Easter Sunday Meditation
Friends and readers alike, Happy Easter! Today’s meditation is a sweet one written by my dear friend, Jane. She is the lead pastor at North Boston Church and is a captivating preacher, gentle pastor, and prolific writer. One of her research projects titled, “Hana”, is and will be a body of work referenced among Asian-American Churches for years to come. You can find her paper here. Please enjoy today’s meditation written by Jane!
An Easter Sunday breath prayer
Breathe In:
Don’t be afraid
Breathe Out:
He is Risen!
Hallelujah
“‘Don’t be alarmed,’ he said. ‘You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.’”
Mark 16:1-8
The resurrection of Christ comes unannounced to the people of God after three long days of grief and terror. The followers of Jesus Christ just saw their Lord publicly humiliated, mutilated, distended, and murdered on a tree. They wept bitterly after seeing His head drop, and tore their eyes away in what could have only been gut wrenching despair as the Roman soldiers pierce the side of their Lord to make sure he is surely dead. They hid themselves for three days, knowing that they were next. Now locked away, they are fixed to their seats. Their resolve to follow has broken without Jesus to lead them.
What could be more painful than the grief of losing someone you loved with your life on the line?
But because it would not be right to leave Jesus's beautiful body as is, because he deserved to be dressed properly for burial, the women hide themselves in the night and make their way to Jesus’s tomb, where guards were patrolling day and night.
So, when sabbath ends at nightfall on Saturday, they begin to prepare to send off their Lord. They buy spices and whatever else they need. Midway, they ask each other, “How are we going to roll the stone that closes this tomb?” Three women could not possibly roll a stone that big and heavy. But they start heading over anyway. After all, what could be heavier than their hearts? What night could be darker than the darkness they were experiencing?
It is at this moment that these women encounter the dark tomb open, with the stone surprisingly rolled away. Confused, the women peer in. What’s going on? As they turn into the tomb, they see a young man sitting on their right, and they are filled with intense distress. After all, this could mean so many things. Where is Jesus, and what is this man doing here? Is he going to hurt them? But this man opens his mouth to say something else:
“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.”
They look over.
Surely enough, there is no Jesus.
There is no Jesus!
Could it be?.. Could it?
Scripture says here that the women leave the tomb trembling and bewildered. They flee the tomb and don’t say anything, frightened by what they have seen.
//
The news of the resurrection of Jesus comes after a deep despair of losing Him first– a whole Holy Saturday of Jesus being in the grave. It comes with apprehension and fear as you witness something peculiar: ‘What’s going on here? Where did He go?’
Then, in the middle of your certainty that you are completely alone, while you are filled with apprehension and doubt after the most profound hopelessness you have ever experienced, the Good News pierces through the morning: ‘He is not here. He has risen!’
Surely, this is a good thing, right?! Yet we might find our legs begin to run away. After hopes that are completely and utterly shattered, it can be terrifying, even foreign and overwhelming, to encounter good news. After everything is ripped from our hands, to have hope handed back to us may feel scary and even wrong.
And so it is with God. After a long night of the soul, resurrection hope may seem unfamiliar and even frightening. It may be so blinding that one may be tempted to close their eyes. But it is still the Good News. It is ours to receive, even with
broken spirits,
worn out hands,
and weak, knobby knees.
It’s this Sunday that the wondrous, almost-scary Good News meets us exactly where we are, wherever that may be. May we be bold and receive it with faith. May this peculiar, wondrous resurrection breathe fresh life into our souls and speak to our worn out hearts this day.
Happy Easter; Hallelujah!
Christ has risen from the grave.
Father,
Thank you for your wondrous, scary Resurrection.
That meets us in the valley and changes our lives forever.
Open our eyes to recognize Your Resurrection.
Open our hands to receive Your Resurrection.
May we not be afraid, and may we not look away.
Hallelujah!
You have risen from the grave, once and for all.
In Jesus’s mighty name,
Amen.
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