Why does Jesus disguise his identity?

[christina118]

Since Easter, I’ve noticed a common theme in the Daily Readings. When Jesus appears to his Apostles after the Resurrection, they don’t always recognize him immediately. Why does this happen? Here is one of the passages from John 21 that was in the Gospel reading on Sunday:

At that time, Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias.He revealed himself in this way.Together were Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus,Nathanael from Cana in Galilee,Zebedee’s sons, and two others of his disciples.Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.”They said to him, “We also will come with you.”So they went out and got into the boat,but that night they caught nothing.When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore;but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.

 

[Fr.Charles_Grondin]

In the passage you cite the Apostles are in a boat fishing and Jesus is on the shore. It was dawn and they had been fishing all night. They were probably tired and the light at dawn is not always good for seeing at a distance. It is not improbable that they simply didn’t recognize him given the circumstances.

In Mark 16 there is no mention of anyone having difficulty recognizing Jesus. In Matthew 28 Mary Magdalene and the apostles seem to immediately recognize Jesus.

In Luke 24:16 it does state that the eyes of 2 disciples were prevented from recognizing Jesus but He does reveal Himself to them in the breaking of the bread, perhaps to reinforce to them His presence in the Eucharist. However when the 2 disciples find the others they are already talking about Jesus’ appearance to Peter (Lk 24:34) apparently with no difficulty for Peter to recognize Him.

In John 20 Mary Magdalene has difficulty recognizing Jesus but once again this could simply be a case of circumstances. Mary Magdalene seems convinced that Jesus’ body has been taken by someone. She was probably upset, crying, and not expecting to see the risen Christ thus its not surprising she didn’t immediately recognize Jesus.

There is only one brief encounter where Jesus seems to hide who He is from someone but even then it is only temporary. Why he did so in that one circumstance is open to interpretation.