Encountering The Risen Lord
Posted 06 Apr 2026
Read: Matthew 28:9-10, 16-18, Luke 24:13-49, John 20:11-29, 21:1-25, 1 Corinthians 15:6-7, Acts 1:4-11, Acts 9:3-6.
What Kind of Encounter with God are you Hoping for this Easter?
When people come to us - either from a church background or with an addiction issue – it’s common to look for something dramatic. Something spectacular. A moment that instantly breaks the power of addiction and changes everything at once.
But as Ed Welch writes:
“There is a Christian myth that change is an event rather than a process; that it is more like a light switch that is turned on than a battle that must be engaged. For some reason, we tend to think that immediate liberation from the slavery of addiction is more glamorous than the gradual process of taking a little bit of land at a time.
At Hope for Addiction UK, this is something we repeat weekly in our Road to Recovery meetings. As we reflect on Easter again, we are reminded why.
When we read the accounts of the risen Lord in the Gospels, His encounters with people are not usually dramatic in the way that we might expect. They are extraordinary, yes – but they are also deeply ordinary. And that matters for recovery.
The Risen Lord Meets Us in Ordinary Moments
After the resurrection, Jesus appears to His followers in the middle of everyday life.
He was mistaken for a gardener. He is taken for a stranger. He walks alongside disciples on the road, unnoticed at first. He stands among them in a room as they meet. He watches from the shoreline as they go about their daily work. He draws near in moments of grief, confusion and disappointment.
There is something quite striking about how grounded these encounters with Jesus are. The most extraordinary event in human history has taken place – and yet the risen Lord Jesus meets people in ways that are familiar, relational and normal. There is an everyday quality to His presence. He is risen indeed, and yet He remains wonderfully relatable.
The Risen Lord Speaks Simple, Comforting Words to His Disciples
Often, it was simply the sound of His voice rather than dramatic action that revealed who Jesus was. The risen Lord used simple words to comfort and restore His disciples.
“Peace be with you.”
“Do not be afraid.”
“Why are you troubled?”
He does not overwhelm His disciples with displays of power or heavenly oratory! Instead, He speaks gently, asks questions and has simple conversations that bring comfort.
It was a simple conversation with Peter that restores him after denial. It was a simple promise – “I am with you” – that anchors the mission of the church and assuages doubts. It was a direct question – “Why are you persecuting me?” – that brings Paul to his knees.
The Risen Lord Gives Clear Commands
In the confusion of life – and especially in early recovery – we often ask, What should I do next? The risen Lord answers that question plainly.
Do not fear.
Believe in Him.
Worship Him
Follow Him.
Be His witness.
These commands are not complicated or hidden. They are clear, direct, and life-giving. Because Jesus is risen, the will of God is not more confusing – it is more certain. We are not left drifting. We are given clear direction.
His teaching further echoed what He had already been saying throughout His ministry – truths that needed to be remembered once again. He emphasised the need for repentance and the forgiveness of sins, explaining that all Scripture points to Him. The priorities of His earthly ministry continued in His risen ministry, and we can be thankful that our Lord repeats these themes simply and consistently so that we might grasp and understand them.
The Risen Lord Gives Tangible Evidence
We can be grateful for thoughtful arguments from apologists, theologians and philosophers that point to the truth of the gospel. But the risen Lord Himself gives something more immediate: tangible, physical evidence.
He invites the disciples to look at his hands and his feet. He eats with them. He asks them to touch Him. This is not a vision or a ghost. This is the same Jesus who was crucified – now alive in a real, physical body.
He appears not just to individuals, but to groups – even hundreds at a time – making it clear that this is not imagination or wishful thinking.
The disciples are invited to use their senses. To see. To hear. To touch. The resurrection is not abstract. It is grounded very much in reality.
The Risen Lord Calls Us to Respond Naturally
While responding in faith to Christ is itself a great work of God’s Spirit, it is striking that the reactions to the risen Lord’s appearances are very human and deeply recognisable. When people recognise the risen Lord;
They rejoice.
They worship.
They draw near.
They listen.
They believe.
Some run to Him - throwing off their inhibitions just to be with Him. Some sit with Him and simply trust Him. For some, their hearts burn within them as they are filled with excitement at His teaching.
These responses are not forced or artificial; they are natural reactions of people who have truly encountered the living Christ. The idea that a genuine encounter with God must always be dramatic or spectacular is far removed from the Biblical witness.
We should therefore be cautious when listening to what Welch describes as “great though fabricated stories of liberation,” which are sometimes shared within Christian testimonies of addiction. What matters most is not the drama of the story, but the quiet and faithful response—worship, joy, listening, believing, and trusting in the risen Christ.
The Extraordinary in the Ordinary
Yes, meeting the risen Lord is always extraordinary. But again and again, the extraordinary is revealed in the ordinary. There is a grounded, everyday quality to His risen presence.
Of course, the risen Lord sends His Spirit, and throughout the book of Acts we see moments of great power. But even there, much of the Spirit’s work is found in ordinary faithfulness:
Praying
Speaking
Gathering
Persevering
Trusting
The day-to-day life of believers is marked by steady, ongoing dependence on God. And that should encourage us in recovery.
So, have you encountered the risen Lord this Easter in recovery? Perhaps not in a dramatic moment, or sudden ‘breakthrough’. But maybe:
In a simple conversation
A growing conviction
A step of obedience
A moment of learning
A desire to draw near to Him
Do not overlook these things. The same risen Lord who appeared to His disciples 2000 years ago still meets people today – often in ways that are simple, personal, and quietly transformative. That is good news in recovery because lasting change is rarely a single moment. It is a process. A journey. A steady reclaiming of ground, one step at a time, one day at a time.
And the risen Lord walks with us in it all.