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The Week After Easter
The Easter message––that Jesus came to set us free and give us new life––does not change. Even in the confines of a pandemic. No one could have foreseen the magnitude of coronavirus strife. Except Jesus. Jesus knew that days like these were coming.
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The First Easter
The male disciples deserted him. The women distantly watched him. The religious leaders gloated over him. And the Roman soldiers guarded him—even in death. This was the stage for the first Easter Sunday. It began as one of darkness and separation. Mourning and sorrow. Disillusionment and disbelief. Death lingered. It was a Sunday without fanfare or trumpets, without brightly attired dresses or wrappings, without large crowds or attractions. It was simple. It was subtle. It was serious. It was a Sunday where Jesus’s followers were dispersed and scattered. Pause thinking of the first Easter for just a moment and return your mind to yesterday’s Easter. The vast majority of the…
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Good Friday- Following Jesus into the Light
At the small, country church of my childhood, 3 crosses would be placed by the roadside shortly before the week of Easter. The crosses would be bare or draped in purple for a time and then early in the morning on Good Friday a black cloth would be placed around the middle cross. Black, to symbolize the light of Jesus being extinguished and the heaviness of the world’s sin. It’s not just a figurative darkness, it was a reality for those in the presence of Jesus at the time of his death, for as Luke records: “It was now about noon, and darkness came over the whole land until three,…
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Someday Soon
I remember the pains of childbirth. For about 45 minutes, I was stuck in intense contractions that happen just before the pushing stage. Amidst the pain, 45 minutes felt like forever.
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The Velveteen Christian
Our world is made up of a constant cacophony of voices. Truth, lies, myths, imaginations, and opinions fill our world with dissidence and confusion. We have information overload. It is difficult to discern who can be trusted because of the spin, the agendas, the omitted facts or the inserted insinuations that twist and distort. I grew up during the sex revolution. A whole generation believed that being real was living without restraints. Getting what you wanted, as much as you wanted, whenever you wanted it. No strings attached defined love for those who bought into the free love movement. Easter is coming soon and as I prepare my heart to…
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The Resurrection of Jesus—what it really means
Does it bother you when you watch a new movie about Jesus’ life (or, even an old one) and the movie just falls flat when it comes to the resurrection appearances of Jesus? Sometimes, they are skipped altogether, other times portrayed as some kind of “voice heard only” type of thing. With all the phenomenal capability of Hollywood special effects, it seems that filmmakers could do (and would want to do) a fantastic job of portraying Jesus in his resurrected body and his real interactions with all those real people (500+) for 40 days (1 Cor. 15:3-8). Come on. This culture is wild about the supernatural, sci-fi and fantasy fiction.…
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Unanswered Prayers
When someone dies, we struggle with the “why”. Why didn’t God answer our prayers? Why didn’t God answer the prayers of everyone else? Why was this life cut short? As Easter approaches and we solemnly remember the Last Supper and the gruesome events that unfolded, the “why” questions of the disciples are laid bare. Jesus was taken by force from the garden. He was tried for false crimes, beaten to the edge of life, and brutally hung on a cross to die in agony and ridicule. His disciples and followers watched it all. They had grown up in the Jewish tradition of prayer. And Jesus, their esteemed rabbi, taught them…
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Some Things I Learned this Easter from Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene was one of the eyewitnesses of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. As I reflected on her story (Luke 8:1-2; Matthew 27:55-56, 60-61; 28:1; Mark 16:1-5; Luke 24:1-11; John 20:2, 11-18) this Easter, I gleaned some insights into my life. First, her story. Mary Magdalene was a woman from the city of Magdala who had seven demons in her. She must have endured much torture, anguish, and turmoil as she housed these demons. I can imagine how painful it was to be an outcast of society and live a miserable life. But then she met Jesus. Jesus miraculously cast out the demons and healed her. He brought wholeness…
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Women, the Resurrection, and the #MeToo Movement
Do you know who consistently appears in all Gospel accounts of Jesus’s crucifixion, burial, and resurrection? Was it the apostle Peter? No. How about the beloved disciple, John? No. Then it must have been Jesus’s half-brother, James? No again. The person recorded to have seen it all—Jesus’s crucifixion, burial, and resurrection—was not a man; it was a woman, Mary Magdalene. She not only witnessed everything, she was the first person to see the risen Lord (John 20:14–18). Thus she is “honored and revered as the first messenger of Christ’s resurrection—the apostle of the apostles.”[1] Are you shocked and surprised? Does this make you scratch your head in confusion? Are you…
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Easter: A Holiday of Hiding?
Soon people across the globe will participate in Easter egg hunts. South Africa heralds the world’s largest, hiding over 100,000 eggs and tiny treasures. Soon, people of Jewish heritage will participate in the Seder as part of their Passover celebration. Adults will hide a piece of matzah called the afikoman and kiddos will hunt it down for some splendid prize. Soon people across the world will attend resurrection services, many trying to understand the fascination with hiding. Do you feel Jesus is hiding? Life’s gotten rough. Infertility persists. Bankruptcy hit. Addiction ravages. Abuse resumes. Unemployment continues. And it feels like Jesus is playing heavenly-hide-n-seek to test your sincerity and spiritual…
