Walking With Christ

John 20:15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”(ESV)

Before we scoff at or make fun of Mary or the disciples for not recognizing Jesus after He was resurrected, we need to ask why they couldn’t recognize Him. After all, they had just seen Him a few days prior, right? How is it possible to forget what someone looks like in just a few days without some kind of head trauma?

John 8:58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”(ESV)

The very name of God that was given to Moses as proof of His identity translates to “I am”. In the minds of everyone looking for Jesus after the crucifixion, they were looking for a dead body. They were looking in the past. They were looking for where Jesus was. It’s not “I was”. It’s “I AM”. The expectations and beliefs of the disciples at that time limited their ability to understand some of the lessons that Christ taught.

Just as the expectations of the disciples skewed and limited their perceptions of Christ and what He was doing, the past-focused mindset of many people today will prevent them from ever seeing the truth. Without a solid understanding of who Christ IS leaves us with nothing but the past to inform our future. Those who walk forward while looking backward will eventually stumble and fall. It is only by having our eyes opened to the truth that we can truly put on the belt of truth that is the foundation of the full armor of God that we read about in Ephesians 6:13-18.

Many people today who claim they cannot find Jesus are not looking for “I am” they are looking for “I was” and completely miss the simple truth of who He is. We study the past to help us understand the present and prepare for a better future. We study the past. We should not look for identity there.

Read that again. Who was is no more. Our identity is found in Christ and if He is alive in us then we are a new creation. Through the restorative works of grace, we are made new each day and, as such, find new identity each day. We do not live in the past and are not defined by the past. We still live with the consequences of the choices made there but that does not rob us of the ability to change our future by growing in Christ. We have to shift our focus away from the mistakes of the past and towards the truth of who we are in Christ. We take only the lessons learned from the mistakes so that we leave behind the anger and pain caused and received. We ask for forgiveness as we give it in equal measure so that we do not make stumbling blocks for others or anchors for ourselves.

Yesterday, I made mistakes. I sinned. I fell short. Today, I will ask for forgiveness for those and train to do better. It’s not the mistakes I make that shape who I am, but the lessons I learn from those mistakes. It’s those lessons that define who I will be.