I started diving into all those topics. I did research, I wrote blogs and I shared them with whoever might wanna learn too. And in 2025, the project continues. I published a book containing all my essays, and now a podcast. Is there something you can learn from that dusty book that sits on all of our shelves? Yes. Yes, there is. Let's dive into

1:13

The year I read the Bible.

Speaker 1:20

Hello, friends, this is it, episode 40 of 40, my last episode of the year. I read the Bible Podcast and it's such a good one, but I just wanted to take a moment to let you know that next week at our normal time, I'll drop one more episode, a recap of sorts. My closing thoughts about embarking on this amazing adventure as a novelist turned podcaster and all the experiences I had. So yes, this is the end, but think of next week's episode as an epilogue to the story. See you then. But for now, let's dig into episode 40. Why wasn't post-resurrection? Jesus recognizable? Praise God. Jesus'. Death by crucifixion was not the end of the story, just as he said. He was resurrected on the third day Sunday and began appearing to people. Death couldn't conquer him, and that's why we have such a vibrant celebration. Every Easter Sunday morning, all four gospels include stories about Jesus and his resurrected appearances to people. Jesus returned to the earth for 40 days in his resurrected state, and during those days he spent time with many people. Here's a list of the people documented in the gospels who saw and spoke with the resurrected Jesus, the women who visit the tomb early Sunday morning. Peter and John, Mary Magdalene, Peter alone, several times, two disciples on the road to Emmaus, all the disciples except Thomas. All the disciples with the famously doubting Thomas and Jesus's brother James. One thing that has always intrigued me about these encounters is how many times Jesus wasn't recognized by these people, all of whom knew him. Some for three years while he was on the earth. So what about him made him unrecognizable? In some instances, the confusion is logical and explainable. Take for instance, in John 20, verse 11, in the new international version, when Jesus first appears to Mary Magdalene. This was early on Sunday morning, and of course she was grieving because her Lord had been killed and buried. Now, Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white seated where Jesus's body had been. They asked her woman, why are you crying? They have taken my Lord away. She said, and I don't know where they have put him at this. She turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. 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. Jesus said to her. Mary, she turned toward him and cried out. Teacher, this scene makes my heart pound. Can you imagine how Mary felt? It wasn't until he said her name the way he had said it, probably a hundred times when he was alive, that she knew it was indeed Jesus. So why didn't she look at him and immediately know it was him? Possible reasons are numerous. She was weeping. It was dark. In the early morning, she'd probably had a fitful night's sleep. She simply wasn't expecting him to be alive. Those are all valid reasons. In another story, Peter not knowing what else to do with himself, takes his friends out fishing. In his hopelessness, it was the most familiar activity to him since he used to make his living as a fisherman before Jesus called him to be fishers of men, and I imagine he was depressed considering his options. What would he do with his life now that he'd so colossally messed up with Jesus, go back to fishing, he supposed, but as they were out in the boat about a hundred yards out, catching absolutely nothing. Jesus who is standing on the shore calls to them. Asking about their catch or lack thereof. They don't recognize him either, but it's understandable. He was a distance away. The water separated them and maybe the sun was shining in their eyes. This is the story of the miraculous catch after telling them to place their nets on the opposite side of the boat, which was a meaningful repeat of the first time Jesus met Peter when he invited Peter, then called Simon to follow him. One of my favorite stories of the entire Bible is here, John 21. Nine through 12 when they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it and some bread. Jesus said to them, bring some of the fish you've just caught. So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153 of them. But even with so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them. Come and have breakfast. This story makes my heart happy. Why I love that while the fishermen are pulling in this massive load of fish that Jesus miraculously provided for him, the Lord is busily making a fire and cooking a simple meal for them. When they reach him, soaking wet and struggling with the hall, he kindly says, come and have breakfast. Ah. I would love to receive this breakfast invitation from Jesus, and can you imagine how divinely delicious it tasted? John continues this section with the end of verse 12 and 13. None of the disciples dared to ask him, who are you? They knew it was the Lord. So there are many logical reasons why disciples and followers wouldn't recognize Jesus after his resurrection, but there are some supernatural instances too. Let's take a look at one Luke 24, 36 and 37. While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, peace be with you. They were startled and frightened thinking they saw a ghost. There's some supernatural stuff going on here. Jesus is described as just appearing out of nowhere, suddenly there beside them, not visibly approaching them, there are also instances of the disciples behind locked doors in the upper room, afraid of being apprehended by authorities, and Jesus suddenly appears among them without opening the door and walking in. Yes, I would be startled and frightened too. But there's another mention worth considering. Luke 24 verses 15 and 16 says, as they walked and discussed these things, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them, but they were kept from recognizing him, who kept them from recognizing Jesus. God. God is of course in charge of this whole 40 day period of the resurrected Christ, just as he was in the details of the three years of Jesus's earthly ministry. So if