Easter Day
Devotional
Water From the Well
Lectionary Devotional For Cycle A
Object:
The Lord has punished me severely, but he did not give me over to death. Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the Lord.
-- Psalm 118:18-19
Portions of this same psalm were read for last Sunday. The emphasis in these selected verses is the celebration of the triumph of Jesus over death. The difficulty for many Protestant churches is that we move directly from the celebration of Palm Sunday and the triumphal entry to the celebration of the resurrection on Easter. The reason the Protestant church displays an empty cross is to emphasize the victory of God over death. However, sometimes in our rush to celebrate, we neglect to recognize the suffering of Christ that preceded this event. This is more clearly depicted in the crucifix that the Catholic church uses that shows Jesus still on the cross. When the psalmist said, "This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it," it is important for us to remember that Jesus entered that gate by way of the cross. One of the difficult struggles that the early Christians had to confront was accepting the fact that the Son of God had to suffer and die on the cross. If he were the beloved Son of God, why did God not intervene and protect him from such evil suffering? It is the parallel question to that of other believers who wonder why, if they were faithful, God permitted them to suffer. If God is good, why does God permit the good to suffer? It seems to contradict common sense. The cross is God's challenge to that worldly reasoning. "The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone." Jesus' experience of the cross transformed the human understanding of the way God works to effect God's purpose. "This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."
-- Psalm 118:18-19
Portions of this same psalm were read for last Sunday. The emphasis in these selected verses is the celebration of the triumph of Jesus over death. The difficulty for many Protestant churches is that we move directly from the celebration of Palm Sunday and the triumphal entry to the celebration of the resurrection on Easter. The reason the Protestant church displays an empty cross is to emphasize the victory of God over death. However, sometimes in our rush to celebrate, we neglect to recognize the suffering of Christ that preceded this event. This is more clearly depicted in the crucifix that the Catholic church uses that shows Jesus still on the cross. When the psalmist said, "This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it," it is important for us to remember that Jesus entered that gate by way of the cross. One of the difficult struggles that the early Christians had to confront was accepting the fact that the Son of God had to suffer and die on the cross. If he were the beloved Son of God, why did God not intervene and protect him from such evil suffering? It is the parallel question to that of other believers who wonder why, if they were faithful, God permitted them to suffer. If God is good, why does God permit the good to suffer? It seems to contradict common sense. The cross is God's challenge to that worldly reasoning. "The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone." Jesus' experience of the cross transformed the human understanding of the way God works to effect God's purpose. "This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."
