I'd like to see Him appearing and disappearing. I think that would be so just amazing; and you know, I don't know whether He just went ‘poof’, and He was gone; or whether He turned, and just walked through a wall, and was gone? Hard to know, isn't it? But suddenly, your perspective of the real reality of the physical world would alter enormously. The invisible world of the kingdom would suddenly become a great reality for you; and of course, the impact of someone doing that is overwhelming. I mean, it’s all very well to talk through a list about it here, but if someone suddenly does it... the effect!
Luke 24:36-37 - “Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them: “Peace be to you”.
He says: “Peace, guys”, but they were terrified and frightened, thinking they were looking at a spirit. That word ‘terrified’ means to be overcome with astonishment, and to fall down prostrate on the ground. So you understand, this is enormously impacting. What Jesus is doing is, He's actually giving a little view of what the millennium's going to be like - except it will be on a much bigger scale, because there will be lots of people! Man oh man, I'm so looking forward to that!
It says: they were frightened. He says: they trembled in fear! So this is not some little deal; and you can read it, but then.. If you watch anything on the TV, and a ghost appears, or some kind of thing in one of the stories... God, it's frightening! You get a scare out of it! Someone doing this is just… even though He says ‘Peace’.
Here are some more things about Him... He could materialise, He could turn up or disappear. He could go wherever He wanted. That's what you can do, in a resurrection body, because you're no longer bound by the physical laws or the physical world or time. You can go anywhere! Here's another thing: Jesus' body could change form.
Mark 16:12 - “after that, He appeared in another form, to two of them”.
That's a visible shape or appearance - so He could alter how He looked. Oh man, isn't that something! Being able to alter how you look! He could alter how He looked, so they didn't recognise Him! Just... didn't recognise Him! So obviously, He could alter His physical appearance, or the way He fronted up.
He could front up differently, because they just thought He was another traveller. Could it be another skin colour? Could He turn up as an Asian? Could turn up in any kind of form?
That word ‘form’ means: a visible shape or appearance. He could alter His appearance, so people couldn't recognise Him... and they didn't!
Luke 24:15-16 - “While they talked and reasoned, Jesus Himself drew near and went with them and their eyes were constrained, they didn't know who He was.”
How could you be with someone for three years, every day with them, living, eating, breathing... and then they turn up next to you, walking, and you're talking... you haven't got a clue! You can forget names, but you can't forget faces.
[Female speaker] But it’s about their eyes, not about His form at that point. Is that right?
[Mike Connell] Well, no. Mark 16 says the same story, and he says, “in another form”. One says: “their eyes were withheld so they couldn't see”; but the other one says: “it was another form”, so you've probably got to put the two together.
If someone is in another form, and they talk to you, you usually recognise their voice or recognise how they're talking. They didn't recognise anything. Everything was withheld...
Mary Magdalene didn't recognise Him! Jesus appeared outside the tomb, and said to her: woman, why are you weeping? And she said: because they've taken away my Lord, and I don't know where they've laid Him. Now when she'd said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, and did not know it was Jesus!
In fact, in another one, it says: she thought He was the gardener. His form is different. How could you mistake Jesus for a gardener? The fact that He came as a gardener of course, is symbolic, that He is of course, a great gardener - you know, sows and reaps, and so on.
Anyway - ...and Jesus said: “Mary”; and she turned and said to Him: “Master”. She saw Jesus standing, and it was so unimpressive that she turned away again - until He said: Mary! Then suddenly, she realised: it's the Master - she hadn't even known!
[Female speaker] So do you think at that point His form changed to what she knew?
[Mike Connell] Ooh, I don't know, I wish I knew. She knew who He was, but her first thing she thought: He was just a gardener. It's helpful if you move past just a simple concept: one day we get a resurrection body; to actually have insights from the word: this is what it looked like; this is what it's going to operate like. Remember, He's going to make our body like His body - able to do these same things!