God had his reasons for not letting people recognize Jesus at certain times, I'm sure they were good ones. One more example that falls on the supernatural realm. After he first appeared to Mary Magdalene, the story I read before and she recognizes who he is after he says her name. Let's pick up at verse 17. Jesus said, do not hold onto me for I have not yet ascended to the father. Whoa. That's really outside our earthly realm. So I researched to see how the experts interpret this. A Bible commentary called Katina Bible has this explanation quote. The meaning of this saying is not easily understood, but it refers to a mystery. Some interpretations suggest that Jesus was not to be conversed with in the same way as before His death, as his body was now raised immortal and glorious. End quote. I don't know exactly what Jesus meant by this strange warning, but on the other hand, I feel like I don't really need to know. Maybe I'll find out someday when I leave the earthly realm myself to go to Heavenly glory. Okay, now let's interrupt this topic for a second to discuss the number 40, A number that is extremely symbolic and important throughout the entire Bible. Why? Because of how many times it's used. The number 40 appears 134 times in the Old Testament and 24 times in the new. Let's take a look at just a few of these significant events. God flooded the earth by having it rain for 40 days and 40 nights. Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt and they wander the wilderness for 40 years. Elijah went 40 days without food or water At Mount Horeb. Jesus was tempted by the devil many times during the 40 complete days. He fasted in the desert at the start of his ministry. After Jesus's resurrection, he walked the earth for 40 days before the ascension. There's more of course, but that gives you the idea, the number 40 is important to God. Oh, and guess what? I'm ending my, the year I read the Bible project after you guessed it, 40 essays. Yes, this is the last one. Why did Jesus appear for 40 days? In all the cases, he appeared to the people in his life for two reasons. One was to comfort them. He knew when he left them because of his crucifixion, that they weren't prepared. They didn't understand what he was telling them, and they were devastated. What they didn't understand while he was still living was undeniable. Now that he had died. His teaching wasn't over. He met people in their grief, in their despair, in their feelings of emptiness and hopelessness, and he ministered to them. There are many examples, but let's take a look at one in John 2019 and 20. On the evening of that first day of the week when the disciples were together with doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, peace be with you. After he said this, he showed them his hands and sighed. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. I can imagine how overjoyed they were after three years of the lifestyle. Jesus provided all the hope and love and miracles and teaching. To just watch him die in such a brutal fashion would've been devastating. But here he was safe and sound. God still had plans for him and maybe for them. And the other was to prepare them for their future roles. Let's continue reading that same section in John verses 21 and 22. Again, Jesus said, peace be with you as the Father has sent me. I am sending you. And with that, he breathed on them and said, receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone's sins, their sins are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven. Their time as disciples was not wasted. Jesus had further plans for them. His faith and his disciples had not wavered, and he was there to ensure that they had what they needed to move ahead with his work. Before Jesus ascends for good, we see these beautiful words that he shares with the disciples, which is known as the Great Commission. Matthew 28, 18 through 20. Then Jesus came to them and said, all authority in Heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age. It's a beautiful message and it's the essence of our Christian journey for all of us, even to this day, come to Jesus. Then go and tell others. It's what we do to continually spread Jesus's message to the world indeed. It is exactly why I believe God called on me to complete this multi-year project that I call the year I read the Bible. My interest in learning more about the Bible was ignited, and I'm offering what I've learned to hopefully teach others. And with that, let me say thank you for reading or listening to my essays. I hope you have learned at least a nugget of knowledge, and I hope your curiosity in learning more about the Bible has been ignited. Let's pray. Dear Father, I send you immense. Thanks for accompanying me on this journey for the last several years. I pray that together you and I can achieve readers and listeners to absorb these lessons and start their own Bible reading and learning challenges. I thank you for your faithfulness. As I continue down this spiritual road to learning more about your holy word, and I ask for your faithfulness as I continue to learn. Amen. And now it's a very special episode being the last one, and I saved a very special guest. Stay tuned. And welcome back listeners. And now I have the pleasure to introduce my guest on this very special episode, the very last episode of this series, the year I read the Bible. So a special episode calls for a very special guest. Faithful listeners of this podcast will be familiar with the women in the Word program at All Saints Church in Polly's Island. Several of my guests were my friends from Small Group six, and one of the leaders of that fantastic program. Beth Sprinkle was my podcast guest twice. Now I'd like to introduce you to Beth's partner in leading women in the Word. She is a fantastic teacher of the word because of her deep knowledge of the Bible. Her wonderfully engaging teaching style and her obvious love for the Lord while teaching. She makes us laugh. She makes us cry at times. She helps us understand the topics, and she gives us the desire to learn more. So with no further delay, please welcome Dina Clark.

Speaker 2 19:00

That was the sweetest.

Speaker 19:03

Thank you. Well, it is so sweet of you to join me on my finale episode.

Speaker 2 19:09

I know how exciting is that?

