It's Jesus

"Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake.  When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. 'It’s a ghost,' they said, and cried out in fear.  But Jesus immediately said to them: 'Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.'" - Matthew 14:25-27

I have to wonder - why didn't they recognize him?  This is not the disciples' first rodeo.  You'd think that the face and stature of the man who has been performing miracles in front of their very eyes would be hard to forget.

But it seems as though they did.

Maybe it was because it was early (not a morning person, anyone?).  Maybe the mist was still hovering on the lake and Jesus was partially hidden.  Maybe he was backlit from the rising sun.  Or maybe - despite everything they had seen so far - they forgot what Jesus was capable of and assumed that anyone or anything that could defy the physical world could only mean them harm.

We shake our heads in wonder and say "How could they forget? What short memories!  What little faith!"  And yet, I am just the same.

After 30 years being a Christian you'd think I would recognize Jesus by now.  But still when I am faced with something new or unknown in my life, something I can't fully see or explain, I am afraid.  When something comes along that I didn't plan for, didn't see coming through the mist, that seems to defy the previously set rules of my world, I cry out.  Perhaps instead I should stop and consider that instead of something to fear, this thing coming towards me is from God.  That I should have looked at the new, the unexpected, the other-worldly, and quieted my fears enough so I could recognize the voice of Jesus saying "It's me!"