Category: Easter

My name is Simon Peter.  I am one of the companions of a man called Jesus.  In fact, I am the leader of the group known as the Twelve.  I am a fisherman by trade.  A number of years ago Jesus invited me to follow him.  This was a very difficult thing for me to do.  It was not easy to leave my family and my nets.  After all, my family meant so much to me and I was a good fisherman.  But there was something strangely attractive about Jesus.  He inspired me; he believed in me; he recognised my potential.  He offered me and my companions a new vision of life.  There were words of comfort and hope in his message and he treated all who came to him with respect and dignity.  And then there were his miracles.  Jesus had a power within him that never ceased to amaze me.

As time went by Jesus started to speak about his suffering and death.  This was something I and my companions didn’t want to hear.  It was obvious that Jesus disturbed some people, especially the priests and the Pharisees, but the majority of the people were in admiration of him.  Then it happened!  On a visit to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival the Jewish leadership grabbed their opportunity.  Through the cooperation of one of our own group they arrested Jesus, accused him of blasphemy and asked the Roman Procurator, Pontius Pilate, to sentence him to death.  Pilate was reluctant to condemn Jesus, but eventually he gave in to pressure and ordered Jesus to be crucified.  I was devastated, distraught.  What is more, my heart was broken.  The very night Jesus was arrested I publicly denied knowing him.  It was an awful thing to do and I wept bitterly.  I suppose I was frightened.  It was certainly fear that lead me and my companions to hide, to lock ourselves away in a secret place until all the commotion around Jesus’ death died down.  I can vividly remember the atmosphere in that secluded room.  It was a mixture of sorrow, grief, remorse, anxiety, loneliness and disappointment.

On the third day in hiding there was a knock on the door.  We were reluctant to answer, but we did.  It was Mary Magdalene, a woman known to Jesus and to us.  She had extraordinary news.  She had been to the tomb of Jesus only to discover that his body was not there.  And as she came running away from the tomb in a panic she met a man who spoke to her, who said her name – ‘Mary.’  It was Jesus.  He was alive!  He had risen from the dead.  To be honest, I and my companions were sceptical.  Even though Jesus had spoken about rising from the dead, I wondered if Mary’s story was a phantasy.  But before the day was out I was to discover, once again, that I was wrong, that Mary’s experience was completely true.  Because Jesus came into our hidden room and sat among us.  He showed us the wounds in his hands and his side and he ate with us.  I was amazed, overjoyed.  Furthermore, Jesus’ risen presence took away the guilt and fear I was feeling and filled me, instead, with peace and courage.

I am so happy to be able to tell you that Jesus rose from the dead, that I saw him, touched him, spoke to him and ate with him in his risen body.  And even though I now no longer see him, I know that he is with me, living in me and working through me. 

As Christians, we believe that Jesus rose from the dead on that first Easter Sunday.  He broke the chains of death and rose to a new way of living and loving beyond our wildest imagining.  The resurrection was an earth shattering event, the most important event in human history and it has many implications for us and for the way we live our lives.

One implication of the resurrection is the fact that Jesus is still with us.  The presence and power of the Risen Jesus permeate our lives.  As a consequence of the resurrection Jesus is no longer limited by time and space.  He is present to us and with us at every moment of every day.  He is the invisible companion of our life’s journey.  We do not have to wait for heaven to experience the friendship, the healing, the peace and the joy of the Risen Jesus.  These things are already available to us.  The Risen Jesus is already working in our lives.  He is involved with us here and now.

A second implication of the resurrection has to do with the mission of Jesus.  The resurrection was a vindication of the way Jesus lived his life.  It was a confirmation of the values Jesus practised, preached and died for.  The way of Jesus works. When Jesus was nailed to the cross on Good Friday it seemed as if his mission was a failure, that he was a dreamer who offered the world an unrealistic vision of happiness.  His resurrection changed this, it transformed it.  Jesus was no dreamer.  His values of justice and compassion and service and humility and forgiveness are in fact the only values that work.  His values are the values that make the world a better place and that bring us personal fulfilment.  The resurrection of Jesus was proof that love is stronger than hate, goodness is greater than evil and life is more powerful than death. 