Speaker 19:11

Yes, it's a very fun, fun ride.

Speaker 2 19:13

What a privilege.

Speaker 19:15

Why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself, introduce yourself, whatever you want us to know about you.

Speaker 2 19:20

Well, gladly. So my name, like you said, is Dina Clark. I am a wife, I am a mom, and I am a nana. Which is my favorite title. I have a 2-year-old granddaughter. She doesn't live in town, but I try to go see her once a month. Oh, so much fun.

Speaker 19:35

Once a month.

Speaker 2 19:36

I do.

Speaker 19:36

Okay. I'm admiring that because I'm also a nana, although my name is. Beachy, which means beachy grandma.

Speaker 2 19:45

I like that. I tried to do something creative.

Speaker 19:48

Yeah,

Speaker 2 19:48

she, she called me nana and then my heart melted. I was like, I'll be nana.

Speaker 19:50

Well this is a funny story'cause my grandchildren, I have a 4-year-old and a 2-year-old and they have four grandparents and each of us have different names. Mm-hmm. And each of the four grandparents came up with a suggested name and. Mine BG is the only one that stuck

Speaker 2 20:10

really. The

Speaker 20:11

oldest grandson gave each of them an alternate name, but he kept mine.

Speaker 2 20:17

You can be proud of that one.

Speaker 20:18

Yeah. Yeah. That's

Speaker 2 20:19

nice. That's right. I love that though. What a good name. And like you said, I co-teach, a women's Bible study called Women in the Word that meets here in Paul's Island, South Carolina. It's really a community bible study that sees women from lots of different churches and some. That don't go to church and are being exposed to the word, for the first time, which is my favorite.

Speaker 20:36

Um,

Speaker 2 20:36

and

Speaker 20:36

hundreds of

Speaker 2 20:37

uhhuh. We, we see hundreds of

Speaker 20:38

attendees.

Speaker 2 20:38

We see 200 women, a week, if you include our Monday night time as well, which we did for working women, which we started a few years ago, which has been very successful as well. So I just began my 14th year with Beth.

Speaker 20:50

Oh,

Speaker 2 20:50

doing that, my gosh. And funny enough, when I found out I was gonna be a grandmother. A couple years ago, I told her and I said, so here's the deal. I said, I don't know. I would never assume that I can keep doing this in the way that I would like to. If you wanna find someone new, and she looks, she goes, Nope, we will figure it out. So we just have. Raised up some younger women as well, and had substitutes, which has been great, but has freed me up to go and drive, which

Speaker 21:15

is to Nashville, which is good to develop additional Oh,

Speaker 2 21:18

absolutely.

Speaker 21:18

Teachers,

Speaker 2 21:19

yes, absolutely. Which,

Speaker 21:20

no, which, oh, that's the other thing I was gonna tell you. I, I admire the fact that you get to see them once a month. I strive for once a quarter.

Speaker 2 21:26

Yeah.

Speaker 21:27

And I usually hit it, but sometimes it takes since How

Speaker 2 21:30

far away are you?

Speaker 21:30

My boys live in Missouri. Mm-hmm. From South Carolina, so Yes. Yeah.

Speaker 2 21:35

How many hours you have to fly that?

Speaker 21:36

It would be a 14 hour drive,

Speaker 2 21:38

right?

Speaker 21:39

We have driven it before, but yeah, it's a, it's a

Speaker 2 21:41

flight.

Speaker 21:42

I haven't found a nonstop flight, but I can usually be there by early afternoon, so

Speaker 2 21:46

my husband travels all the time with his job and he goes through Atlanta because he's Delta, and his joke is when he dies, he'll go through Atlanta because he goes through Atlanta to get anywhere. So he'll go through Atlanta and then get to heaven. That's how he sees it. But we drive it'cause it's Nashville and it's really on the cusp of being a drive. So it's about 10 hours if you never stopped.

Speaker 22:06

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 2 22:06

So, but I do, I get to see her about once a month. It's super fun.

Speaker 22:10

That's awesome.

Speaker 2 22:10

Yeah. And that's where I met you Yes. As women in the word, so. That's right. That's how we know each other. You've been coming for, how many years have you been?

Speaker 22:17

Oh gosh. I'm gonna say probably since. 2019.

Speaker 2 22:26

Wow. So you were right before COVID?

Speaker 22:28

Yes. And I started by coming in the summer

Speaker 2 22:32

Oh yes.

Speaker 22:32

When Van Weston was teaching. And then I discovered that there's a whole

Speaker 2 22:38

Right,

Speaker 22:38

like school year session

Speaker 2 22:39

Yes. Of

Speaker 22:40

fall and spring. So,

Speaker 2 22:41

yes. So that's so good. Well, we're so glad you're with us. So

Speaker 22:43

thank you. I've learned so much.

Speaker 2 22:45

So fun.

