Easter Sunday — Riverbend Blog — Riverbend Community Church

Editor’s Note: Lent is a season of personal reflection. As Advent provides a time to prepare our hearts and minds to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Lent offers us time to reflect on our sin, and the need for our Savior’s death and resurrection on the cross.

This year, our weekly reflections have focused on the mercy of God. In His goodness, God has displayed mercy towards us from the start. He knew sin would enter the world and created a means to have right-standing with Him. As we each spend time remembering God’s mercy and His pursuit of us—from our sinfulness and need, to the institution of sacrifices for the Israelites, culminating with the perfect sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, we remember that God has been always kind, always just, always loving, always merciful.

As this Sunday is Easter, we wanted to spend some time focusing on “what next”? Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose again. So how now do we live in light of his work on the cross? In God’s mercy, He has not left us alone. After Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension, God sent the third person of the trinity, the Holy Spirit, to be our constant companion and advocate. Even before his death, Jesus knew this was the plan and shared that promise with his friends in the upper room.

Holy Spirit’s Indwelling

“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you”.
John 14:15-20

Reflect:

1. Describe the sense of comfort that this passage gives to you. Imagine Jesus’ voice saying these words to you, “[fill in your name], I will not leave you. I will come to you. Because I live in you, [your name], you will also live.”

2. So many scriptures contrast the life of the orphan and the life of a beloved child. Especially in our current world crises, we see images of orphans. What one or two specific things is Jesus asking you to do, knowing that you are not an orphan, but you have the Holy Spirit in you?

Paul describes the reality that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit brings in Romans 8: 1-2, 6-11:

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death…The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.”

1. This scripture is both convicting and invigorating in its contrast of the flesh and the Spirit. What do you notice about the differences? In your own life what do you notice when your flesh is more obvious? What do you notice when the indwelling spirit is in evidence?

2. Both the passage in John 14 and Romans 8 talk about Christ giving us life. What does that mean to you, especially if your own physical body is failing? Or someone you know is declining physically?

Prayer:

A prayer adapted from “Every Moment Holy, vol. 11” by Douglas McKelvey

“Oh Lord, you have appointed us to live in these very places, in these unsettled times. It is no surprise to you that we are here now, sharing in the turmoil. You have called us to be salt and light, to be your agents of forgiveness, salvation, healing, reconciliation, and hope. And in these holy vocations, you have not left us helpless. You have not left us at all. Your Spirit indwells us. Holy Spirit, equip us now for your work, this day. To all you have prepared for us, to the new and next, we say Yes.”

Additional scripture: Consider reading the verses above in their full chapter context (John 14 and Romans 8). You many also want to read and think about Jeremiah 31: 31-34

“And then, on Easter Sunday, God broke the silence. He awoke. He spoke. And for those of us who walk (however reluctantly) in Jesus’ footsteps from Gethsemane and Golgotha to the Garden tomb, Easter Sunday offers irrepressible hope. That one ultimate miracle—the resurrection of the Son of God from the dead—assures us that every buried dream and dashed hope will ultimately be absorbed and resurrected into a reality far greater than anything we can currently imagine.” Pete Greig, God on Mute

The resurrection of Jesus Christ is why we celebrate Easter every year. Jesus was crucified, buried, and rose again. Death had been defeated once and for all. It is truly something to celebrate. Churches fill with triumphal music, they are donned with flowers that signal hope and new life, we feast with our families and rejoice, “He is risen! He is risen indeed!” And yet, if we look to the Sunday that immediately followed the crucifixion, rather than celebration, we find fear, trepidation, disbelief, and doubt.

The women who were the first witnesses of His resurrection were told by the angels, “Don’t be afraid…” and that, “…they were frightened but also filled with great joy.” (Matthew 28:1-10)

The guards that witnessed the resurrection were fearful, so they told the priests what happened. The news concerned the elders and the priests who met and decided to offer a bribe to the soldiers to tell others that Jesus’ disciples stole the body during the night. They could not be proven wrong that Jesus was who he proclaimed to be. (Matthew 28: 11-15)

“The women fled from the tomb, trembling and bewildered, and they said nothing to anyone because they were too frightened.”
“When she [Mary Magdalene] told them that Jesus was alive and she had seen him, they didn’t believe her.”
“He appeared in a different form to two of his followers who were walking from Jerusalem into the country. They rushed back to tell the others, but no one believed them.
“Still later he appeared to the eleven disciples they were eating together. He rebuked them for their stubborn unbelief because they refused to believe those who had seen him after he had been raised from the dead.” (Mark 16:8-14)
“That Sunday evening, the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders.” (John 20:19)

I find it so interesting and comforting that two events in history—Christmas and Easter—that we now celebrate as joyous events were originally marked with people who wrestled with disbelief, doubt, and having to be reminded, “Do not be afraid.” It’s easy to read these accounts and not understand how His disciples struggled so much with disbelief of His resurrection when they walked with Him daily and He told them specifically that these things would happen.

And yet…how often are my days riddled with fear and anxiety, causing me to forget His promises to me? How often do I allow my cynicism and skepticism to take over my mind because of past disappointments, losses, and hurts that cause me to question if God is good and whether or not He can actually be trusted? How often do I scroll through news and social media feeds and see a broken world, with broken systems, injustices, and violence, and too easily give up hope? How often do I see my own failures and shortcomings, and the shame and guilt whisper lies to me that I am unworthy of His love?

But as we look at Jesus’s response to those closest to Him as they grappled with the events surrounding the resurrection, we see how with each doubt, disbelief, and fear, He comes close. He walks with them on the road to Emmaus; He allows them to touch His scars; He eats with them; He calls them by name. And as He comes close, that is when they finally see - they recognize how He calls them by name (“Mary!” John 20:16), they were filled with joy when they saw the Lord (John 20:20), their hearts burned within them, and when they broke bread their eyes were opened (Luke 24:30-32).

As I come close to my Father and spend time with Him, He opens my eyes to really see Him and how the power of His resurrection transforms everything for me. He takes my fear and anxiety and gently reminds me of His promises, His faithfulness, and quiets my fears with His love. He takes my cynicism, skepticism, hurt and disappointment and sits with me in the doubt and sadness. I am reminded that while I may have to endure suffering in this life, He IS with me and can provide a supernatural peace and joy. He shows me the broken world, broken systems, and broken people, and shows me that it was in His death and resurrection that wholeness and restoration are now possible. He is establishing a new kingdom where all things will be made new. He takes my failures, shortcomings, shame and guilt, and reminds me that I am His beloved child and that because of Jesus, He only sees righteousness, holiness. He tells me I am worthy and that nothing can ever separate me from His love.

So, as we celebrate Easter and the resurrection of Jesus, may we know that we can come to Him with our fears, doubts, and disbelief, but may we also not forget to come close to Him, look at His scars, and be reminded that His perfect love came to cast out all fear. And that is truly reason to celebrate. He is risen…He is risen indeed!