Easter Worship Series: Jesus of John’s Gospel
We are over two weeks into the Easter season, which is a good time to remind ourselves of why Easter is a season and not only one Sunday. We are in a 50-day period in which we remember the 40 days that Jesus walked the earth after his resurrection, his ascension into heaven, and the ten days that followed leading up to Pentecost.
If you fasted from anything during the Lenten season, the Easter season is the perfect opportunity to take up something in celebration. Tsh Oxenreider, whose devotional book, Bitter & Sweet, was my companion during Lent, described these two seasons well: “Lent is for fasting; Easter is for feasting.”
How will you feast on God’s goodness for these fifty days?
In worship we’ll do so by spending time with the apostle who knew both fasting & feasting better than anyone. The apostle, John, was known as “the beloved disciple,” and many people would say that his gospel and letters are among the Bible’s most beloved books. I often recommend that people who are reading the Bible for the first time to start with John. John not only saw Jesus transfigured in all his glory, but he also spent Jesus’ last, horrific 24 hours tending to Jesus’ mother, Mary. He witnessed the best and the worst, and he took the time to tell us what we need to know.
Don’t we all have the same responsibility as the beloved disciple, to tell people how we’ve seen Jesus and what we have seen?
May is a busy month for many of us, and let us not allow the noise to silence our “Alleluia!” Now is the time more than ever to keep declaring, “He is risen!”
all good things to each of you,
Dr Darian
Lectionary Texts for Sunday, May 8, 2022
Acts 9:36-43
Psalm 23
Revelation 7:9-17
John 10:22-30