Over the next few days, we will travel through the stories of the first communion and the foot washing on Maundy Thursday, and then Jesus’ anguish and courage on Good Friday. These are hard days, even when we live in anticipation of Easter. These are days to help us prepare for earth-shaking news.
Which is precisely what happens in Matthew 28 on Easter morn. There we hear that the women experienced an earthquake at Jesus’ tomb, and found the tomb empty. I wonder how unsettling that experience would be, and how the women could have responded after the traumatic events of the previous week. Easter is like that. It’s not a promise of sunny skies at the beach, but rather an earth-shaking upheaval of what we had assumed. It moves us into a new relation to God’s world, where life is possible differently.
What does Easter mean to you? Ask a friend or family member what they think. Listen slowly. What do you think it means that in the gospel, Jesus appeared first to these women? Remember, women were not at the center of power or prestige.
How could you and I look for signs of resurrection today? We might look for signs of new life in nature, or in people around us, or with loved ones in nursing homes even in spite of hardship there. We might look for signs of resurrection in a musical piece, a poem, or a march. How does new life surprise you when you’re not expecting it? I heard red-winged blackbirds today, and saw a sandhill crane flying overhead, and those both made me listen.
Beloved of God, Easter is an earth-shaking promise of life which comes unexpectedly. We will be together in preparing our minds, hearts, and bodies for this news.
Peace,
Hans
Three Holy Days
In our tradition, we make space on Maundy Thursday to remember central parts of our faith story. We hear about the...
