Wednesday April 20 Easter Wednesday
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Psalm 97
God’s power in creation is an expression of God’s commitment to justice—righteousness and justice are the foundations of God’s throne and therefore of all creation. We can count on God to uphold those who are without power as surely as we experience enormous power in creation. A wonderful image for our age when science shows us so much power in creation – dignity and justice are equally embedded.
Psalm 99
God’s justice was shown in the way God rescued the people from slavery and cared for them throughout history. Praise the Lord!
Exodus 12.40-51 What’s Exodus about?
God continues to describe to Moses and Aaron exactly how the Passover is to be carried out. The commands about who is to be included are notable for their generosity—circumcision is required, but with that caveat anyone can participate in the Passover, even non-Jews who had never been promised the land. (The only exception is those who have no intention of being part of the Israelite community—those who have hired themselves out or who are legally required to pay off debts.).
If the God of justice and inclusion has decided to rescue the slave people from oppression, then they, too, must include everyone who wishes in the rescue, even non-believers. It would have been an astonishing claim then, and still is, that God extends rescue from oppression even for people who don’t believe in God.
Matthew 28.1-16 What’s Matthew about?
In Matthew’s gospel women arrive at the tomb and at that moment an angel rolls the stone back and the Roman guards are stunned into unconsciousness. As the women are running home to tell the good news, Jesus appears to them, telling them to send the disciples to Galilee where he will meet them.
As the story continues, the Roman soldiers were bribed by the Jewish leaders to say that they fell asleep and that the disciples stole Jesus’ body, instead of telling the truth that they were stunned by the resurrection. By the time Matthew’s gospel was written, opposition to disciples of Jesus was growing and this story probably grew up as a way of countering the opposition’s claim that there had never been a resurrection.
This week’s collect:
Lord of life and power,
through the mighty resurrection of your Son,
you have overcome the old order of sin and death
and have made all things new in him.
May we, being dead to sin
and alive to you in Jesus Christ,
reign with him in glory,
who with you and the Holy Spirit is alive,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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