Speaker 22:46

Well, should we start talking about this essay?

Speaker 2 22:48

Let's do it.

Speaker 22:49

It's called. Why wasn't post resurrection? Jesus recognizable. Jesus was resurrected, praise God. And he came back to earth for 40 days. Before ascending into heaven in the Bible. The number 40 it's used repeatedly. Could you share some of the examples in the Bible where the number 40 is relevant?

Speaker 2 23:15

Sure. First of all, I don't. Believe that the Bible really ever assigns a particular meaning to the number 40. It's not a coded thing that we're supposed to read, necessarily. Something overly deep into, I don't believe, but it does occur a lot in the Old Testament, in the New Testament.

Speaker 23:31

Yeah.

Speaker 2 23:31

And it is often, it seems connected. A couple of things. It seems connected with a time of trial or testing. So I would say that the flood would fall under that for Noah and all the people on the arc. The spies that were told to go into the promised Land were told that they were in there for 40 days to look around, and it was a time of testing.'cause 10 of them came out and said, it's great, but we shouldn't go in there. They're too big. Let's. Not do this idea. Of course two of'em, Caleb and Joshua said, but God said it's ours. So a real, significant that it's 40 because when God says, because of your disobedience, you're gonna have to wander in the desert for 40 years. It was a year for every day that those men were in the Oh. And saw the um,

Speaker 24:13

mm-hmm.

Speaker 2 24:13

The land. And I, think it's interesting too, Goliath came out and he shouted to the Israelites every day for 40 days. Taunting them and teasing them, which was a, until David showed up and changed everything. But, a real time of testing, like, who are you gonna trust? Who do you think's in charge?

Speaker 24:29

Yeah.

Speaker 2 24:30

It's also seems to be really connected to a time of, transition or preparation. After Moses killed the Egyptian, he, led to Midian and he spent 40 years in the desert as a shepherd.

Speaker 24:41

Yeah.

Speaker 2 24:41

Which really was, I believe, a time of God preparing him. To be the shepherd of his people. The first leader of what were the Israelites, Moses was on Mount Sinai and he received the law during a 40 day of fasting, which is a real preparation for this time of being given and passing on the law and leading these people. As you mentioned in your book, Israel, was in the wilderness. Before they could go into the promised land as a real time of transition. And I think preparation is too, because he was also teaching them not only to rely on him, all the needs and where they needed to go being, a day-to-day process. But he also, had told them a whole generation of, you won't get to go in. And that was a time of that transition of that generation dying off.

Speaker 25:26

Oh,

Speaker 2 25:26

before the next generation could go in. Interesting. And then of course, Jesus's fasting and his temptation was real, a time of transition from his regular life that we don't know a lot about till the moment he began his earthly ministry. And then of course there's the. What you're talking about in this beautiful chapter of your book is that 40 days that there risen Christ spent on Earth are significant. First of all, I think because it's such a nice long time.

Speaker 25:50

Yes.

Speaker 2 25:50

It was long enough for people to see him. You know, the Bible says 500 plus people saw him and knew that he was alive. Lots of appearances to prove, that he had risen from the dead when there were so many of the Pharisees and Sadducees that are trying to squelch that. And

Speaker 26:06

yeah.

Speaker 2 26:07

So I love that it wasn't a short vision that I think it was one of the reasons that it was just to prove that he was alive. But I also think it was a time of transition and preparation for the disciples because it was a time of him restoring them. Yeah. It was a time of him reminding them who he is and who they were. And in that time he continued to teach them and prepare them for the great commission and their role that they would have in spreading, the good news. To the ends of the earth.

Speaker 26:32

Yeah.

Speaker 2 26:33

Jesus spending 40 days in the wilderness before he began his ministry and he revealed himself as the Messiah. And then after his resurrection, I feel like really just put kind of explanation point on mm-hmm. Who he is.

Speaker 26:44

Yeah.

Speaker 2 26:45

He spent 40 days. On Earth before he ascended into heaven to sit at the right side of the Father and all of his glory. So I do find it a beautiful kind of bookends to his three years of ministry.

Speaker 26:56

I was just thinking of the word bookends. Yeah.

Speaker 2 26:58

Yes.

Speaker 26:58

And the 40 days that he spent with the disciples before he ascended, those disciples the whole crucifixion had blown their mind. And, as we talked about in one of the previous episodes All the disciples abandoned him except for Peter who denied him.

Speaker 2 27:16

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 27:17

So why would they ever think that Jesus would come back and want to draw them in? Jesus was probably comforting them, trying to get them reengaged as his followers trying to. Convince them that yes, you can still help, you can still lead.

Speaker 2 27:35

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 27:36

And, that would take a lot longer than

Speaker 2 27:37

it

Speaker 27:38

would a few days.

Speaker 2 27:38

And I think it was also a time of them putting stuff together. There's so many times where John w writes, we didn't understand it at the time, but what he meant was, and I think there was a lot of that was happening during these 40 days of. That's what you meant.

