Easter Sunday of The Resurrection of The Lord

Jan 30 2025

He Has Risen! Alleluia!

“This is the day the Lord has made! Alleluia!” the Church sings today. This is the day that defines who we are as believers. If a belief in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead is not at the top of your list of essential beliefs, then it is time to go back to school for a little remedial Christianity.

From the beginning this belief was what set the followers of Jesus apart from their fellow Jews. Paul even provides a listing of those, including himself, who had had an experience of the risen Lord (see 1 Corinthians 15:5–8). He goes on to make the very clear statement, “If Christ has not been raised, our faith is vain; you are still in your sins” (v. 17).

Peter the denier became Peter the bold proclaimer of the risen Lord, first to the crowds that gathered to hear him on Pentecost, then to the members of the Sanhedrin, and then in the house of Cornelius the Roman centurion. Tradition tells us the others also went about preaching and teaching that God had raised Jesus from the dead.

In the first three Gospels, angels or men dressed in white give the good news of Jesus’ resurrection to the women who had come to the tomb. John’s Gospel presents Mary Magdalene, who believes the body was stolen; Peter, who sees only an empty tomb and the discarded wrappings; and the beloved disciple. Only this last disciple “saw and believed.” He is the model of all who see with the eyes of Easter faith—all who want to.

Consider/Discuss

With whom do you identify—Peter, Mary Magdalene, or the beloved disciple? Why?
Why does Paul say that if Christ has not risen, our faith is in vain? Do you see the belief in the resurrection of Jesus as being at the heart of our faith?

Responding to the Word

All powerful, life-giving Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are not the first to whom you have sent an angel, we are not the first to see the empty tomb or the garments neatly folded, and still we say: Alleluia! We believe. Deepen our faith in the resurrection of your Son, our Lord.

Jan 30 2025

Scripture Study for

Peter’s teaching regarding the Resurrection includes several important aspects. Clearly a work of God, it is a genuine resurrection from the dead, not merely a resuscitation. That it occurred three days after Jesus’ death is evidence of this. That Jesus was seen by some, ate and drank with several of his followers, Peter among them, demonstrates that the appearances of the risen Christ were genuine physical experiences and not some kind of hallucinations. Finally, the fruits of the Resurrection are both transformative and all-encompassing. Thus Peter explains the mystery of Jesus in terms of prophetic expectation, reinterpreting earlier prophetic tradition and developing new religious insight.

Set against the backdrop of ancient cosmology, the passage from Colossians contains the fundamental teaching about the Resurrection and the way it transforms the lives of Christians. Christ rose from the dead and is now in heaven. Enthroned there, Christ both enjoys God’s favor and, at God’s “right hand,” bestows blessings on others and administers God’s righteousness. Having gone through the death of human life, Christ has been raised to a new life. In a new and total way, Christ’s being is rooted in God. Christians should now turn their attention away from the things of this world and commit themselves to the things of heaven.

The Resurrection stories begin with a report of Mary Magdalene’s visit to the tomb. No explanation for her visit is given. Details about the burial wrappings are significant. They are still in the tomb, though the body is not. If the body had been merely transported to another tomb, burial wrappings would still have been needed and taken along. It is unusual that Resurrection faith would spring forth from an experience of the empty tomb rather than from an appearance of the risen Lord, but it is the case here. The reading ends on a curious note: they did not understand the scriptures concerning the resurrection of Jesus.

Jan 27 2025

Glimpses of Resurrection

My grandpa had a hard childhood. My aunt, with whom he lived in his last decade, said that he never said, “Thank you.” He was a good man, but not one who smiled often.

The day before my brother’s wedding in Los Angeles, our extended family went to Disneyland. My three-year-old daughter and my grandpa and I went to the merry-go-round. Grandpa said that he would stand next to my daughter, Maria. I got on the horse in front of them. An announcement came over the PA: no standing allowed. The music began to play. The horses started to move. I turned around to see how they were doing. My grandpa sat on the dappled gray, going up and down, his arm around that little girl. His face beamed with childlike joy.

A few days after my grandpa died, I was driving our van down a hill. For a brief flash, I sensed him jumping up and down, beaming with that same innocent joy and shouting, “Thank you, thank you, thank you, God!” It was totally unlike the somber grandpa I had known. Was that a glimpse of how heaven had healed him of his earthly sorrows and invigorated him with new life? I don’t know. But if so, how radiantly glorious is the Resurrection!

Mary of Magdala and Peter and John also told of what they had seen and heard. Did they understand exactly what had happened? No. But they saw and believed.

