EASTER SUNDAY

Over 2,000 years ago the first Easter was celebrated with fear and astonishment. The unbelievable, the unthinkable had actually taken place.

What was lost, the hope that Jesus encouraged was restored and much more. What was dead was alive with an undying life.

The tomb was empty not because the body was stolen or because they went to the wrong tomb but because God the Father vindicated Jesus by raising him from the dead three days later.

Never before had anything ever been proclaimed like this. It was surely the Good News.

To prove it Jesus appeared to many of his followers even to someone as obstinate as Thomas. They were all discouraged and would have returned to their previous occupations.

But not now, their focus was on the Risen Jesus. The job Jesus came to accomplish to proclaim God’s mercy and compassion still needed to be carried forward.

Sin and Death were conquered and so the way forward was through confession and following in Jesus’ footsteps by taking up our crosses with the sure hope of seeing a new day, a new life, ever lasting life

It is through suffering and death for the truth that God will finally welcome us to the other side.

The Risen Jesus ate and drank with the disciples after he rose from the dead, something unheard of.

Jesus then commissioned his followers to preach to the people and to bear witness that he is the one set apart by God as judge of the living and the dead.

Life is truly a journey, sometimes a dark and scary one but Jesus is the Beacon, the Light House, the Flame, the Goal that encourages us. He walks with us in our hearts as he walked with Peter and the other early Christians. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.

We are not gullible even if we have not seen for ourselves the Risen Jesus.

Jesus is the first of all those who will rise from the dead.

He will be with us all the days of our life and this is not wishful thinking because he said: “I am with you all the days until the end of time.”

Easter was the real Shock and Awe that was heard throughout the world and continues to be heard for over 2,000 years.

It was a jolt to our normal way of thinking and feeling.

It shook loose the foundations of our smug KNOW-IT-ALL attitude, that the dead don’t rise from the dead as it was claimed Jesus did.

Jesus proved the opposite.

Truth is the Victor, he Jesus himself suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified, died and was buried and on the third day he arose again.

He arose not with a weakened and emaciated body but with a transformed body that could move through locked doors. He could eat and drink without really needing to.

Risen from the dead he came to impart his Spirit, his life into all of us so that his Spirit could give us entrance into his Kingdom and insure our being raised up to glory.

Death and the Tomb will not hold us forever,

Bodies may be burnt or even lost at sea but the individuals will be raised not on the 3^rd day but on the day designated by God and Jesus will be the model to which we will be compared.

Our deceased relatives and friends await the Final Resurrection as do the Apostles and Disciples of Jesus who saw him, talked with him and ate with him after the Resurrection.

These early followers of Jesus died for their belief, their conviction that Jesus had really Risen.

They are no longer here but the Community, the Church, the Living Body of Christ continues in existence and continues to celebrate the Last Supper as Jesus requested mindful that: “When we eat this bread and drink this cup we Proclaim the death of the Lord Jesus until he comes in glory.”

Life here in this Existent World had a beginning and will have an end.

In the meantime we need to follow the Light and Hope that Jesus provides for NOBODY else has RISEN from the Dead.