Speaker 27:52

Yeah.

Speaker 2 27:52

That's why you washed her feet.

Speaker 27:54

Right?

Speaker 2 27:54

That's why you said you're sending the Holy Spirit. That's why, you know, so,

Speaker 27:58

and isn't that a blessing for us being modern day followers that we can read all about it, read the commentaries, do the study in its fullness. We didn't have to figure it out as it was happening.

Speaker 2 28:11

Yes, exactly. Because any of us who think we would've done better.

Speaker 28:16

No, no, we wouldn't have. I

Speaker 2 28:18

agree.

Speaker 28:18

Well, that is amazing. Okay, so now we're kind of getting into what I titled the essay.

Speaker 2 28:26

Right.

Speaker 28:26

I share a couple examples in which some of the people closest to Jesus on earth, such as Mary Magdalene mm-hmm. And Simon Peter. Mm-hmm. To name just two. Mm-hmm. Encounter the risen Jesus in the flesh, but don't recognize him until he speaks to them.

Speaker 2 28:43

Hmm.

Speaker 28:44

And they recognize his voice.

Speaker 2 28:46

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 28:46

What do you make of this and what thoughts do you have on why the recognition of Jesus was kept from them?

Speaker 2 28:53

First of all, I think Jesus's resurrected body had a different appearance.

Speaker 28:58

Okay.

Speaker 2 28:58

Um, especially when compared to the condition they had last seen it in, which was blooded. Beaten up. Yeah, exactly. for example, Mary Magdalene's encounter with Jesus and her not recognizing him, I think first of all had to do with the fact that she. I absolutely didn't expect to see him alive.

Speaker 29:17

Yeah.

Speaker 2 29:17

But you know, when you're not looking for someone and you run into them, you almost have to run into them in the mall or whatever for, you're like, oh, you know, what are you doing here? You're supposed to be in another state or whatever.

Speaker 29:25

Yeah.

Speaker 2 29:25

she had come to be to prepare a body and she's not looking for a living. Jesus. I also think, as you write about that, she was very sad and she was crying, and I do think her tears probably literally in. Metaphorically blinded her.

Speaker 29:41

Yeah.

Speaker 2 29:41

To everything. And I do think he, somehow, I think scripture teaches us he somehow looked different, because scripture teaches us that our resurrected bodies will look different. For example, one Corinthians 15 is a great teaching. It's a great chapter to read about the resurrection. Paul makes a great case for the fact that the resurrection isn't a. It's okay if you don't believe it. Like it is the crux of our Christianity and our belief, and if the resurrection isn't real, we're fools.

Speaker 30:08

Yeah.

Speaker 2 30:08

It's very much, so important to our Christian faith. But he writes in one Corinthians 15. Verse 35, he says, some of you have asked how will the dead be raised to life? What kind of bodies will they have? And, he answers them not with a description of, well, this is what you'll exactly look like, but it's an analogy. And the analogy that he uses is that of a seed. The idea there being, if I planted an oak. What is going to grow isn't gonna be a giant oak seed. It's going to be an oak tree.

Speaker 30:39

Yeah.

Speaker 2 30:39

Right. So it's not gonna look exactly the same. He talks about our dead bodies being basically buried and sewn into, our immortal bodies. But that oak tree is gonna very much, be connected to the seed. It's gonna look like and have seed, you know, there'll be things that are connected to it, so. Mm-hmm. The resurrected body that we will have. It's made for a new thing, which is eternity. and we're told in scripture that our resurrected bodies will be glorious. The example that we have of a resurrected body is that of Jesus Christ when he rose from the dead. So it was real. It was touchable. He ate,

Speaker 31:13

he

Speaker 2 31:14

drank favorite, he favorite part about the whole victory.

Speaker 31:15

That always blows my mind. He's eating fish and,

Speaker 2 31:18

and yet he did some really supernatural weird things like appearing outta nowhere and walking through walls. So it's not just a physical, but Lazarus was not resurrected. Lazarus was resuscitated.

Speaker 31:30

He

Speaker 2 31:30

came back in that same old body that eventually died, but Jesus came back in a new resurrected body that will not die. Oh, that's

Speaker 31:37

really interesting. That's,

Speaker 2 31:38

we, ours will not either when we get there. At Philippians 3 21, it says, Christ will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own. So I think there's a lot of mystery involving that, of course, as there is with. You have to kind of be comfortable with mystery in this walk with Jesus. But there is a lot of things that he does tell us and promise us or give us enough that we have something to anchor our hope to. We did a resurrection encounter, series a couple years ago in Women, the Word, and it probably was my favorite series we ever did, and I had the privilege of teaching about Mary Magdalene. And if you had said choose one that's your favorite, it might be her. Mm-hmm. Or Peter, I really did love on both. Yeah. But, with Mary Magdalene, I think the thing that it gets me every single time that the moment that she recognized him was when he very simply just said her name.

