This week we’re looking at the final Easter story in Luke 24. Jesus appears on Easter night to his closest friends and gives all his followers – including us – the identity and mission of being Easter Witnesses. This happens whenever the reality of Jesus’ resurrection is received with faith. May we take on the mission in our words and our actions!
This week we’re continuing the Easter story in Luke 24 on the road to Emmaus. The newly risen Jesus joins two of his followers as they walk, but they are kept from recognizing him. Jesus responds to their dashed hopes by opening the Old Testament to them to teach them about himself as they walk, which sets their hearts on fire. Yet it is only at the evening meal when Jesus breaks bread are their eyes opened to recognize him. May we have a living encounter with the risen Savior as we encounter him in both Word and sacrament!
On that first Easter Sunday morning, Jesus’ friends went to his tomb expecting to anoint his dead body. Instead, a pair of angels asked them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” That’s the meaning of Easter: Jesus is alive! He was that first Easter morning, and he is today. As we celebrate resurrection, we should ask ourselves if we are looking for a living Jesus today, or have we set our sights too low? Christ is risen; he is risen indeed!
Joy is not the absence of pain, rather it is experiencing the presence of God whatever the circumstances may be. In that way, joy is an attitude that we adopt based on our hope in God’s love and promises. During Advent we remember the joy that was born into the world through Jesus, and base our joy in the love of the One who conquered even death so that we may live fully now and in eternity. Joy to the world, the Lord is come!
Getting right with God is the beginning of the Christian life. But as supremely important that is, it is only the beginning. As we grow up in our faith – as we surely must if our faith is genuine – we face many trials and challenges, as well as many joys. Discipline is God’s way of pruning us to produce the fruit of our faith. When the Holy Spirit works in our lives to prune us, He generates the fruit of the Spirit. And love is the first in the list of that fruit (Gal 5:22). God is calling each and every one of us to love – to love God and to love our neighbor. How can we participate in growing that fruit? Jesus tells us how in parable – to remember just how much we have been forgiven: those who are forgiven much, love much; but those who have been forgiven little, loves little.