A Concord Pastor Comments: Happy Easter

Icon of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women

At daybreak on the first day of the week 
the women who had come from Galilee with Jesus 
took the spices they had prepared
and went to the tomb.
They found the stone rolled away from the tomb;
but when they entered,
they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
While they were puzzling over this, behold,
two men in dazzling garments appeared to them.
They were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground. 
They said to them,
“Why do you seek the living one among the dead?
He is not here, but he has been raised.
Remember what he said to you while he was still in Galilee, 
that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners
and be crucified, and rise on the third day.”
And they remembered his words.
Then they returned from the tomb
and announced all these things to the eleven
and to all the others.
The women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James;
the others who accompanied them also told this to the apostles,
but their story seemed like nonsense
and they did not believe them.
But Peter got up and ran to the tomb, 
bent down, and saw the burial cloths alone;
then he went home amazed at what had happened.

- Luke 24

A story some 2,000 years old - and yet the words still ring true today.

We're still often afraid and we still need to hear the angel's message... w'ere still among those seeking Jesus, crucified and risen... we still have questions about his life, his death, his rising... we're sometimes afraid and sometimes joyful... Like Peter, we're often not easy to convince and dismiss so much as nonsense...What will help us grow in faith and belief as we celebrate Easter this year?

Happy Easter to all!

Listen to the whole piece - it's beautiful and one of my favorite Easter songs!