John 20:1-18, Acts 10:34-43 Our gospel of John tells the account of those who first found Christ’s tomb empty. Mary Magdalene arrives first and finding the stone rolled away goes to Peter and John (the disciple Jesus loved) who run to the tomb. Both of them enter and find it empty with the graveclothes lying there. Seeing this it says that John believed. Still, they did not understand the scripture that Jesus must rise from the dead. They both go home. Mary, however, stays and weeps. Two angels appear asking why she weeps. She turns around and sees Jesus who she thinks is the gardener and asks where Christ’s body is. He says “Mary” and she recognizes that it is Jesus. She is recorded then as the first witness of the resurrected Jesus. She is also the first messenger of Christ being alive telling the disciples what Jesus had said to her. Later on, Christ will appear to Peter, John, and the other disciples, including woman, and to even doubting Thomas. These are the chosen by God a...

Isaiah 53:3-12, Philippians 2:5-11 Our Isaiah passage is one of the Messianic passages predicting the death of Christ with all its afflictions as an offering for sin for us all. This account prophesizes the agonies Christ goes through during his crucifixion on the cross. It even tells how Christ was buried in a rich man’s tomb. Verse 9 tells how he had done no violence and had no deceit yet we are told over and over in this passage how he was wounded for our transgression and crushed for our iniquities. It tells how by his bruises we have been healed and how the punishment he went through for us has made us whole. God laid on him the iniquity of all . Philippians tells us that this was someone who shared equality with God, yet he didn’t grasp it. He humbled himself embracing humanness and humbled himself to be obedient to God in this way – even though in the Garden of Gethsemane in his humanness he asked for this cup to be taken from him. Then on the cross he quotes Psalm 22, “M...

Isaiah 43: 16-21; Philippians 3:4b-14 We like to hold on to the status quo. We resist change. We lament, “Weren’t things better in the past. Isaiah reminds the Israelites about the steadfast love of God that made a way through the Red Sea when they fled Egypt and kept those chasing them, the Egyptian horses and chariots, back. God not only held the Red Sea back but held back the Egyptians who chased them. Though these were great acts of God they are not to think back or ponder and wish for the good ole days but to anticipate the new thing God is bringing into their lives. It’s happening – springing forth – don’t you perceive – recognize it. God will make a way in the wilderness of their lives, provide water in the drought of their lives, and give drink to his chosen people. One person who considered himself chosen of God was the apostle Paul. In Philippians he tells how he was so confident being born into the right tribe, becoming a Pharisee, and righteously following the law. Bu...

Psalm 32, II Corinthians 5:16-21 The Psalmist in Psalm 32 tells how happy he is since his trespasses/wrongdoings are forgiven and his sin covered over. He tells how awful his life was before he repented and asked forgiveness including groaning and aching bones. Yet when he confessed- admitted his sin to God – then God forgave his sin and removed the guilt which was tearing him apart. This theme of forgiveness comes out in II Corinthians where we are not just forgiven but made a new creation due to being reconciled to God through Christ’s work on the cross. It says that God made Christ the one who knew no sin to be sin – take on all our sin so that in Christ we might become righteous. This reflects the Psalm when it talks about his sin being covered over. Jesus blood on the cross covers all our sins so that we can be reconciled to God. Being reconciled means mending a broken relationship. Due to our sin, our relationship with God was broken. This is the old spoken of. The new is o...