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Morning Devotion for Easter

April 10, 2023

Invitatory

If then you have been raised with Chris, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son: and to the Holy Ghost;

As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be: world without end. Amen.

Reading - Matthew 28:9-15

Jesus met Mary Magdalene and the other Mary and said, "Greetings!" And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me." While they were going, some of the guard went into the city and told the chief priests everything that had happened. After the priests had assembled with the elders, they devised a plan to give a large sum of money to the soldiers, telling them, "You must say, `His disciples came by night and stole him away while we were asleep.' If this comes to the governor's ears, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble." So they took the money and did as they were directed. And this story is still told among the Jews to this day.

Meditation - Winnie Smith

When thinking about Holy Week, I always gravitate towards Maundy Thursday and Good Friday more than Easter. I love the drama that plays out over those days, and for me, it is the much more relatable series of events. Jesus is most human on the night he shares dinner with friends, washes their feet, and is betrayed by them. He asks his friends to stay awake with him in the garden while he prays, and they fail him, falling asleep and leaving him alone. He prays to God in the garden that “this cup pass from [him]’ (Matt 26:39), despite knowing that his fate is sealed. And then he is handed over to Pontius Pilate, forced to carry his cross, and eventually feels the excruciating pain of crucifixion. On Thursday and Friday, Jesus is most human, and his raw emotion is relatable for us.

Easter, however, is unbelievable. I mean that literally: it is beyond belief. I have never witnessed resurrection, nor can I picture it. I have felt the stinging loss of family members dying, and I cannot fathom the idea of them reappearing a couple of days after their deaths. We say someone looks “as though they have seen a ghost” when they appear horrified or shocked, so it is natural that that is how the Marys feel when Jesus appears before them. It is fitting, then, that Jesus’s first words to them are “do not be afraid.” Those were also the angel’s first words when it descended from heaven and sat on the stone outside the empty tomb. Fear is the most obvious response to something so incredible, so absurd. Jesus was dead and he is now alive, and nothing about that is relatable or comprehensible.

Today’s appointed collect is short and simple. “Grant, we pray, Almighty God, that we who celebrate with awe the Paschal feast may be found worthy to attain to everlasting joys; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.” I found a definition of “awe” that I quite like: the feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear or wonder. That just about perfectly sums up my reaction to the resurrection. Fear of something so otherworldly, wonder at how it worked, and deep reverence for the man who was willing to go through pain and torment on Thursday and Friday and for God whose power to transform that life and the whole world are more than I can grasp.

Collect for Monday in Easter Week

Grant, we pray, Almighty God, that we who celebrate with awe the Paschal feast may be found worthy to attain to everlasting joys; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.