Easter Sunday

Eric Huntsman concludes his series on Holy Week.

Χριστὸς ἀνέστη! Ἀληθῶς ἀνέστη!

Christ is risen. Hallelujah! Christ is risen indeed. That is how Christians all over the world have been greeting each other all over the world this morning, and it is how I wish to greet you as I bring my brief stint guest-posting here at BCC to an end.

The Herodian family tomb west of the Old City provides an idea of what Joseph of Arimathea's tomb would have looked like.

The Herodian family tomb west of the Old City provides an idea of what Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb would have looked like.

With the rays of the morning sun, the agony of Thursday, the pain and grief of Friday, and the separation of Saturday suddenly melted away in the joy of the first Easter. For millennia the term “Easter” has come to be synonymous with resurrection, hope, and the joyful refrain “He is risen!” So significant was the event of that Sunday morning that Christians since have celebrated it as “the Lord’s Day,” and it has become our weekly Sabbath, replacing the Saturday of the Old Testament. As a result, while the week leading up to and including Easter is a wonderful time to commemorate and reflect upon the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ, it is something we celebrate as a church family every week. Indeed, the covenants that we renew each Sunday enjoin us to remember him always.

The accounts of the resurrection in the four gospels serve as the foundation of our understanding of the rise of our Lord from the tomb. They paint for us a dramatic story as the women found an empty tomb and heard the testimony of angels. The story crescendos as Peter and John confirm that the tomb was empty. First Mary, then the other women, and then two disciples converse with Jesus on the way to Emmaus. Finally the ten of the remaining eleven apostles see the Risen Lord. These and subsequent appearances confirm that Jesus in fact rose from the dead “with healing in his wings,” and though he ascended again into heaven, the gospels leave us with the assurance that in a very real way he remains here with us.

There is plenty to look at and listen to on my full blog entry for “Resurrection Sunday,” but here I simply want to share with my conviction that God so loved the world that he sent his Only Begotten Son, as a gift at his birth, a sacrifice at his death, and a source of hope at his resurrection.

Comments

  1. Your blog posts this week have helped me to make it an amazing spiritual week for me. Thank you very much.

  2. My word basically skipped Easter this year. A couple (beautiful) songs in sacrament. Speakers focused on missionary work. Classes were on a variety of topics. At least my family got together.

  3. Jason K. says:

    Thank you for contributing to a great Holy Week here at BCC!

  4. I spoke today and church and told everyone about my journey walking with the Lord during his last week. Next year I’m going to encourage my ward to do the same thing.

  5. James F. Cartwright says:

    What a pleasant surprise to find this today, though it is after Easter. I now participate in Lutheran church which follows the liturgical calendar with a service employing the historical music from the Medieval through the Renaissance, Baroque and Romantic to the modern compositions. All through the years of my Mormon activity I missed the liturgy of the Christian Church. I hope this leads to a greater enrichment of the Mormon experience.

%d bloggers like this: