EASTER DAY
(The Sunday of the Resurrection)
Readings:
Key Verses (using the World English Bible):
Col. 3:1: “If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is.”
John 20:9: “As yet [Peter and the other disciple] didn’t know the Scripture, that [Christ] must rise from the dead.”
Reflection
The quest for freedom is a central theme in epic film genre. The agonizing cry of “FREEDOM!” in Braveheart (1995); Hector’s declaration in Troy (2004) that “no son of Troy will ever submit to a foreign ruler”; Marcus Aurelius’ charge to Maximus in Gladiator (2000) that he “give power back to the people of Rome”, freeing it from “the corruption that has crippled it”; King Arthur’s vow in the 2004 film to win “the gift of freedom” for his knights, and the subsequent rebuilding of a new society, independent of Rome; even the 1996 sci-fi film Independence Day, where humanity prevails against aliens on July 4th, the United States’ Day of Independence —all of these equate freedom with independence, portraying these as the chief prize of any people, or of any one person, even when the goal seems like an elusive, hopeless, and even dangerous one.
We find this same goal in the Bible, in the epic narrative of our received Hebrew Scripture: the Exodus. But whereas, like in the examples above, we think of freedom as getting to do whatever we want because we don’t depend on anyone else, the Bible has a very different idea. This disagreement surfaces in the classic 1956 film, The Ten Commandments, where Dathan defiantly tells Moses: “We will not live by your commandments! We are free!” Moses replies, “There is no freedom without the Law.” Biblical freedom is more than just independence.
And yet the Bible recognizes the importance of both. That Israel must become independent from Egypt before they can serve God reflects an all too human reality. God indeed is everywhere, but it’s nearly impossible for us to find and serve God—to find and serve goodness, wholeness, love, and peace—when we are oppressed, stressed, and everything in between. Passover, the story of the Exodus, forces us to consider, as a society, those systems which we have put in place to keep people down, to subjugate and imprison them to poverty, debt, materialism, elitism, prejudice, etc.; in which we rob each other of the freedom to be the people we are meant to be, the people whom God wills us to be. Biblical freedom is the independence from the worst parts of ourselves in order to become dependent only on God, our true freedom.
But what happens when we can’t escape the worst parts of ourselves? The delivered Israelites, who witnessed firsthand all of God’s wonders, still fell into sin, strife, and even idolatry on their journey. Millennia later, Roman-oppressed Judeans who saw Jesus’ miracles and healings eventually cried out for his crucifixion. But the death of Jesus inevitably leads to his resurrection, and to the promise of Easter, which we celebrate today. And that promise is that God is also found in our worst selves: betrayal, mockery, abandonment, and execution. God in Christ meets us right where we are, in the midst of whatever “Egypt” we find ourselves in, reminding us that we can find, serve, and love him there too. No place can separate us from God, and the love God has towards us—not even death.
The stories of Passover and Easter are complementary, not exclusive. One cannot exist without the other in our tradition. And their good news, their joint testimony is that God—Life, the Universe, whatever you prefer—wants us, all of us, every being, to be free both in body and in spirit. God opens our whole selves, again and again, to rise above any obstacle, and win freedom, wholeness, and new life.
Alleluia! Christ is risen! Happy Easter!
Prayer of the Day
Almighty God,
through your only-begotten Son Jesus Christ,
you have overcome death,
and opened to us the gate of everlasting life.
We humbly pray you that,
as by your special grace preceding us
you put good desires into our minds,
so by your continual help
we may bring the same to good effect;
through the same Jesus Christ our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
Amen.
—Collect for Easter Day from the Book of Common Prayer, 1662
O God,
you make us glad with the yearly celebration
of the resurrection of your beloved Son.
Grant in your favor that we,
running the course of the temporal feasts,
may be made worthy to reach the everlasting joys;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
—Collect for Easter Day, Gelasian Sacramentary, 5th century, translated by Joseph A. Soltero, 2015
Hymn 1: “This joyful Eastertide”
(Words: George R. Woodward, 1848-1934, stanza 2, and final refrain adapted by Joseph A. Soltero, 2015
Tune: ‘Vruechten’, from Psalmen, 1685; harmony by Charles Wood, 1866-1926)
This joyful Eastertide,
Away with sin and sorrow!
My love, the Crucified
Has sprung to life this morrow.
Had Christ, who once was slain,
Not burst his three-day prison,
Our faith had been in vain,
But now is Christ arisen, arisen, arisen!
Death’s flood has lost its chill
Since Jesus crossed the river.
Lover of souls, from ill
My passing soul deliver.
Had Christ, who once was slain,
Not burst his three-day prison,
Our faith had been in vain,
But now is Christ arisen, arisen, arisen!
My flesh in hope shall rest,
And for a season slumber,
Till trump from east to west
Shall wake the dead in number.
For Christ, who once was slain,
Has burst the three-day prison:
Our faith is not in vain!
For now is Christ arisen, arisen, arisen!
Hymn 2: “Jesus Christ is risen today! Alleluia!”
(Words: ‘Surrexit Christus hodie’, Latin, 14th century; 1st translation, Lyra Davidica, by John Walsh, 1708; stanzas 1-3 altered in The Compleat Psalmist, by John Arnold, 1749; stanza 4 added by Charles Wesley in Hymns and Sacred Poems, 1740.
Tune: ‘Easter Hymn’, from Lyra Davidica, adapted by The Compleat Psalmist, descant from Hymns Ancient and Modern, Revised, 1950)
Jesus Christ is ris’n today! Alleluia!
Our triumphant holy day! Alleluia!
Who did once, upon the cross—Alleluia!
Suffer to redeem our loss. Alleluia!
Hymns of praise then let us sing—Alleluia!
Unto Christ, our heav’nly King—Alleluia!
Who endured the cross and grave—Alleluia!
Sinners to redeem and save. Alleluia!
But the pains which he endured—Alleluia!
Our salvation have procured—Alleluia!
Now above the sky, he’s King—Alleluia!
Where the angels ever sing. Alleluia!
Sing we to our God above—Alleluia!
Praise eternal as his love! Alleluia!
Praise him, all you heav’nly host—Alleluia!
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost! Alleluia!
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