Christ is risen! Alleluia!
After the more somber and contemplative weeks of Lent, it has been exciting and joyous to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ at Christ Lutheran Church on Easter Day and on into the 50 days of the Easter season.
The word that really caught my attention in our gospel reading on Easter Sunday was the little word - 'but.' The dictionary says that BUT is "a grammatical word used in the middle or at the beginning of a sentence to introduce something that is true in spite of seeming contrary to what has just been said."
And isn't that just what we find in our continuing Easter story? As Karl Barth once put it - "the gospel is not a natural therefore, but a miraculous nevertheless."
Resurrection breaks all the old rules. Its message is so dramatic and so unusual that it shatters all the old expectations: Death is no longer the winner. Death doesn't have the final say. Death is not victorious because it has been conquered by life - life so abundant and full that it couldn't be held in a cold tomb.
Resurrection surprises us with the truth of God's tremendous love for us - a love that will go to any length or depth - even through death itself - in order to bring us life.
Blessing, Pastor Judy
