Easter Sunday
April 1, 2018
Acts 10:34-43; Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24; I Corinthians 15:1-11; John 20:1-18
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” John 20:1-2
And the message is . . .
In the Disciple class I have the privilege to lead, we’ve just completed the Old Testament, and one of the lessons we’ve learned is how God called unlikely messengers to carry his Word – Moses thought himself a poor speaker and tried to argue God out of being His instrument. Jonah refuses God’s call and tries to take ship to the opposite end of the known world. In John 20 verse 18 God again chooses an unlikely messenger to convey his Word as Jesus commissions Mary to be the first to share the glorious news that He has risen. Mary became the first evangelist in Christian history. This at a time when women were not considered reliable witnesses in court, and Mary’s past as one possessed of demons made her even less credible. Why did He choose Mary (and all those reluctant prophets of the Old Testament) to carry the Message? I think because it is always about the Message, and never the messenger. It is about the majesty, authority and the love of God who sends the Message, and not the authority of the one delivering the message. God so often works through the weak, the unlikely, and the meek, and thus His Love shines through all the brighter. We are all God’s unlikely and sometimes reluctant messengers, yet we, too, can carry His Message of love through His Grace. God’s love triumphs over all the woes of this world, even death. I pray we all have the opportunity to share that message.
Prayer: Ever living God, inspire our witness to Jesus Christ, that all may know the power of His forgiveness and the hope of His resurrection. Amen
Brian Henderson
