Resurrection Sunday: April 20, 2025

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. For behold, darkness covers the earth, and thick darkness is over the peoples; but the LORD will rise upon you, and His glory will appear over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.” (Isaiah 60.1-3)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD TO US:

[Sabbath Saturday or Shroud Saturday) I enjoy the message “It’s Friday but Sunday’s coming.” Yet, the perfect plan of God for our salvation was restoration via redemption. What Jesus did on the cross was to lay to rest the lie “that we could not be saved” while silencing the temptation “to save yourself.” Friday was a preparation for the whole world to come into a time of rest. We often hear how valuable “rest” is. God believes in “rest” and created the Sabbath for that very purpose. But it was not a time of rest to do nothing. Sabbath was a time of reflection and to let our thoughts “rest” on God and all He has done to save us, sustain us and set us back on course to do His will and bring glory into the darkness of the world which did not and does not still understand “the light of God.” We see Jesus promote that understanding of Sabbath among His detractors who said He violated the Sabbath by reaping some grains of wheat and healing people of infirmities. In fact, the gospels record seven healings on the seventh day. Imagine that. Jesus rested on the Sabbath by serving God and bringing those who were on the brink of death and turmoil back into the place where they could celebrate with others the goodness of God. He restored sight to the blind, the lame to walk and set the captives free. This was the message He delivered in Nazareth repeating the words given to Isaiah to be spoken to all Israel. The cause of “Sabbath Rest” was to give pause in the business of the week to remember God, give thanks to Him and to bring the people together for a common purpose. According to the prescription of “honoring the Sabbath so that no work would be done” was to prepare enough food on Friday to last through Saturday. This was a lesson God taught the freed Hebrews on their journey through the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land. When manna was given by God, they were told to gather daily only what was needed for their family. But on the sixth day, they were to gather a double portion. Jesus taught that He was “manna from heaven.” He was not only daily bread, as in the teaching of prayer, but He was the double portion in preparation for the Sabbath. Even the promise of prosperity which would be theirs in the Promised Land was a type of Sabbath revelation. They would have to go and gather it in but the abundance of it was sufficient to care for the whole nation so that they might serve the Lord with gladness. Friday’s “double portion” of the manna from Christ was to represent the work of redemption which no person can do themself. Jesus provided for all by laying down His life as an atonement for all our sin. He literally gave His all for us to the glory of God. He prepared the world for a Sabbath rest that even He would endure. Perhaps it was the first day of His earthly life that He actually rested. Why? Because Sunday was coming and the work of the Kingdom of God was about to begin in a manner no one expected. It was the introduction of the restoration of God’s desire for all people on earth to live as one in peace, joy, harmony, faithfulness, righteousness, mercy and love. What the Temple had failed to embrace, the Church would engage. Consider what happened on Sunday. Yes, Jesus was raised from the grave by the power of God’s love and according to the promise of God’s Word. The price for redemption was paid in full. Now the “captives” were set free to live life with a divine purpose. Think of Cleopas and his wife as they journeyed back to the home in Emmaus following the Sabbath. Jesus was only known to them “in the breaking of manna, the bread.” When Jesus appeared to the disciples in the Upper Room he took a piece of fish and ate (now we have the image of loaves and fishes as a sign of Christian fellowship and service). He also forgave them their sins and transformed them by the power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish the work for which they had been called and trained. They had lived for three years preparing for what was ahead. What was needed was that time of serious reflection which Sabbath offers. They received it. On that Sabbath they must have been introspective in grief, lost in bereaved thoughts, transfixed on the table set before them in the presence of their enemies, anointed with the tears of sorrow. Did anyone dare give grief a rest and focus on worshipping God alone and celebrating the promise which was about to be fulfilled? Sunday’s coming but not without Saturday’s passing. Sabbath doesn’t mean “no work.” It does mean “God’s work be made the priority for the rest of our lives so that early in the morning before the sun rises on the first day of the week, we are ready to experience the resurrection of faith, hope and love in Jesus’ name.

[Resurrection Sunday] Are we able to say this morning as Mary Magdalene did experiencing both the low and the high of emotions in those first day of the week moments. John’s remembrance of that morning when Jesus was discovered missing from the open tomb, differ from the synoptics. Regardless, the message was the same: “He is not here; He has arisen as He said.” What is vital in John’s remembrance, and probably why John presented the message in this way, was that God heard Mary Magdalene’s grief and confusion and ministered to it. In all four gospel presentations we are presented with a variety of responses. Matthew and John are similar in that Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene (in Matthew, “the other Mary” was with her.) Mark and Matthew are similar in that the women who appeared at the tomb experienced the appearance of angel, a heavenly messenger. They were told to inform the disciples, who were still in hiding for fear of the priests and their followers, to meet Jesus in Galilee where He was waiting for them. Mark, however, tells us that the women, who were in fear as well by being confronted with what they did not expect, did not go and tell the disciples. If we were left with Mark’s recollection (which many saw were those of Peter which Mark recorded), then the mystery remains. Matthew speaks of the Temple guards who reported the events to the Chief Priest. They were immediately paid off, sent away and given the cover story which Matthew declared “Remains widely circulated among the Jews to this day.” (Matthew 28.15) John, of course, has only Mary Magdalene at the tomb, twice. The first time is when she discovers the stone rolled away and the tomb empty. She immediately runs to the disciples to tell them of the troubling news. Peter and John immediately run to the place where Jesus had been laid in the tomb. They confirmed Mary Magdalene’s report (although Mary Magdalene says “we” don’t know where “they” have put Him.) John reports that he believes Mary’s report but that none of them understand/remembered from “scripture” that Jesus had to rise from the dead. The disciples go back to the Upper Room, presumably still in hiding. Mary remains behind in the Garden where Jesus appears to her and consoles her. At this point Mark and John share this in common about the event: Peter is prioritized as the authenticator. We see this in the “Gospel of Acts,” the history of the Church at its beginning, as Peter preaches the good news under the authority of the Holy Spirit. He does so fifty days later on the Day of Pentecost. Hearing that story and the “gospel in miniature” which Peter preached in opposition to the High Priest across the courtyard who was offering the tradition Pentecost, First Fruit, sacrificial lamb, we are brought round to Luke’s gospel telling.

