Hi everyone,
Happy Easter! On this day we should Alleluia and praise God for all that God has done! The resurrection of Christ is a marvelous gift to us all, showing us the full breadth and width of God’s love, grace, and mercy.
…that is, if you believe the resurrection even happened.
Otherwise, it’s just another story. It’s just another long weekend. It’s just another day that commemorates something so far removed and detached from our everyday lives that our eyes couldn’t even be bothered to be batted.
And I get it, it isn’t easy to believe something like the resurrection. It isn’t easy to accept the concept of someone dying and coming back to life. It isn’t easy to fully grasp how all of this even relates to us as people living in the 21st Century.
We aren’t the only ones too, as we’ll see in the readings for next week, which are:
Acts 5:27-32
Psalm 118:14-29
Revelation 1:4-8
John 20:19-31
I always say Doubting Thomas got a bad rap, because really if you think about it, everyone doubted. No one believed. Jesus was fresh from telling them that he’ll be back right before he was betrayed and even when he did come back, they still didn’t get it. They all heard that Jesus was risen but they couldn’t believe, they couldn’t accept it, they couldn’t fathom how such an idle tale could ever be true. They needed proof. They needed to see it for themselves. They need to fully experience Jesus’ actual presence or else they just wouldn’t believe.
They all doubted. And we do too.
But the proof of Christ risen in all around us. In our lives, in our communities, in our hearts. We don’t need to physically see Jesus or stick our hands in his wounds (which sounds kind of unsanitary and infection-inducing anyway) to know that Jesus is with us, as we can see the evidence of him in the Spirit in people that we work with, that we go to school with, maybe even that we live with. That in those interactions and relationship and community, Jesus promises to be there with us. That in the grace and love we show each other, we can see Jesus’ influence. That in when we are as a brother or sister to another, we can be assured that Jesus is there, strengthening us and empowering us to do good.
Yes, I know it is hard to believe. But taking a step back and looking at the great grand scheme of things, we see Jesus alive and well, living in our actions, in our relationships, and in our communities.
He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!
Have a great week, everyone!