May Pastoral Devotion – The Second Day of the Week

Read Luke 24:36-53
The Easter narrative makes us fully aware of what happened on the first day of the week. Women went to Jesus’ tomb and found he was not dead; he was raised. The news spread throughout that first day of the week with Jesus appearing to his disciples and two people on the road to Emmaus. Easter changes lives, but for our world today, what are we to make of Easter on the second day of the week?
On Easter Sunday, churches were filled with worshipers. On the second day of the week, with the chorus of Jesus Christ is risen today!” fresh in its ears, the world returned to work. With images of the resurrection still vivid in the minds of believers, how long is it before doubt once again creeps back into the forefront?
Throughout the succeeding Sundays of the Easter season, the daily struggle of earthly life has returned in force. For so many, worry returns, grief remains, relationships are still broken, and death looms on the horizon. Living in the midst of brokenness, some forget that because of Easter, these things no longer have power over God’s people. In the face of such sin and death, we have the promise of life in God’s kingdom.
The events of the first day of the week set the tone for life in the face of death, forgiveness in the face of sin and certainty in the face of doubt. We are several weeks beyond our Easter Sunday celebration, but one thing remains true and certain: through his death and resurrection, Jesus conquered the powers that defy God. On the first day of the week, and everyday here after, God’s people are witnesses to these things. To quote an Easter hymn, “Christ is alive, let Christians sing!”
Holy God, as we worship you on the first day pf the week, fill our hearts with Easter joy all the days of our lives. Amen