Easter Sunday

Trey Benfield

Luke 24:36-43 may be my favorite passage in the Bible. I have always been fascinated that, according to Luke, after Jesus rises from the dead Jesus appears to His disciples, ask if they have any food, and then eats some broiled fish.

Some of my earliest memories are of fish fries at my grandparent's house on Lake Norman. My grandfather and father loved to fish and I grew up fishing for crappie and bass and catfish. I hope to pass that on to my own children. They go out with me quite often and I tell them stories about fishing with their grandfather and great- grandfather.

Once, a few years ago, I decided I needed to get away. I took a ferry to a deserted island off the coast of North Carolina. During the day I would surf fish on the beach and then at night cook what I caught over my campfire. I imagine the disciples doing something similar preparing the fish in much the same way over their campfire on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.

However, this passage is more than just a superfluous detail given for the benefit of anglers like myself. You see Jesus' resurrection had not gone according to the script. Resurrection was a hope many Jews shared, but it was not supposed to happen this way. Resurrection was supposed to happen to everyone all at once, not to one person ahead of everyone else. Paul spends a lot of time explaining this deviation, and in his great chapter on resurrection in 1 Corinthians, calls Jesus the firstfruits of the resurrection.

Everything we know about what the resurrection is like is from the details of Jesus' appearances after Easter Sunday. Our entire dataset consists of an n of one. So what do we learn then about the resurrection from Jesus' post-resurrection appearances? I think we learn two things from this passage both of which have important implication for how we think about our world today.

First, Jesus shows the disciples his hand and his feet in order to show that He is still human and not a ghost. Presumably they would have seen the crucifixion wounds and recognized exactly who he was. What this means is that the resurrection is not a redo like a video game. Instead there is some kind of continuity between the old world and the new, resurrected life. This means that what we do now has importance. This life is not just a trial run.

Second, Jesus eats fish. Jesus is not a disembodied spirit. Jesus is still firmly participates in creation. Jesus is still enjoying creation. That means after we die, we don't simply float on clouds playing harps the way I grew up imagining heaven. Before I understood what this passage meant, the afterlife sounded like some eternal choir practice and I hated going to choir practice. What Jesus shows here in Luke is that the resurrected life means we can enjoy eating broiled fish.

The implication of both these points are much bigger than how great it is to eat fish. Both these points should change the way we think about our present life and our relationship with the world. The point of Easter is not to escape from this world to some sort of ethereal, spiritual plain. The resurrection is an affirmation of the creation. The resurrection means that God does not abandon creation, but instead God rescues creation.

This makes resurrection not an abstract doctrine, but one that changes the way we live and act in this world today. It means enjoying creation is not a guilty pleasure. It means caring for creation is not pointless. It means giving of ourselves to others is not a futile act. Instead we show the world the hope of resurrection by working for the new world in the present. This is our mission then - to practice resurrection.

Maundy Thursday

Tamzen Benfield

"Maundy Thursday" is a strange name, isn't it? The term comes from the phrase Mandatum novum, Latin for "new commandment," and refers to something Jesus said to his disciples during the Last Supper: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:34–35)

Even though I didn't learn the term "Maundy Thursday" until much later, I grew up in a church that practiced a "lovefeast" form of eucharist. Instead of weekly communion of bread and wine at the end of the church service, we met several times a year to share a meal with our church family, passing all the food we had brought along to the others gathered. We took our communion elements from the supper we shared: a saved bit of bread or cracker, and a reserved sip of drink. After the meal, in turns, each of us would kneel down and wash their neighbor's feet in a basin of water. Like the meal we'd just shared, it was a cooperative effort: after each "footwashing," the person who had knelt and washed stood and wrapped the towel around the one who'd just had their feet washed, and the ritual continued, each person's service carried on by the next. It was awkward and humbling, challenging to a shy introvert like myself, but also a concrete demonstration of the interconnected fellowship of the Body of Christ that I remember with gratitude. It was a reminder throughout the year, not just at Easter, to embody love to others as Jesus did for us.

John's gospel is the only account we have of Jesus washing his disciples' feet during the Last Supper, and I'm struck that John's description of that meal is framed by love—embodied love, love in action, love through serving. John begins the story by saying that when Jesus knew that his hour had come to return to his Father, he "loved them to the end" (John 13:1). How? He joined them in a final meal before his death, and continued to teach them even as they ate. At the end, Jesus got up from the meal, tied a towel around his waist, poured water into a basin, and washed the disciples' feet. This was the job of a servant, and Peter protested that the Lord should never wash their feet. But Jesus told them that if he is their teacher, they must follow his example and serve one another. He went on to give the "new commandment" of loving each other as he had loved them.

