Monday April 18 Easter Monday
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Psalm 93
A psalm of praise to God who is forever and who makes the world secure. “The waters lifted up their voice” means that although the raging sea (the original chaos) is threatening to drown everything, God’s voice is stronger. Appropriate for a Sunday when we celebrate God’s victory in the resurrection.
The raging sea can be circumstances in our lives, in our inner life, or in the life of the world.
Psalm 98
The people, the nations, and the whole of creation delight in God’s victory and rejoice when God comes to put all creation right. This psalm is used at Easter, and is often used on Sundays, mini-anniversaries of Easter. There is some lovely imagery of the sea deliberately making a noise with its waves and rivers doing the same by clapping their hands.
Exodus 12.14-27 What’s Exodus about?
God continues to give instructions about how the Passover is to be celebrated, and Moses gives detailed instructions about how the lambs’ blood is to be applied to the doorposts. These detailed instructions and repeated admonitions to make this rite an annual observance probably come from a much later time after the people were in the land and imagined Moses giving such a speech.
Early Christians, all being Jews, used passages like these to explain why Jesus was important—as a lamb that saves the world by being killed. Details of that first Passover meal became the basis for the annual Passover meal still celebrated in Judaism. Jesus celebrated such a meal the night before his crucifixion and that has now become the Christian eucharist. In Easter week we celebrate the victory accomplished in Jesus’ death and resurrection over all evil.
Mark 16.1-8 What’s Mark about?
Mark’s account of the resurrection is the earliest. Notice that Jesus is not actually seen, and that the message is that the disciples will experience him in Galilee—the community where he lived. The description ends abruptly and if this gospel was originally recited aloud as a play, then the abrupt ending may be a transition in which the the group of listeners were invited to take the form of the risen Jesus—the early community was to become the risen Body of Christ. That makes much sense in our time when we are called to become the risen Christ for a world in fear.
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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