Speaker 32:27

Yes,

Speaker 2 32:29

Mary.

Speaker 32:29

Yeah.

Speaker 2 32:29

And I think that there's a great, symbolism in that.

Speaker 32:34

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 2 32:35

That he calls her name, that he knows her name, and that, when he says it. It brings clarity.

Speaker 32:40

Yeah.

Speaker 2 32:41

To her and um, and

Speaker 32:42

comfort. And familiarity. And he'd said her name so many times mm-hmm. While they were together on earth. Mm-hmm. And now it's the same voice. Yes. Reaching out.

Speaker 2 32:52

Yes.

Speaker 32:53

Yeah.

Speaker 2 32:53

So I love that part. But,

Speaker 32:55

so

Speaker 2 32:55

I don't know. There is some mystery to why they didn't recognize him.'cause you would think, but I think there was something. Road to Emmaus, those disciples. Mm-hmm. The scripture actually said they were kept from recognizing him.

Speaker 33:05

Yes. So

Speaker 2 33:05

that really had, I think a lot to do with the answers that Jesus wanted to give them to the questions that were really in their hearts, not the ones they were just babbling about. Yeah. So they were able to, really listen to him and then when he revealed himself.

Speaker 33:18

Yeah, of

Speaker 2 33:18

course. Again, it all comes together. So

Speaker 33:21

There's points in the Bible where. Angels appear to humans and the people are scared or startled By the appearance of an angel, is it kind of the same thing that because they're earthly beings in earthly bodies, we are just not used to seeing it and it's something that kind of can scare us.

Speaker 2 33:41

That's very, it's an interesting question and I don't know that I know the answer to it, except that I think angels, and they're described in the bible, depending on the time they're, described, they are kind of awesome. Lit up, kinda

Speaker 33:53

Yes.

Speaker 2 33:53

Things where, you know, I think Jesus kind of looked like a man.

Speaker 33:59

Yeah.

Speaker 2 34:00

I mean, when he was with the road to Emma, he's, yeah. He just joins him and starts walking. He looked like

Speaker 34:03

another traveler.

Speaker 2 34:04

So, that's a good question. I don't know that I know the exact answer to it. I know that, when I hear I'm gonna be glorious. I definitely put some stuff on that. Yeah. And, but who knows what that means. And we will all see each other like that.

Speaker 34:17

Yeah.

Speaker 2 34:17

One day. So,

Speaker 34:18

yeah. That's good. In the essay, I also share what I describe as my favorite story in the Bible. Mm-hmm. It's definitely, definitely my favorite story of the New Testament. Of Jesus on the shore making breakfast for the busy fishermen after he provided a miraculously large catch.

Speaker 2 34:39

Right.

Speaker 34:39

Wouldn't you love to have a shoreside breakfast created by Jesus,

Speaker 2 34:45

RSVP? Yes. To Breakfast with Jesus? Yes. Absolutely.

Speaker 34:50

What are your thoughts on this important miracle that the resurrected Jesus did? First of all, providing an abundance of fish. Mm-hmm. For his disciples. The same miracle. Mm-hmm. He did for them at the beginning. Mm-hmm. We talked a little bit about bookends. Mm-hmm. Is it kind of the same thing, a full circle kind of thing?

Speaker 2 35:09

I do. I really do. You know, when Jesus called Peter to follow him, back in Luke five after night of fishing and catching zero fish, he caught no fish and then Jesus, fills his nets to overflowing so much that they're sinking. His and John's boat. And he said to Peter, he said, follow me and I'll make you fishers of men. And then Peter spends three years walking around with Jesus and doing life with Jesus and hearing these amazing teachings and seeing, all the highs, all the miracles and these sermons and these truths about God. And, being called a rock and, getting a new name. And, you know, even being told, look, the things you know, you don't know because you're so smart. You know, because God revealed them to you. And then the really. Low lows of, being reprimanded in front of his friends, Satan, get behind me.

Speaker 35:56

Yeah.

Speaker 2 35:56

To the, of course. Miserable, failing of, Jesus during the trial and the crucifixion and his death of denying even new him.

Speaker 36:05

Yeah.

Speaker 2 36:06

In one Corinthians 15 tells us that the risen Jesus appeared on the day of his resurrection to Peter and had a private moment with him. We do not know, it's literally in one little verse and we do not know. What was said there, I think it's first

Speaker 36:19

Corinthians

Speaker 2 36:20

1515.

Speaker 36:21

Okay. I'm gonna look that up and include it in our show notes.

