Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” John 21:12

Following his resurrection, Jesus appears several times to his disciples: on the road to Emmaus, in an upper room in Jerusalem and on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. One striking feature all these appearances share is their strange mix of other worldliness and earthiness. 

I say other worldliness because in each situation, his closest friends seem to have difficulty recognizing Jesus. Somehow, the risen Christ is different from the man they knew as teacher and friend. 

Yet at the same time, these strange encounters also involve some very mundane activities. Jesus chats with a pair of travelers on their way home from Jerusalem and then shares a meal with them. He suddenly appears to his followers in a closed room, seemingly without entering through the door, and then shows them the scars on his hands and feet. 

In perhaps the strangest encounter of all, Jesus appears to his friends who have gone fishing on the Sea of Galilee but aren’t having any luck catching fish. After his advice to try the other side of the boat produces a prodigious catch, Jesus invites his friends to join him for a breakfast he has prepared on the beach. 

Why did the gospel writers record these appearances? Clearly, their primary purpose was to convince readers that Jesus was truly raised from the dead. 

But there are other lessons we might take away from these encounters.

I take heart in the idea that Christ will show up in the very ordinary events of life. While I cherish Sunday worship and the structure of the church, it’s clear that Jesus is just as at home on the road or on the beach or in my house. And he’s very willing to show up when I am perplexed or troubled or frightened — as were his disciples and followers in the aftermath of his crucifixion.

I also take heart in the affirmation Jesus gives for ordinary life. If we are followers, we can also be wives and husbands, parents and children, workers and students, farmers and fishermen — going about the daily business of putting food on the table and a roof over our heads. 

And I take heart in the suggestions these encounters offer about how I might seek Jesus. In the meeting on the road to Emmaus, Jesus explains scripture to his two companions. My take-away is to seek Jesus by studying scripture in community. In the meeting in the upper room, Jesus invites his friends to inspect his scars. My take-away is to seek Jesus in the broken. 

To his fishing friends, Jesus advises trying the other side of the boat. Surely, veteran fishermen would know enough to try a different spot if one spot didn’t produce fish. But perhaps they were stuck in doing the same thing over and over again out of habit, even though it wasn’t gaining them anything. My take-away is that sometimes I have to change my approach if I want different results. 

Finally, I take heart in the sense of mutual invitation these three stories convey. On the road to Emmaus, the two travelers welcome Jesus when he joins them and then invite him to supper. In response, he invites them into conversation. In the upper room, Jesus invites the disciples to touch and see him. By the Sea of Galilee, Jesus invites his friends to breakfast. In each case, Jesus invites his followers into revelatory encounter with the risen Christ.

In this post-Easter season, may those of us who wish to encounter Christ find comfort and instruction in these stories. 

— Reflections appears regularly on the religion page. The column features a variety of local writers, coordinated through the Monroe Area Clergy Group. Kathleen Rinear is associate pastor at St. John’s United Church of Christ, Monroe.