Rejoice in the Lord always
Friends in the Risen Lord,
today we are in the beautiful Octave of Easter, in which each day is celebrated as a ‘Little Easter.’
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On the 1st Easter morning, when the women went to the tomb to anoint the Lord, they instead found that an angel had rolled the stone away from the tomb, and were told: ‘Do not be afraid. Jesus has risen.’
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We read today that as they were on their return, Jesus met them, and spoke to them.
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We notice three things from these events: First, the women were exhorted by the angel to BELIEVE, to have faith. The Lord’s resurrection, after such a brutal and final death – his resurrection surely felt too good to be true. The angel told them that Jesus had risen AS HE SAID he would. Christ’s promises are gold, we can trust his promises. He has resurrected, he promises us, that if follow him as his disciples, we will do the same. So we are urged to have Faith.
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The 2nd thing we notice, is that when they meet Jesus, he urges them to SHARE this Good News. ‘Go tell my brethren,’ he said. The Gospel must be shared. God has made these promises to us of the glorious, resurrected life ahead if we follow in Jesus way; it is imperative that we share this faith with our family, friends, co-workers – everyone that God puts in our path. And we often know in our conscience, when the Lord has put someone in our path.
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There is a 3rd thing we can notice also today. When Jesus meets the women it says that he ‘greeted them.’ Some translations say, he said ‘Hail.’ This is the Greek word Χαίρετε, which was the normal word for greeting someone. But the literal meaning of the word is ‘Rejoice!’ That is what we do this week, during this Easter Octave, rejoice. And when we think of all that Jesus has done for us, how can we not rejoice?