Luke’s resurrection story, which is far more involved, includes most all of the elements of the other gospels. It stands to reason that he does not include the appearance of Jesus to Mary Magdalene. There are many things, as we read all four encounters, which certain people keep to themselves. The Gospel of John is quite probably that “last” written of the four. The works of John come near to the end of his life and ministry and include his gospel, his letters and the Revelation of Christ to the Churches of Asia Minor. He was also the caregiver for Mary, the mother of Jesus, at Jesus’ command from the cross with His dying breaths. Now John is issuing words from his dying breath which include truths not before spoken. One of those truths is of Mary Magdalene returning from the second Garden visit with the revelation of “I have seen the Lord.” From Matthew’s recollection, remember, it was Mary Magdalene and the “other Mary” who were the eyewitnesses of the empty tomb and the angelic declaration. Could this have been Mary, the mother of Jesus? Only those in Heaven know the answer to that! It is in Luke, however, that we hear of the evangelistic thrust of the “First Day of the Week” good news. It came as a message of reconciliation and righteousness. Regardless of how “inclusive” the Jesus’ community of disciples and followers may have been and how conciliatory Jesus was to the women among them, the male tradition of control still lifts its head above the waves. Yes, it is Peter, even in Luke as in Matthew and John, who is prioritized for leadership. It was, after all, a male-dominated world. The women are messengers, angelos, who share the good news. We have other messengers who were at the fringe of the gospel such as the shepherds in Bethlehem, the woman at the well, the ten lepers in the Diaspora, the blind man from birth healed at the Temple. This is the thrust of Luke’s gospel in two books: Luke and Acts. It is about sharing the good news. The disciples didn’t have to believe the women. Even when Peter went, alone, to the tomb and saw what the women said was true, he still couldn’t put it all right in his head. Shortly after he arrives back at the Upper Room and presumably shares his own findings, how could he not when surely the others were asking “what did you see,” Cleopas and his wife arrive back from Emmaus. It was evening already and by Jewish time, had now moved into the more literal “third day” which began at sundown on Sunday. Upon the witness of two in an act of communion which they had experienced apparently in the Upper Room with the disciples and others, Jesus revealed Himself with the Word of God. Let me borrow from Matthew’s gospel at this point, “Where two or more are gathered in My name, there I AM as well.” (Matthew 18.20) Yes, as the two from Emmaus who shared a eucharist experience for the second time in seventy-two hours with Jesus shared the news with the disciples and others, there Jesus was. Even here, we find a connection between Luke and John as Jesus is known to them with the eating of broiled fish. Further, that experience itself, joins Matthew, Mark, Luke and John together with the branding of Peter as the recipient of forgiveness for doubting and betrayal, for misunderstanding and confusion and most importantly for forgiveness which reconciles and empowers. It is not Peter alone, mind you, because Jesus confers upon them all the blessing of the Holy Spirit and commissions them to go into all the world and preach the good news, baptize them in His name and teach them all that Jesus had commanded them to know and to learn.

Mighty ones of God, that would be a full Sunday! It was not the Sabbath rest of the day before. It is not a modern worship experience of an hour or two with a return back to rest up for the week that for many starts on Monday as that which ended on Sunday. Resurrection Sunday is the commissioning of the believers to believe, receive and deliver. Resurrection Sunday is Evangelism Sunday, Eucharist Sunday, Praise Sunday, Discipleship Sunday and Commissioning Sunday. Resurrection Sunday and every Sunday, in fact- every day, is meant to be focused on being the people of God redeemed by grace, empowered by the Holy Spirit and bearing witness to the whole world that they might see it, know it, understand it and become a part of the greatest “story” ever told. Isn’t it time we finally get it right before it’s too late and far too many never get to know the awesomeness of Resurrection Sunday? “Awake, you who sleep, and rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” (Ephesians 5.14) or in the words of our reflection scripture for the past four days, “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. For behold, darkness covers the earth, and thick darkness is over the peoples; but the LORD will rise upon you, and His glory will appear over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.” (Isaiah 60.1-3)

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness which we know is folly but righteous works which declare Your glory and further witness the truth that can set all who believe free from death. So may we live by the name of Jesus our Christ. AMEN.