Gather Team

Sunday (Matthew 28v1-20)

The Lord is risen! He is risen indeed!

Do you get the impression that Mary Magdalene was awake all night, ready for the first glimmer of evidence that dawn had arrived? Like an athlete in the starting blocks, she was off, probably gathering the other women on the way. They came expecting to embalm a corpse, they found a very alive Jesus, more alive than he had been up till now, because now he was in his heavenly state.  He appears to the disciples in the upper room, to Thomas, to two on the walk to Emmaus, who did not recognise him till he stops with them to eat and blesses the bread. Maybe, as he raised the bread, his sleeve fell back, revealing his scars? Whatever it was, they ran all the way back to Jerusalem in their excitement, all was joy, confusion and bewilderment.

There will be times in our lives when God seems especially near and real, perhaps at special celebrations, at communion. We need to remember these moments, maybe note them in a journal, because there will also be times when God seems distant, difficulties may obscure our spiritual senses.

Whatever today brings or feels like, from the moment Jesus came out of the tomb, the cosmos changed forever. The way to God is open to everyone, sin is dealt with once and for all because:

Jesus is Alive: Selah!

Saturday (Luke 23v55-56)

The followers of Jesus were devout Jews and even though it might have been tempting to just go and stay at the tomb, they went home and kept the Passover rest. Many everyday activities like walking long distances, cooking, normal work, were forbidden on this day, like on the normal Sabbath. The intention was not to make life difficult, but to ensure the people rested.

In some churches, on the Saturday between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, a vigil is kept. Churches that have a lamp burning all year, extinguish it on Good Friday. On Saturday the people gather to renew baptismal vows. In some, at midnight the lamp is re-lit and a candle is lit from the lamp, the light is passed round the congregation. Sometimes it is good to give ourselves space for renewing our promises to God and each other, to re-light our individual and collective light and to rest. Many people who are involved in the leading and directing of their congregation have to designate a day of rest, because Sundays are often their most busy day.

Selah: Rest is important, so is taking time to review our lives in the light of Easter. Are you ready for whatever God may be calling you to?

Friday (Luke 22v54-71, 23v1-56)

This is where it is useful to have a map/diagram of Jerusalem at the time of Jesus. Although we are looking at these events through the narrative of Luke, all the gospel writers describe these events. Jesus has been arrested In Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives, now he is hustled to the house of Caiaphas the high priest. While here, Peter, on his own and under pressure denies that he even knows Jesus and just as quickly regrets it. Jesus is then taken to the fortress of Antonia to get Pilates permission to have Jesus executed, because Israel was under Roman occupation. Pilate tries to pass the buck by sending Jesus to Herod, who is responsible for Galilee, where Jesus was from. Herod mocks Jesus, then sends him back to Pilate.

Pilate can see no reason to execute Jesus, so he tries to have him released. At Passover it was the custom to release a prisoner, Barabbas was in prison for murder and revolt. By this time a crowd has gathered and Pilate gives the crowd the choice of who to release, Jesus or Barabbas. Whipped up by voices planted amongst them, the crowd shout for Barabbas. Pilate washes his hands of the situation, has Jesus beaten and sends him off with a detachment of Roman soldiers for crucifixion.  From arrest in Gethsemane to crucifixion at Golgotha, Jesus has walked around three miles, being beaten and ill-treated along the way and just before being crucified, receives the thirty-nine lashes. His last food and drink was at the Passover meal the night before, and we are now at about nine in the morning. Jesus will to finish the task was kept alive by the love he has for us.

Two criminals were crucified on either side of Jesus and to one of these, Jesus offers a place in paradise. Even in such extreme circumstances, Jesus offers salvation to the undeserving. Soon after this, Jesus dies and at that moment, the curtain in the Temple, separating the most holy place, is ripped in half from top to bottom. This meant that the way to God was symbolically and actually open, no sacrifices, no keeping rules anymore, no divisions.

The women and the disciples take Jesus from the cross and place him in a tomb given by a man named Joseph, from Arimathea.

Selah: We can never appreciate all that Jesus suffered in order to deal with sin and we often underestimate the seriousness of sin. We can however, accept Jesus gift of salvation and rejoice that sin, death and hell are defeated and the way to heaven is open to all.