Thought for the day – Easter Sunday 12th April 2020
One of my favourite resurrection narratives in the New Testament is the passage in John’s Gospel (John 20:19-29) which depicts the events towards the end of the first Easter Sunday. After the momentous events of that early morning in the Garden Tomb it appears that the followers of Jesus are now in ‘lockdown’; the Gospel writer says that ‘the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews…’ After the events of Holy Week and specifically the arrest and crucifixion of their leader Jesus, the disciples are paralysed by fear. The joyful discovery of an empty tomb had given way to a natural desire for self-preservation and the only place where they felt safe was in the locked security of the upper room of meeting!
How fitting it is that Christ appears to transcend their fears and move amongst them and he does so as the one who is clearly identifiable as the risen and crucified Lord. (v.20) Suddenly they are confronted with Easter faith; he who has died has risen; where there was only death new life has now emerged and where there was only despair hope now reigns! Christ breaths on them and imparts the breath of God’s new life in the gift and presence of the Holy Spirit and most importantly he offers the gift of God’s abiding peace – the peace that stills anxious hearts and the eternal peace that will remain with them for ever. (v.21).
As we celebrate Easter Day in 2020 it is very likely that we shall still be experiencing the tight restrictions of a national ‘lockdown’ in the light of the viral pandemic COVID -19. In consequence of this, many of the things we naturally associate with Easter will not happen in the usual way; we shall not gather physically with God’s people to proclaim our Easter joy and we shall not partake as one body in the Lord’s Supper. This can leave us feeling bereft and bewildered and we suffer the pain of a people who are sacramentally deprived. All of this is difficult but let us not despair! Let us believe that Christ crucified and risen will come amongst us and that he will make himself known to us in our ‘lockdown’ state of being; that in the midst of our inevitable fear and apprehension, Christ will speak his abiding peace into our hearts and into the hearts of those whom we love. Let us trust that even in these strange times, the Risen Christ will breathe new life, purpose and hope as we receive the gift of his presence in the Holy Spirit.
May God bless you and keep you always,
Julian