Last year Easter was almost as late as it can ever be, so we spent most of April waiting for it to arrive. This year Easter is at a more normal time (April 8), and we begin the events of Holy Week with Palm Sunday on the very first day of the month. This year we will spend most of April living in the aftermath of Easter.
In today’s church the weeks after Easter can feel rather empty. No more mid-week Lenten services. The Sunday after Easter usually has low attendance because the out-of-town guests are gone and some local people think the sky would fall if they went to church two Sundays in a row. The sense of the season is that there is a big build up throughout Lent, and then the curtain falls abruptly on Easter evening. It is all over until next year.
But the New Testament church lived in the dynamic and lively aftermath of Easter filled with excitement and lively expectation. They were dazed and amazed by the things that happened to them during that week from Palm Sunday through Easter Sunday. Matthew 28:8 says “So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.” Luke 24:22 quotes the apostles as saying “Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his body…..” And then the Emmaus Road disciples said “Did not our hearts burn within us as He spoke to us on the road, while He opened to us the scriptures?” (Luke 24:32)
The resurrection of Jesus released those disciples from their timidity behind locked doors to be men and women who went forth to tell the good news with boldness. Peter went from denying he even knew Jesus on Maundy Thursday to giving a dramatic and very public sermon about Christ 53 days later on Pentecost Sunday. The Twelve moved from being disciples only who followed and learned from Jesus to being apostles who were sent out to preach and teach others about Jesus. Easter Sunday was not the end of the story, but the beginning of a new era of fruitful activity.
The whole New Testament was written in the aftermath of Easter by those who felt the events of Holy Week are the greatest story every told. All four gospels reach their climax with the death and resurrection of Jesus. Paul wrote in 1st Corinthians 15:3 “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures and that he appeared to Cephas and then to the twelve.” Then he rolled on talking about many other appearances of Jesus after Easter.
As I joined others throughout our synod in reading through the Book of Acts during Lent I noticed periodic little summary verses that speak about how the church grew and prospered in the aftermath of Easter. (2:47, 4:32, 5:42, 8:25, 9:31, 12:25, 16:5 and so on). This growth in faith and in numbers happened despite persecutions, such as the stoning of Stephen and the scattering of the disciples which only led to the gospel traveling farther than before, and in spite of some disagreements among the disciples, such as that between partners Paul and Barnabas which only led to two teams of evangelists going forth (Paul and Silas; Barnabas and Mark) where there had been one before. They were all intent on telling others that the one who died for our sins on the cross now lives as our Lord and Savior.
Now in the 21st century we are still living in the aftermath of that great day when Jesus rose from the dead. It may be hard for those who have celebrated 60 or 70 or 80 Easters to generate the same kind of enthusiasm as those who first experienced it, but it is still true that Easter is not the end of the story but the beginning of a new and lively chapter. It is Easter that gives hope to those who have followed a hearse to the cemetery recently (gaze on the empty tomb). It is Easter that gives courage to those who are facing illness, disease, or pain (look at the cross). It is Easter that gives patience to those who are disappointed in people who are close to them (think of Peter). It is Easter that renews the joy of those who view the future as gloomy (remember the disciples). It is Easter that propels us to share the good news, act with boldness, engage in new ventures, and step out in faith.
We are an Easter people, for Christ is risen. He is risen, indeed. Alleluia! Amen!
No comments:
Post a Comment