Speaker 2 36:24

Perfect. Yeah, and also that's where he mentions that he sees James, which is his brother, who also didn't believe him until probably that moment. But anyway, I digress. So in first Corinthians 15, he has this private moment with Peter, Jesus does the resurrected Jesus. We're not told anything that is said, and we can only imagine. I'm assure that Peter wept and repented and, I am sure that, love and grace was poured on him by the one who loved him, who had prayed for Peter and who had always known who he could be. But even after that, it seems that Peter doesn't know what to do. So he goes back to fishing, right? With his friends, he's fishing with his friends. So when Jesus does the same miracle of filling Peter's nets to overflowing with fish again, I do find it beautifully symbolic. Peter, who previously the first time it happened way back in Luke five, before he starts to follow Jesus, he sees this full net, this full boat of fish. And his reaction is to go on his knees and say, get away from me. I am a sinful man. get away from me, Lord, and then this time when he fills the nets to their bursting again, this time he, jumps in the water. He swims a hundred yards to the risen Christ. Because he has seen and he has tasted his failure in a very real way, but he's also tasted grace and he can't get to Jesus fast enough.

Speaker 37:45

Oh gosh.

Speaker 2 37:45

And I just love that part of that story. So

Speaker 37:47

that's

Speaker 2 37:48

beautiful on the beach, Jesus. Then on this second filling of the nets, he commissions Peter to that initial call of fishing for men. Feed my lambs. Feed my sheep, feed my sheep. So the fact that he couldn't catch fish without Christ's help either time, I think it really does set up. For Peter and for us what the Great commission is, which is you can't do it.

Speaker 38:11

Yeah.

Speaker 2 38:11

You can't do it by yourself.

Speaker 38:12

Right, right.

Speaker 2 38:14

And I'm here.

Speaker 38:15

Yeah.

Speaker 2 38:15

So I do think it's a very, a full circle bookend feeling. Again.

Speaker 38:19

It's beautiful.

Speaker 2 38:20

It's,

Speaker 38:21

it is just beautiful. So you mentioned the Great Commission. Mm-hmm. Which is Matthew 28 18. And basically it's Jesus's. Instruction to his followers, which now include all of us, of

Speaker 2 38:36

course, right?

Speaker 38:37

To tell and to teach people, teach them to obey everything I've commanded you. And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age. It was Jesus's great commission that inspired me to share everything I learned during the year 2023 that I read the Bible. Cover to cover. And because I happened to be a published author, I had a blog, I had a video channel. Right. I was able to publish a book, but this podcast also blossomed out of that. Absolutely. Which was something new for me. But I've just basically been sharing what I learned in any format, that I could think of. I love

Speaker 2 39:19

that. Well done.

Speaker 39:20

Thank you so. What are the ways that all of us can obey Jesus's direction to share the words? Any insights you have on the great Commission?

Speaker 2 39:33

Yeah. I think that we can be overwhelmed by it and possibly complicate it because we think it has to be some grand action or grand gesture. And for some people it is. Yeah. Like I would say writing a book, doing a podcast is pretty grand, but if we look at that, and we began comparing ourselves and go, well, I can't, or I don't, you know, what do I do that's equal to that as far as the number of people I reach or whatever. I think we can get ourselves bogged down in that. But if we see the command to go and make disciples as wherever we go.

Speaker 40:11

Yeah,

Speaker 2 40:11

I mean, that changes everything, right? So that we can ask daily for the Lord to open our eyes to see who we're being called to do something. As simple as just stopping in the grocery store and having a conversation in the aisle rather than rushing on to the,

Speaker 40:26

yeah.

Speaker 2 40:26

To the eggs or whatever.

Speaker 40:27

Right.

Speaker 2 40:27

When young moms are not going well, I'll get to that once I raise my babies, but realize, holding that baby and making dinner for that family and loving your little people is making disciples, right? Yeah. When we start looking our teenagers in the eyes and saying, that's really hard, and I love you and I see you when we, have an older parent that we're listening to tell the story that we've heard 14 times and we do it with patience and kindness. We're just being Jesus out in the world. Yeah. Which is what he told us to do. Yeah. He said, that's one of the things that we are called to do, is to be more and more like Christ. And so when I think of the people that I know that became, Christ followers, especially as adults. I really have a hard time thinking of anyone who said it was a sermon that got'em. You know, they heard a sermon and they just switched everything.

Speaker 41:14

Yeah.

Speaker 2 41:14

But it most often was a very slow story of one, of Jesus or several of Jesus' followers. Just loving them. Well,

Speaker 41:21

yeah.

Speaker 2 41:22

You know, of being Jesus to them until conversations flowed and questions were asked, and then the love of Christ that they had felt horizontally and not realize that's what it was.

Speaker 41:32

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 2 41:33

Was, turned. To the love that was always coming at them from Christ vertically. So I think it's probably not as complicated as we like to make it. Just watching the progression of even what you did if you decided to read the Bible through. And then the Lord led you to this, that led you to this. You would not have started that Bible. I'm gonna read the Bible through a year and have a podcast.

