After that day, everything was different. The first disciples witnessed a dead man walking. Their lives would be forever changed, defined by “life before Easter” and life “life after Easter.” On numerous occasions, Jesus showed up in resurrected form before he ascended. In the season of Easter we will examine six “after Easter” encounters with Jesus. What did he say and do? In what practical ways does resurrection change my daily life? Nothing will ever be the same.
Invocation
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Invitation
Lord Jesus, you once came to humanity in a rustic barn and a messy manger. Do not be distant from the rough places of our lives. We often find ourselves far from you. In mercy, come near to us, our Lord, Emmanuel; for you live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Confession
Forgive my sins, O Lord – forgive me the sins of my present and the sins of my past, the sins of my soul and the sins of my body; the sins which I have done to please myself, and the sins which I have done to please others. Forgive me my wasted and idle sins, forgive me my serious and deliberate sins, forgive me those sins which I know and those sins which I know not, the sins which I have labored so to hide from others that I have hid them from my own memory. Forgive them, O Lord, forgive them all.
Word
“As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” John 20:21b
Meditation
Today’s meditation is by Johanna Lange.
Poor Thomas. So many single him out as the “doubting” disciple when, really, all Jesus’ disciples fail to believe until they see the risen Lord for themselves.
Jesus had foretold his death and resurrection; both Peter and John had seen Jesus’ empty tomb; Mary Magdalene proclaimed that she had “seen the Lord!” — But the disciples don’t actually believe until Jesus is standing in the room with them, showing them the wounds in his hands and side.
Actually, throughout the Gospels, the disciples often struggle to comprehend that Jesus is the promised Messiah. In one poignant moment earlier in John’s Gospel, Jesus asks his disciple Philip, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me?” (14:9). Despite all they have seen and heard, the disciples just can’t seem to get it.
When the risen Jesus appears before them, the disciples’ Christian faith is brand new. Just moments before, they were gathered in fear of Jewish leaders, guilt-ridden over Jesus’ crucifixion, their minds desperate to make sense of his ministry in light of his death.
Yet, it is in this precise moment of doubt, fear, and confusion that Jesus sends them: “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”
How ill-equipped the disciples must have felt! How could they—still so immature in their understanding—carry on the ministry of the risen Christ?
Maybe you feel ill-equipped, too. I know I do. Even as I write this, I fear that my knowledge is too incomplete to comment on scripture in any meaningful way. Like the disciples on Easter morning, there is still so much about God that I don’t understand. Like the disciples, I struggle with doubt.
Yet, I am sent.
And so are you.
These verses remind me that the Holy Spirit has also prepared me to bring Jesus to others. Through the Holy Spirit, the imperfect, faith-flawed disciples went on to spread the Gospel to the far reaches of the world. In the same way, the Holy Spirit enables me to do so much more than I might imagine.
Dear Jesus, thank you for loving me in spite of the fear, doubt, and confusion that so often clouds my faith. Thank you for equipping me to do your work through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Benediction
And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4:7)