Lutheran Church of the Resurrection

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The shepherd had gone missing for three days. The sheep responded as sheep do when they realize that they’re on their own with no one to lead them, no one to protect them, no one to provide for them. They froze in fear and had a nervous breakdown.

But the shepherd is not gone forever. Only three days. Now, Christ is risen! (He is risen indeed). And He comes to His sheep to calm their fears. “Peace to you!” He simply wants them to know that He has returned and everything’s going to okay because He is present with them and no harm will come to them.

It’s taken me some time to realize this and apply it to my own life and to yours when we talk together about the things that worry us and scare us and we have our little nervous breakdowns over. There is great comfort simply in knowing that the resurrected Christ is present with us. The world doesn’t have to change, our situation doesn’t have to change, the danger may still be just as present as it was, but it’s okay and we can get on with our life and actually live, if we believe that the risen Christ is present with us. For us, for now, that’s enough. (more…)

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Each of the six Sundays that follow Easter Sunday have been given a Latin name which describes the theme for the Church’s worship on that Sunday. Names like, “Misericordias Domini,” and “Jubilate,” and “Cantate,” and “Rogate,” and “Exaudi,” roll off the tongue, and we’ll try to follow them in our Easter worship this year.

Today, the 2nd Sunday after Easter, has what I think is the most delightful name. This is “Quasimodogeniti Sunday.” “Quasimodo” makes me think of of the “hunchback of Notre Dame.” Literally, the word means, “like newborn infants.” So, this is “like newborn infant” Sunday.

The word comes from 1 Peter 2:2, which reads, “Like newborn infants, long for pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up to salvation.”

The historical connections here are deep and rich. In the Early Church, the Catechumens were baptized on Easter Eve. (So Elise, you’re about a week late. But better late than never!) The newly baptized were given white robes to wear, symbolizing the righteousness of Christ that they had put on in their baptism. They were to wear this robe for a week. After 8 days, or the 2nd Sunday after Easter, they took off their white robes and put on their street clothes again. And as they did so, they would be admonished with the words of Peter, “Like newborn infants, long for pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up to salvation.” (more…)

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What a difference there is between our celebration of Easter here and that of those who experienced Easter for the first time at the tomb. We’ve come here this morning fully expecting that we will not find things still shrouded in the darkness of death as they were when we left here on Good Friday. But the three women went to the tomb on that first Easter morning fully expecting to find nothing else but the dead body of Jesus in the tomb where they had seen Him laid.

We have come here with our all four chambers of our heart, fully loaded, just waiting for the signal so we can fire off that response we’ve been waiting for the last 40 days with - “He is risen!” “He is risen indeed!” But when the women heard the angel say “He is risen” “they fled for trembling and astonishment and they said nothing to anyone for they were afraid.”

We ought not judge them too harshly for their rather disappointing reaction to the angel’s announcement. If there’s one thing that St. Mark picks up on that the other gospel writers seem to miss, it’s that whenever anyone stumbles upon God’s miraculous interruption of the normal process of death and dying, it always causes more fear than joy.

We would have expected that when Jesus calmed the stormy sea, the disciples would have responded with a ‘praise the Lord.’ But instead, Mark tells us, “they were filled with great fear.” (4:41). We might have expected that when Jesus exorcized the legion of demons from the man and sent them into the heard of pigs, the people who witnessed it might have said, ‘Jesus, come with me. I have a crazy uncle I’d like you to meet.’ But no, “the were afraid of Him and asked Him to leave town.” (5:15). When Jesus walked on the water to get to His disciples who were sailing against the wind, instead of greeting Him with a, “great to see you,” “they all saw him and were terrified.” (6:50). (more…)

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John reports that while Jesus was still hanging on the cross, the Roman soldiers were ordered to speed up the normal dying process for the crucified. In this particular case it was because the Jews had petitioned Pilate that the bodies be taken away because the Sabbath day was about to begin, this being a very special Sabbath day marking the end of the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Passover. Like many in our own day, they must have felt that having to look at a crucifix was not conducive to upbeat and inspiring worship. The standard practice was to break the legs of the crucified thus disabling the legs from bearing some of the weight of the body and forcing the chest to compress down on the lungs, making it impossible to breath, resulting in suffocation. This is what happened to the two criminals crucified with Jesus.

When it was obvious that the body on the cross was already dead however, standard procedure was to pierce the side with a spear for good measure. This is what happened with Jesus. John reports the details like this, “But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.”

The blood and water from the side of the crucified body of Christ had a strong impact on John. This is an important detail not to be missed. Making sure that we don’t, he writes, “He who saw it has borne witness - his testimony is true, and he knows that he is telling the truth - that you also may believe.” (John 19:34-35). (more…)

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The wise men came from the east in search of a king. “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews?” they asked. They looked for Him at the royal palace, but He wasn’t there. A star led them to the house of one Joseph and Mary and a child named Jesus. Not exactly the kind of king they were looking for, but when they saw Him, “they opened their treasures, and offered him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.” (Matthew 2:2, 9-12).

The gold came in pretty handy when Joseph was told to take Mary and the baby Jesus to Egypt. Israel was given gifts of gold by the Egyptians as they fled from Pharaoh. Now, the New Israel was given gifts of gold as He fled from Herod.

But what’s with the frankincense and myrrh? Incense and spices like these were only used for one thing really. This is what was used to pack around a dead body to cover the smell of decomposing flesh. This is what the women were bringing to the tomb on that 1st Easter morning. A strange gift to give a king. (more…)