April 22

Easter.  The Resurrection.  What a wonderful day that changed the world.  Without the resurrection, Jesus probably would have been written off by historians as just another messianic movement that failed like countless before.  Jesus’ disciples were not going to carry on Jesus’ mission.  “The witness of the four Gospels is unequivocal that following the crucifixion Jesus’ disciples were scattered, their hope shattered by the course of events.  [The only thing that] halted the dissolution of the messianic movement centered in Jesus was the resurrection. (Lane 585)  As I said in my sermon, the women were so distraught over the death of Jesus, they forgot the most basic task needed in order to anoint Jesus’ dead body . . . how to get to the dead body with the stone in the way.  Yet the resurrection changed all that.  These scared, uneducated fishermen and common men stood up boldly to proclaim a message no one would believe without faith . . . a dead man is now alive.  Who would do something like that?  Only one who who was touched by the resurrected Christ.  Are you proclaiming it?  Maybe it is time for you to be touched again by the resurrected Christ.