Scripture Reflections for Easter Sunday, the Resurrection of the Lord
Year B, Lectionary 42
In our journey following Jesus, we pass through Calvary and the cross and we may be tempted to lose Jesus in the empty tomb. We can get stuck in not understanding what resurrection really means for us and want to dwell on the death but we are called to continue on the journey where resurrection leads us to.
Hate feeling lost on Sundays at church? Searching for a better explanation of the Bible than what you hear from your pastor's sermon? Check out the following collection of audio, video, and text commentaries from various Christian experts for a better understanding of today's scripture that deal with: Answer • Ark of the Covenant • Awake • Church • Community • Cornelius • Courage • Creation • Death • Disciple • Easter • Eden • Empty • Eucharist • Faith • Fear • Focus • Follow • Gospel • Grace • Hell • Hide • History • Hope • Journey • Joy • Judgment • Life • Mary of Magdala • Miracle • Mission • Myth • Peace • Praise • Proclaim • Question • Rejoice • Relationship • Resurrection • Rock • Sabbath • Sadness • Salvation • Sight • Silence • Sin • St. Peter • Suffering • Testify • Tomb • Truth • Unity • Victory • Witness • Women •
“when we get tired and feel like we're run over and exhausted or stressed out or don't know who we are, God calls us by our name. It's not a scolding that we get, it's an invitation to come home to be loved, to be true.”
“So it's okay for you to ask God ‘why’ but when you ask God make sure you don't run away, remain to get the answer to your question”
“Regardless of how this 'beloved disciple' is depicted we are to get the idea that the 'beloved disciple' is us. We are to see ourselves as this, 'beloved disciple.' We are to be the 'beloved disciple.'”
“Peter and John first knew that Christ had risen when they saw that empty space...but they went away confused. Our empty spaces leave us confused but if you have the hope and the faith of the resurrection you will find the risen Christ not only in the presence of Christ where you find him but even in the absences of your life”
“How can Mary's experience of witness and testimony at the tomb guide us during the season of celebration of our Risen Lord? It reminds us that witnessing and testifying are Easter practices.”
“The resurrection of Jesus serves to remind you and me and all of us of any time the devil gets in the way, anytime we find ourselves in obstacles of anything that holds us down, this day reminds us to get up, to breathe, to have life”
“That's what Jesus does. Jesus walks into a mess and makes it a blessing. Jesus walks into death and brings new life.”
“When the beloved disciple enters the tomb we're told that he saw and he believed. At that startling moment of revelation he then knew that the darkness had been vanquished by the light. That the new creation had begun. In this garden-tomb our exile from the garden of Eden was at last coming to an end.”
“The joy of Jesus is for us, no less than his suffering, no less than his labor, no less than his death. Everything, if we can only receive it, is for us and all creation. His love, his incarnation, his divinity, his truth, his pain, his glory, his spirit, his life in time and eternity”
“Religion equals relationship. I cannot claim to be in relationship with my God and especially in right relationship with my God while I'm...wasting my time and my energy trying to figure out how I'm gonna get ahead by stomping, stepping and doing whatever it takes to others.”
“we today must make the transition from the life of pre-Easter Jesus, shared by his first century disciples in which we read about, to the life of the actually risen Jesus in which we now share.”
“What does church look like? Church looks like forgiveness of somebody who's hurt you...You can't cling to Jesus and not cling to forgiveness and mercy.”
“it's not supposed to be an acclamation, it's supposed to be a way of life. Hallelujah translates to 'praise God.' Simple, right?...That's what you're saying but it's what we should be living”
“Humanity fell by eating of the fruit of the tree and so Jesus saved humanity by going to the tree; the cross”
“the Beloved Disciple saw and believed. What did he see? He saw nothing. The body wasn't there. What he believed? He believed everything. He saw nothing but believed everything.”
“while we cannot guess where the Spirit may lead us we can trust that the Spirit remains with us. We can trust at this moment these burial shrouds, this empty tomb are not the end of the story. Christ is risen that we might also rise.”
“It's interesting that the first resurrection appearance in art was Jesus the individual rising but in the Eastern Church the art always manifested early on Jesus rising taking with him, holding up, humanity rising up with him”
“We cannot convince others of anything if we don't first believe”
“the Earth received its greatest wound, that is, the empty tomb. That could not hold him captive. Darkness could not overcome the light. Truth has won the battle and Jesus is risen never more to die.”
“do we have the strength, the fortitude, the faith to go out like Mary and the disciples and share the news that Jesus has risen? The Good News can change our hearts and change the world if only we believe.”
“May the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the one anointed by God as judge and living of the dead, clear out all the old yeast of malice and wickedness and give us the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth”
“On this festival of Easter we celebrate the story of Jesus’ victory over sin and death. His story makes sense of all other stories, past, present, and future, and his story alone offers life in abundance.”
“because our savior lives and he holds in his hand not just today but tomorrow, he holds our future and in that we find our solace, we find our comfort, we find that strength to endure and to move forward boldly”
“Before there can be a fullness, there has to be an emptiness. And that's true in everything from being born through so much in life. If you choose one thing you have to let go of another. That truth follows us right up to and including death.”
“We who are in Christ see things from a different perspective. In other words, life in this world will be better if it is lived by focusing on the power of the resurrected, ascended and glorified Christ”
“If Christ is amongst the living, why on earth should we find ourselves still in a tomb? Why should we allow ourselves to be locked away in a place of death? That is not our place...run to that place where we know we will encounter the Living Christ.”
“faith can never be condensed to simple reasoning. Faith must come from the heart. Faith cannot be reduced to simply words but rather faith must flow from the very essence of our being”
"we're not immune to tragic events or to illness or to anything. We just have a different, I guess, we just have a different way of approaching it and that's through the lens of faith."
In the latest episode of the 1 Christian 1 Topic Podcast "Faith Amidst Tragedy," we have a conversation with Liz on faith, suffering, and prayer. More