A few years ago I remember seeing an old college friend whom I hadn’t seen for years. He had a beard and looked so different. It took ages for me eventually to recognise him.

On the first Easter evening Jesus’s disciples were a bit like me. Jesus their friend and master came to them as they were gathered together, but at first they were slow to recognize him. Although it was the same Jesus, there was something different about him: his body had been transformed. When did the penny eventually drop? When he showed them his hands and his side.

I’m sure they would have recognized those hands anywhere. For three years they’d seen them at work healing the sick, feeding the hungry, and giving new life to broken people. Any possible doubt was absolutely obliterated for they also bore the mark of the nails placed through them at his crucifixion - indeed, it was the mark of the nails that finally convinced Thomas that it really was Jesus.

The closest most people will get to Jesus next week will be when they rub shoulders with his disciples. He wants us to grab the opportunity to make him known in the world. Don’t let him down. If you cannot use your voice, do what he did: use your hands. Indeed, one of the most effective means of revealing him to others is by our loving actions.

This week’s thought: A voice or a hand can change a life!