Our God is an awesome God - Easter 2006

The text tells that Friday ends with the burial of Jesus. "[A]s evening approached, Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body....[, and] he gave the body to Joseph. So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where he was laid. Mark 15:43-27 (edited), NIV

And so we wait...
The three-day cycle recalling the Passion of Jesus is filled with meaning for the faithful. His last supper and the first communion on the night of Holy Thursday. The overnight legal drama, torture, and judicial murder of Jesus through crucifixion on Friday. Leading to the empty tomb and the appearance of the resurrected Jesus to his disciples on Sunday, there are many points to engage with this story.

Saturday, that day of sorrow and silence and Mystery, of hope against all the evidence of our broken experience, may be overlooked in the preparations for Easter Sunday. It leads the Great Vigil service that begins to turn toward the good news of new life. In the Western Church, the liturgy turns to certain key texts from the Hebrew Bible to point the way to the Jesus the Messiah. It is a familiar service, one I hold dear, and I went tonight to hear that old, old story. And I did, but in an unexpected way.

It is a baptismal service, and new disciples commit their lives to Christ's way. However they do so before the good news is announced, before the healing sacrificial meal of communion, before the announcement that Christ is risen. That's trust.

Tonight before that good news story, we heard that by his resurrection, we are delivered from the power of our enemy. We prayed that we may die daily to sin and live evermore with God. And then we sang the good news: "Jesus loves me, this I know." It was not just sentimentality for this church song of my childhood1 that brought tears to my eyes and to my worship. We sang it like we knew it was true. Imagine. Imagine a love divine, yet so personal that it desires to gather everyone into a kingdom of peace, where love is the answer, and forgiveness the door to new life.

We have no trouble finding doors shut tight. We can wait a loooong time, grieving loss, and lacking hope. But what are we waiting for?

The power that lets loose the chains which bind. The power which finds the lost, heals those in sickness, reconciles broken relationships. The truth that there is a place for us. Why wait? "Jesus loves me, this I know."

Christ is Risen. Risen indeed.

Credits:
Christ crucified, wood carving. Anonymous. Photo by Paul Bellan-Boyer, 4/4/2024.

Footnotes:
1. Israel & New Breed - Yes, Jesus Loves Me feat Joe L Barnes (Official Video)

But for the central point, the lyrics are flexible. "Jesus loves me, this I know" is not negotiable. But I know this love more from Helen, and Otto, and Esther, and Ray, and Mabel, and John, and a whole host of others. The Bible 'splains this love - but it's made real person-to-person. Just like Jesus did. ↩

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