Speaker 41:53

Know

Speaker 2 41:53

just the slow obedience of it all in, just what he's asking you to do when he's asking you to do it. He said you wanna take all of the stuff in the Torah and just boil it down. Jesus was the one that said, love God, love others.

Speaker 42:05

Yeah.

Speaker 2 42:05

And that really is how now some people are called to go and be missionaries. I get it.

Speaker 42:10

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 2 42:10

Um, but most of us aren't.

Speaker 42:11

Yeah.

Speaker 2 42:12

So if we have that as our standard and we're waiting to be asked to do that, then we're probably missing all the opportunities that are around us with our neighbors and with our family. And

Speaker 42:20

Well, it reminds me, Jesus was busy, he was constantly. Traveling and walking and encountering, and he had the sermon on the mountain. He had all the healings and the mm-hmm. Miracles, but he also would make time for one person. So like when he was walking down the street and there was Zacchaeus in the tree, who he was up in the tree because he was short and he wanted to see him. Jesus took the time to notice him and to bring him down and go have dinner with him,

Speaker 2 42:50

yeah.

Speaker 42:50

Or like the Samaritan woman at the.

Speaker 2 42:53

Yes.

Speaker 42:53

That was one person.

Speaker 2 42:54

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 42:55

But he made such a huge difference in her life just by talking to her. Mm-hmm. And telling her Yep. His story. So yeah. I like your, analogy of just taking the moment to talk to one person.

Speaker 2 43:07

Right.

Speaker 43:07

Yeah.

Speaker 2 43:08

Yeah. That's great. Who knows, who knows what seeds you're planting.

Speaker 43:11

Yeah. Well, one of the women in my small group here at Women in the Word, she keeps, a big box full of, packets in her backseat of her car. And inside the packets are, oh, food items and personal hygiene items and. Socks and a little bit of money. And as she is just driving around, if she notices a homeless person, she stops and she talks to them and she hands them one of these. Oh. And there's a prayer card inside of it. Wow. And maybe one of those, small devotional books.

Speaker 2 43:46

Mm-hmm.

Speaker 43:46

Our Daily Bread, I think it's called.

Speaker 2 43:48

Right? Yes.

Speaker 43:48

It's all in there. It's in a big, Ziploc bag.

Speaker 2 43:50

Wow.

Speaker 43:52

She has no fear. She just doesn't.

Speaker 2 43:55

I love that.

Speaker 43:55

Yeah. In fact, in our small group, we talked about maybe having a event where we would bring items for her and fill the bags. Oh, that's

Speaker 2 44:03

so sweet.

Speaker 44:04

Yeah. That's a great idea. Yeah. I love that. Okay. Well thank you so much for being on the podcast today. Is there anything else you'd like to say before we wrap up?

Speaker 2 44:15

Sure. Well, first of all, I'd like to say I'm proud of you.

Speaker 44:17

Oh,

Speaker 2 44:17

thank you. Good job and good job making it to the end of a podcast. Thank you. With 40 a 40, by the way. House symbolic.

Speaker 44:23

Yes.

Speaker 2 44:23

Um, but I guess I would like to close with a quote that I, just felt to share. There's a book called The Sacred Slow by an author named Alicia Britt Schley. And she said in the beginning of his earthly ministry, Jesus said, follow me, be with me. And then at the end of his earthly ministry, Jesus said, I'm with you. Oh, and so his presence is the key to all of this. Right. And being attuned to the fact that he is with us and he's leading us, that he told us we're not alone. Yeah. So let's believe him.

Speaker 44:52

Yeah.

Speaker 2 44:53

And then do whatever little thing he tells us to do.

Speaker 44:56

That's beautiful. Did you say The Sacred Slow?

Speaker 2 44:59

It's called The Sacred Slow.

Speaker 45:01

Interesting. I'll have to look that one up. Well, it's. The Easter season, and, we're wrapping up around the Easter season, so

Speaker 2 45:10

hallelujah.

Speaker 45:10

Yes, hallelujah. I wish a happy Easter to everyone listening, and I hope that you all have a wonderful, church experience in the morning and maybe some family time in the afternoon and as always, I'm hoping that you're inspired to start your own Bible in a year challenge. So, all right, well thank you Dina. We're gonna say goodbye and I certainly appreciate all your help.

Speaker 2 45:34

Thank you. It was great to be here​and that's it for today. Thank you very much for being here with me on the year I read the Bible Podcast. We'll be back with another episode next week. If you enjoy this podcast, please do all the normal things to spread the word like it. Review it, share it with your friends. If you are interested in additional the year, I read the Bible resources such as the book, the video channel, and the blog, I will certainly include the links in the show notes, and I'd love to hear about your own journey to read the Bible cover to cover. Have you done it or are you doing it right now? Please reach out to me and let me know how it's going. Until next time, it's Lori Larson with the year I read the Bible. Bye.