The Long and Lonely Road
An image for Good Friday
The Long Silence
An Image for Holy Saturday
The Triumph of the Light
An Image for Easter
On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ " Then they remembered his words. (Luke 24, NIV)
El primer día de la semana, muy de mañana, las mujeres fueron al sepulcro, llevando las especias aromáticas que habían preparado. Encontraron que había sido quitada la piedra que cubría el sepulcro y, al entrar, no hallaron el cuerpo del Señor Jesús. Mientras se preguntaban qué habría pasado, se les presentaron dos hombres con ropas resplandecientes. Asustadas, se postraron sobre su rostro, pero ellos les dijeron:
—¿Por qué buscan ustedes entre los muertos al que vive? No está aquí; ¡ha resucitado! Recuerden lo que les dijo cuando todavía estaba con ustedes en Galilea: “El Hijo del hombre tiene que ser entregado en manos de hombres pecadores, y ser crucificado, pero al tercer día resucitará." (Lucas 24, NVI)
Allelujah!
Easter Sunday marks the end of one project and the continuation of another.
The Sunday before Ash Wednesday our pastor challenged us to read through one of the gospels each week during lent, whether a different gospel each week or the same one each week. I chose to read through the gospel according to Luke during each of the weeks of Lent. As I have been working on resurrecting my highschool Spanish, I read through Luke six times in the Nuevo Versión International. I was struck by how intentional was Jesus' ministry. Nothing happened simply by chance, nor was he caught off guard by the challenges of his opponents.
This year I am reading through the 52 Lord's Days of Heidelberg Catechism according to the order of the church year. The section on the Apostles' Creed fits the season of Lent remarkably well, just as the opening set of Lord's Days fits the season of Advent.
Heidelberg Catechism Lord's Day 17, on the resurrection, is marvelous in its simplicity. It does not argue against the skeptics or explain how it happened. Rather, it asks how it matters.
Q. How does Christ's resurrection benefit us?
A. First, by his resurrection he has overcome death, so that he might make us share in the righteousness he obtained for his by his death.
Second, by his power we too are already raised to a new life.
Third, Christ's resurrection is a sure pledge to us of our blessed resurrection.
That's pretty heady stuff, the Gospel in a nutshell. It looks back at the mess we were in because of our own sin and rebellion and what it cost Jesus to save us from our mess. And it looks ahead to Jesus' return and the new heavens and earth, where we will be with him forever and see him as he is.
But especially it looks at where we are right now, on Easter Sunday morning, 2016. Already now we are raised to a new life. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here!
In Jesus Christ we live in the time between the times. Eternity has dawned, the rising sun has come to us from heaven to shine on us who live in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet in the path of peace.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus! Hallelujah!
Praise the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, both now and forever, the God who is, who was, and is to come at the end of the ages. Amen.