Of course another implication of the resurrection is that our death is not the end.  What happened to Jesus on Easter Sunday will happen to us.  We will share in the risen life of Jesus when we die.  Because of the resurrection of Jesus we have a life to look forward to beyond the grave.  Because of the resurrection of Jesus a new world will be opened up to us on the other side of death.  Because Jesus rose from the dead the place we call heaven is our destiny, our destination, our future home.  Indeed, in the words of St Paul, it is our true home.  For those who believe in Jesus and in the power of his resurrection the future is bright because the best is yet to come.  As someone has said, “It belongs to the Christian to hope.”

As Christians, we believe that Jesus rose from the dead on that first Easter Sunday.  He broke the chains of death and rose to a new way of living and loving beyond our wildest imagining.  The resurrection was an earth shattering event, the most important event in human history and it has many implications for us and for the way we live our lives.

One implication of the resurrection is the fact that Jesus is still with us.  The presence and power of the risen Jesus permeate our lives.  As a consequence of the resurrection Jesus is no longer limited by time and space.  He is present to us and with us at every moment of every day.  He is the invisible companion of our life’s journey.  We do not have to wait for heaven to experience the friendship, the healing, the peace and the joy of the risen Jesus.  These things are already available to us.  The risen Jesus is already working in our lives.  He is involved with us here and now.

A second implication of the resurrection has to do with the mission of Jesus.  The resurrection was a vindication of the way Jesus lived his life.  It was a confirmation of the values Jesus practised, preached and died for.  The way of Jesus works. When Jesus was nailed to the cross on Good Friday it seemed as if his mission was a failure, that he was a dreamer who offered the world an unrealistic vision of happiness.  His resurrection changed this, it transformed it.  Jesus was no dreamer.  His values of justice and compassion and service and humility and forgiveness are in fact the only values that work.  His values are the values that make the world a better place and that bring us personal fulfilment.  The resurrection of Jesus was proof that love is stronger that hate, goodness is greater than evil and life is more powerful than death. 

Of course another implication of the resurrection is that our death is not the end.  What happened to Jesus on Easter Sunday will happen to us.  We will share in the risen life of Jesus when we die.  Because of the resurrection of Jesus we have a life to look forward to beyond the grave.  Because of the resurrection of Jesus a new world will be opened up to us on the other side of death.  Because Jesus rose from the dead the place we call heaven is our destiny, our destination, our future home.  Indeed, in the words of St Paul, it is our true home.  For those who believe in Jesus and in the power of his resurrection the future is bright because the best is yet to come. 

Because of what happened on that first Easter Sunday we can say with confidence, ‘It belongs to the Christian to hope!’

“Jesus wept.”  This is what Jesus did when he heard about the death of his friend Lazarus (John 11:3-45). It surely testifies to his humanity.  Jesus is the Son of Man, our brother.  He knows our struggles, our sufferings, our joys, our hopes, our pain, our grief.  He is our compassionate companion, the one who walks alongside us.  “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin.  Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:15-16).  It is his humanity that makes Jesus so approachable. We should never doubt that he is accessible and easy to reach.

Of course, at the tomb of Lazarus, Jesus showed himself to be more than our brother.  He brought Lazarus back to life, freed him from the chains of death.  Jesus is the Son of God as well as the Son of Man.  He is the Lord of creation, the one who has power over life and death.  To Martha, the sister of Lazarus, he said, “I am the resurrection.  If anyone believes in me, even though he dies he will live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:25-26).  On Easter Sunday Jesus himself broke the chains of death and rose to a new way of living and loving beyond our wildest imagining.  Because of his resurrection he is the source of eternal life.

In life and in death we human beings are vulnerable and powerless.  We need someone who can support us in our struggles and who can save us from annihilation.  At the tomb of Lazarus, Jesus reveals himself as a compassionate Saviour.  In life he is at our side as a faithful friend.  In death he is our hope of risen glory. Among the great world religions Jesus is indeed unique.  He is both the Son of Man and the Son of God, our brother and our Lord.

Jesus, I believe that you are my brother and my Lord.
Love me in my imperfection.
Strengthen me in my weakness.
Guide me in my uncertainty.
Forgive me in my failure.
Celebrate with me when times are good,
Carry me when they are difficult.
And when I die give me a share in your risen life.
Amen.