The Spirit of the Lord Is Upon Me

The women coming to care for Jesus’ body on that first Easter Sunday were perplexed to find the stone rolled away and his body gone. Then, two angels appeared and asked, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen!” (Luke 24:5)

The women left quickly to tell the others.

But sometimes, in the week after Easter, I wonder if we might leave the empty tomb too quickly… not necessarily to tell the others but to carry on with the busy-ness of our lives that have been interrupted significantly but briefly by the celebration of Easter. If we leave behind the good news too quickly, we may not be equipped to handle the gap between the promised joy of the resurrection and the practical difficulties of laying down our lives in a broken world. And we would not be the first of God’s people to wrestle with the difference between expectation and experience; in Isaiah 56-66, this was precisely the problem facing the exiles who had returned.

Fortunately, God has given us words and a way to live well in the gap. I’m looking forward to reading Isaiah 61 together and hearing what God has to say to us this week after Easter.