Psalms 31:1-4 with 8:1 and 16:2

My Shepherd met me in His green pastures and laid me down in Mark 16. I noticed that Jesus appeared “in another form” to “two of them, as they walked”:

Mark 16:12 After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country.

The full account of this encounter with the risen Lord is given in Luke 24:13-34.

In Luke, the Spirit said, “their eyes were holden that they should not know him” (Luke 24:16). Did they not recognize Him because “their eyes were holden” (seized, taken into divine custody), or is it because He appeared in “another form”?

The word form refers to His shape; the word holden suggests their eyes were affected in some way.

After He taught them from Moses and the Prophets the things concerning Christ, Jesus sat with them to eat. When He took the bread, blessed it, then broke it and gave it to them, “their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight” (Luke 24:31).

Did His form change into that which they recognized, or did their eyes change so they could see Him?

He “vanished.” They spoke of how their hearts burned in them as He spoke to them (Luke 24:32).

The “scripture cannot be broken” (John 10:35). There is no question that Jesus was in a new body; it vanished! It’s called the “glorious body” (Philippians 3:21). It’s also true that when our “eyes are opened,” we can recognize Him in whatever form He manifests.

Along the still waters, I thought about this, and many interesting insights emerged. Here is one of them.

We will gather today in the assembly, and He promised that when at least two are assembled, He joins them: “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). Will we “see” Him?

The Spirit revealed it is the Father’s pleasure that His Son, our Lord Jesus, should be seen in this world through our “mortal flesh”: “For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh” (2 Corinthians 4:11).

Will Jesus manifest through our “mortal flesh” this morning in His assembly (Ekklesia, Church)? Perhaps some will see Him in the fellowship of believers, manifesting through the love of the brethren. Perhaps you’ll see Him when the bread of Heaven is broken and distributed to the congregation. Look for Him, and pray your eyes will be “opened” so that you can recognize Him when He appears.

In the valley, I knelt in the presence of the “broken” Bread of Heaven and rejoiced that He has risen in His “glorious body” that God prepared for Him (Hebrews 10:5). Great joy filled my heart as the Spirit reminded me that I, too, will have such a body as His glorious one (Philippians 3:20-21). And I prayed that my eyes will be open today, so that I can “see” Him manifesting in my own mortal flesh, and in the lives and love of those who gather in the “Body of Christ,” the Church (Ephesians 1:22-23; 5:23; Colossians 1:18).

The only way this will occur is if we heed His call: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23). I remembered He identified Himself to the disciples by the wounds in His hands, and that we will recognize Him in others by the mark of the Cross in their lives. Wow!

At the table, He anointed my head with His oil and filled my cup with His grace. Goodness and mercy followed as we went, together, into the harvest.

Praying for revival! 🙏