It Is Easter Today, And Next Sunday

Easter Sunday

Matthew 28:1-10

It is Easter today, and next Sunday

1* ¶ Now after the sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the sepulcher.

2* And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone, and sat upon it.

3* His appearance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow.

4* And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men.

5* But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.

6* He is not here; for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.

7* Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. Lo, I have told you."

8* So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.

9* And behold, Jesus met them and said, "Hail!" And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshiped him.

10 Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see me."

Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Saviour, Jesus who is the risen Christ. Amen

’ A preacher was telling the story about the death, burial and resurrection of Christ to a group of children. He asked, "What did Jesus say when he came forth from the grave"? He was trying to make the point that he didn’t need to say anything, that his wondrous miracle said more than words could ever say. A young lady however insisted that she knew what Jesus said. The preacher finally asked her to tell him what Jesus said. She smiled widely and said, "Ta Dah!"

Now I don’t know that Jesus actually said, if anything at all, but from a human standpoint I can imagine the excitement of just defying death and just perhaps Jesus doing something like that, (in part because I believe that Jesus had a human side as well as a sense of humor).

We are entering into a time of the year at which most of the religious world celebrates "Easter". It might surprise some of you to know that our church doesn’t do that. I know that it is hard for you to imagine someone claiming to be a Christian and yet not celebrating this very special day. Yet for us, it is no different than any other Sunday.

You see, the Bible tells us to come together the first day of each week to worship God. The early church did just that, Jesus told the early church to remember his death, burial and resurrection through the partaking of "The Lord’s Supper" or "Communion" whenever they met that way, (Matthew 26:26-29). The early church is seen coming together on the first day of every week to "break bread" or to partake of the Lord’s Supper, (Acts 20:7, 1 Corinthians 11:23-30, 16:1-2).

In other words, we don’t need one special Sunday to celebrate the resurrection of the "Savior of the World". We do it each and every "First day of the Week", every "Sunday". I know that some of you may ask the question, "Won’t doing that make it something that is no longer special? My answer is no, not at all, it is a continual reminder of the sacrifice Christ on our behalf. The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 11:26, "For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord’s death till he comes." Not only his death, but his resurrection, because that is part of what the Gospel is all about, (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).

I don’t know about you, but remembering "The Great Ta Dah" every week is great thing and a great comfort to me. My prayer is that you will see past the "pomp and circumstance" that so many heap upon this one special day of the year and understand that it is something you can participate in every Sunday with the same sense of awe.’ (1)

This is Easter Sunday the special day that we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, but at the same time it is like any other Sunday as each Sunday we come to this place to celebrate the risen Lord. For each Sunday is special in that regard. The first day of the week we come to celebrate the resurrection, the good news of the gospel that Jesus Christ as risen from the dead. For that is the good news we proclaim each Sunday. There is no other reason for us to gather together than that good news of the gospel that Jesus broke the bond of death and gives to each one who believes in him the hope and the power of the resurrection.