We can gaze at a newborn baby at Christmas. We can stare at the cross on Good Friday. But can we gaze on the Resurrection? It is too bright, like staring at the sun immediately after coming outside from a darkened room. But God gives us glimpses, flashes of resurrection in everyday life.

Consider/Discuss

One glimpse of the Resurrection is a greater jubilation than any earthly thing. Have you ever had glints or sparkles of the brightness of the Resurrection?
It takes a lifetime to learn to say, “I too will rise.” And though we do not fully understand it, each day we get closer. Throw your whole self into celebrating Easter today and let God work miracles in you. Hear the deafening alleluias of heaven! Jesus is risen!

Living and Praying with the Word

Jesus, you lay in the darkness of the tomb. Sometimes it feels as though we live in a drab basement with only a nightlight by which to see. The darkness of death threatens to engulf us. But this day, you have taken upon yourself all the wounds of earth. You have risen from the dead! Like the apostles, we don’t really understand that. But today, you are alive! You give us hints of your glory, of the alleluias of heaven. The brilliance of your everlasting day surrounds us. Give us eyes to see! Give us voices to sing your praise!

Jan 27 2025

Scripture Study for

Peter’s speech is a response to the request of the Gentile Cornelius to meet with him. Peter himself has had a vision in which it has now become clear to him that the work God has done in Christ is meant to extend beyond the ethnic boundaries of Israel (10:9–17). The emphasis in the speech is on what Jesus did (“doing good and healing”) and on to Jesus’ fate, which is in stark contrast to the good he did. Yet the good Jesus was doing did not end with his death. Now those who knew him have been sent to continue “doing good and healing,” specifically by calling people to believe in Jesus as God’s Messiah and to receive the gift of forgiveness, of deliverance and release from evil forces.

Paul’s exhortation to the Corinthians about clearing out the old yeast has a simple point: Things have changed for you, since you are now new people in Christ, so act like it. The metaphor of yeast is connected with the image of Christ as the Paschal (or Passover) Lamb. In preparation for Passover, all yeast and leavened bread is cleared out of the house; after the feast new leavened bread is prepared. The Corinthians have failed to do the necessary “house cleaning,” both in their own hearts and within their community, and are therefore not properly celebrating the Paschal feast, begun with the sacrifice of the Paschal Lamb.

The report of the empty tomb proceeds in three stages that represent a progression of belief. First, Mary discovers that the stone has been rolled away from the tomb and assumes that Jesus’ body has been stolen. The second stage is the discovery by the Beloved Disciple, who enters the tomb and spies the burial cloths. The third stage is the entrance into the tomb by Peter, who not only sees the burial cloths but notes the detail that the head covering has been neatly rolled up and is separate from the others, an observation that suggests the body was not stolen, but rather that Jesus himself has removed them. We are told that the Beloved Disciple “saw and believed,” but that none of them yet understood that he had been raised from the dead. What the disciple believes at this point is that Jesus has conquered death. Only with the appearance of the risen Lord will he and the others come to believe in the Resurrection itself.

Jan 14 2025

Resurrection Happens Now

Some say we are only a series of neurons that come together for a little while and eventually decompose; in the meantime, the purpose of life is to have as pleasant a time as possible. A rather limiting vision, no? Easter is my starting point for rebuttal.

Easter calls us to include resurrection in our vision of life. This is not always easy. It wasn’t when it first happened. You can see why Mary Magdalene, seeing that the stone had been removed, would conclude that the body had been stolen. And you can understand how Peter never got beyond seeing a bunch of burial cloths over in the corner without concluding Jesus was raised. Only the beloved disciple “saw and believed” (John 20:8).

We are never told what the tipping point was for the beloved disciple. Was it all those times resting his head near Jesus, watching, listening . . . and knowing? Resurrection experiences have a long history. If you have had a relationship that you thought was totally over come back to life, you know that resurrection happens. If you have had an experience of going nowhere with a project, then it suddenly kicks in, you know that resurrection happens. If you know someone held captive by an addiction and see them break free and begin the process of recovery, you know resurrection happens.

Easter invites us to consider our experiences of resurrection and move to the conclusion: resurrections have been happening for a long time. It’s just a matter of seeing and believing.

Consider/Discuss

Have you had any resurrection experiences lately?
What does it mean to you that you share in resurrection life even now?

Responding to the Word

We pray through Jesus, God’s Son, whose resurrection was the Father’s answer to death and violence. Jesus is the Word of God, the last word of God’s unconditional love for us. There is one very simple response to this: Alleluia! Praise God!