Easter Sunday: Revealed, Given, and Raised
For Meditation (Corey Widmer)
Easter comes to us each year with brightness and celebration— music, flowers, full rooms, and the familiar proclamation: Christ is risen! And yet, beneath the surface of all that joy, many of us arrive carrying a quieter, heavier reality. Some come with hope and anticipation. Others come with questions, fatigue, grief, or a sense that life feels more fragile than it should.
Into that mixed and very human space, Easter speaks a surprising and powerful word. The resurrection of Jesus is not simply the happy ending to a tragic story. It is God’s decisive declaration about the kind of world we live in, and the kind of King who reigns over it. In a world that often seems governed by power, control, and survival, Easter reveals a different way: the way of the risen and crucified Lamb. The one who was crucified in weakness is raised in power. The one who gave himself in love is now Lord of all.
And this means that the deepest realities of our world are not domination or fear, but self-giving love and resurrection life. This has profound implications for us. It means that our weakness is not a barrier to God’s work, but often the very place where his power is made known. It means that the things in our lives that feel like endings may not be the end at all. It means that we are invited not only to believe in the risen Jesus, but to entrust ourselves to him, and to begin living according to his way.
As you prepare for worship this Easter, come honestly. Bring your joy, your doubts, your burdens, your questions. And ask for the grace not only to celebrate the resurrection, but to encounter the risen Christ, and to hear his invitation to follow him into life.
Questions for Reflection and Discussion:
Where do you most feel the pressure to be “strong” or in control right now? How does that shape the way you respond to your circumstances?
When you think about your own areas of weakness, struggle, or limitation, do you tend to hide them, resist them, or bring them to God? Why?
The resurrection declares that “the Lamb wins”—that self-giving love is more powerful than domination or force. Where do you see the “way of the dragon” at work in your own life or in the world around you? What might it look like, in a very practical situation this week, to follow the “way of the Lamb” instead?
As you come to worship, what would it mean for you to honestly say: “Jesus, meet me here”? Where do you most need to encounter his presence today?
Matthew 28:1–10, 16–20
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.
There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”
So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me…”
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”