Skip to main content

Easter 2012


The women have returned. They had gone to the tomb, and have returned wide-eyed, breathless, and spitting out that the tomb is empty and Jesus is alive! 

Could this be? We're all exhausted and we have all seen some odd stuff that isn't there because of a couple days with little or no sleep. Did they go to the right tomb in the dark? Was the gardener really Jesus, or is this simply wishful thinking? If it was Jesus, why didn't they recognize him right off?

With heads and eyes tired, their hearts now jump in their chests, their eyes become brighter, and they take a deep breath or two; they sit up straighter, trying to grasp the implications of what they're saying. And then they too go to the tomb - sprinting! Maybe more to verify that the women had actually been to the right place, and guardedly but hopefully excited as they remember some vague promise that he wouldn't be dead long.

The tomb is there alright and that rock is out of place. It might be too wonderful - or would it be soul crushing what they might find in there? If the women were right, they would be ecstatic; if they were wrong well, they'd just as soon not go through the last two days all over again.

They hesitate to catch their breath and then....go in.

What is this?! His body isn't here, what does this mean?

Angels speak and their apprehensions evaporate - He is risen! He is risen! HE IS RISEN!

They grasp their chests, their eyes brim with tears, they catch their breaths. Unbidden their arms move and shake; their legs begin to move on their own. Now, their entire bodies are fairly bouncing around!

The others, they have to tell the others!

Run! Back to the house!

Their message on their way back and after they gather the disciples together repeatedly is...

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

He is risen! He is risen! He is risen indeed!

Oh how remarkable this is! It's funny, that they're not tired anymore. It's as if they have all the energy in the world. Almost as though they have been given new lives.

Praise God, Jesus is risen!

Your prayer for Easter morning:

Great is our God who announces the coming of Messiah by angels to Mary, to shepherds, and now to the disciples. God who raises the Son out of darkness and into light, so he can lead us out of darkness and into Light.

We thank you for your mercy and grace of giving us the hope of a risen Savior who leads us to you. Help us to see his life and death as our life and death. Lead us into your love and Life.

As you granted you power to raise Jesus, we ask that you extend to us that same power to raise us from our selfish lives into lives that seek to heal and soothe; lives that give grace and act in compassion; lives that seek to be you where we find ourselves.

Father today, we trust that you have noticed these past weeks of reflection, of review, of refocusing, of repentance. We have again stopped our lives for a time and admit that we had let them get away from you. We have determined to return our lives to you and your work. To live in the life that you offer, and in the transformation you promise our surrender.

Father today, accept our praise and rejoicing for this short space. We are embarassed by our doubts and our readiness to give up. Help us to draw on His resurrection for strength and willing acknowledement that you have called us to, and have given us Life with you and for you. Dispell our depressed thoughts and our fears. Pour into our hearts Light and Life, and use us to show others your love for them.

We praise you and we commit ourselves to living in your Life in the world you have created, and extending your love and care to that same world. 

You are great; you are wonderful.

We give ourselves to you.

Amen

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Passover, The First Born, Abraham, and You

Israel has been in captivity in Egypt, Moses has completed his contests with Pharaoh, and the People of Israel have been expelled from Egypt. The death of Egyptian firstborn children and livestock has compelled their removal into the wilderness. At the end of Exodus 12, God institutes the Passover in remembrance of the Angel of Death passing by the homes of Jews on the night the Egyptian firstborn children were killed. Notably, they were spared if in a house with blood around the door.  The Passover is established for Israel herself, including their slaves who have been circumcised. If a sojourner wants to celebrate the Passover with you, he can after he circumcises all males with him. I suspect that pretty much eliminated any visitors participating. In chapter 13, the protocols include redeeming Israel's firstborn. In this discussion, God says your firstborn belongs to God, and you must redeem your firstborn or you must kill it. God has redeemed Israel's firstborn by the blood...
Post a Comment
Read more

Wineskins II

       In chapter 16 of Matthew, Peter ‘makes the great confession’ - Jesus he says is the Son of the Living God. At Covenant, when someone wants to become a member or to be baptized, we ask them who Jesus is and we expect this response. Peter is correct when he says this, but it is not clear that Peter (or the other disciples) understood the ramifications of his statement. Following Peter’s statement we find a series of incidents that make us wonder just how much Peters actually believed what he had said.      In the first instance, Jesus compares Peter to Satan. Jesus tells his disciples that he is going to Jerusalem and there he will die. Peter exclaims that he will not let that happen; Jesus will not be killed. Peter is expecting great things from Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God on behalf of Israel and he cannot fit Jesus dying into his hope for a greater Israel under this Messiah. This cannot happen, he reasons. Jesus’s response is a harsh re...
Post a Comment
Read more

Faith to Faith

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith." (Romans 1.16-17, ESV) There are various renderings and understandings of the phrase as it is used here, "faith for faith." Both words for faith derive from pistis, with the first being pisteos (genitive) and the second, pistin (accusative) . Faith, we are told, begins in faith and leads to faith. The import of this origin and fulfillment is found in the next sentence above, the righteous shall live by faith (genitive). We might word this as "already held or possessed faith will result in or lead to faith. As it is written, the one who has faith will parlay that faith into a salvific faith. Faith held by the believer will lead the believer to greater or more complete faith, resulting in her s...
Post a Comment
Read more