Throughout his ministry, Jesus upset the accepted ideas of how the world works—what greatness is, what leadership is, what love is. He told us that the shepherd seeks after his sheep, the leader serves his followers, and the creator dies for his creation. He saw those the world ignored, lifted up those the powerful pushed down. He turned the world upside-down again at the Last Supper, transforming a lowly task into a holy act of love. He said we must love in the same selfless way that he loved us, and that this is how we will be known to belong to him. His act of love compelled his disciples to act in love, with reverberations through the ages, down to us.

This last year has offered many ways to overturn the way we think the world works. I've been given countless chances to question what I take for granted. What does love look like in a deadly pandemic? We love from a distance, protecting the vulnerable. We recognize that our personal choices are not truly "individual," but actions with repercussions for our loved ones, our neighbors, and those who put their health on the line in their essential—but so often ignored—work to keep society running. Instead of clinging to our "rights," we sacrifice to care "for the least of these." How are we known as Jesus' followers? Not by demanding what is owed us or claiming status, but by giving and serving in love. We have opportunity to live out Jesus' selfless love, at Easter and beyond.

"If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you." (John 13:14–15)

Holy Wednesday

Lucia Matthews

“Every day he was teaching in the temple. The chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people kept looking for a way to kill him; but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were spellbound by what they heard.” - Luke 19:47-48

Foreboding.

My heart races just to think of Jesus at this mid-point between “Hosanna!” and “Crucify him!”
The gospels don’t give us many details of Jesus’ activities on Wednesday of Holy Week. Luke tells us that he was teaching in the temple daily, “and at night he would go out and spend the night on the Mount of Olives.” (Lk 21:37). We are left with more questions than answers, and yet the space for imagining draws me in.

What was Jesus feeling as he preached in the Temple? Did he focus only on the people who were “spellbound by what they heard,” or did he glimpse the hatred and scorn in the eyes of the leaders? Did he know the exact day and hour of his betrayal, or did he wonder with every parable that he told which one would push his beloved enemies over the edge?

We know the story of Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane later in the week, but Luke tells us he stayed on the Mount of Olives nightly. Is it possible he prayed those agonizing prayers daily? Did he perhaps ask his friends to pray with him that final night because he could not bear to do it alone one more time?

How many times have we waited with trepidation for suffering we could anticipate?
“While he lived on earth, anticipating death, Jesus cried out in pain and wept in sorrow as he offered up priestly prayers to God.” (Hebrews 5:7, Msg).

When I think of Jesus on Holy Wednesday, I think of everyone who spends their days doing the next right thing and their nights crying out to the Father in desperation. We are not alone.

Jesus Curses the Fig Tree

Beth Lundberg

I can honestly say that I, too, have cursed a fig tree. We got a fig bush a decade ago and I was super excited about fresh figs. I did all the right things- planted it in direct sun, pruned it, watered it.  But year after year it would grow but yield 5-10 figs all year- for five years.  It was as tall as me and still would not bear the fruit it was supposed to. It was irritating, I wanted fig jam and fig ice cream.  Should I start over? Buy a new one? It was so big though and I was lazy. Then on its sixth year that fig tree I cursed started to bloom and from that year on has given us more figs than we can eat. 

The tree Jesus cursed withered and died instantly and the disciples asked Jesus “hey how did that wither so fast?” And He replies “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” Jesus constantly compares plants, vines, etc. to Israel. Jesus was frustrated that His people were not bearing fruit, like the fig tree, and having faith in Him. Every time the Israelites disobeyed and and turned to other gods, they stopped yielding fruit. We should recognize that God truly desires for us to live authentically, yielding fruit that comes from a heart focused on Him.

My own life can be seen in that fig tree in my yard, there were years of bearing no fruit and not having an authentic faith but I’m reminded that because of this week and what was done on the cross Jesus paid the price and there is nothing I can do to make God love me more, nothing I can do to make God love me less. It is this reason that I strive to live an authentic faithful life serving Him. 

Reflections on Palm Sunday

Sonya Sutton

I’ve only experienced Palm Sunday as a parent, and my first one is a wonderful memory for me. My church growing up didn’t do anything special for the day, so I wasn’t expecting the parade of palms at our church when my girls were very small. I remember a very sweet older lady coming up to us in the sanctuary of our previous church and asking if they’d like to participate. I remember that first palm parade as magical- my girls were excited to walk down the church aisle and wave their palms for Jesus.

When we joined Resurrection Church, I was happy to learn that they also observed palm tradition with all of the church kids, and I love seeing the joy on their faces. I found a picture of our first Palm Sunday at Resurrection Church, and can’t believe how much all the kids have grown in just three years. 

 My role at our church is as elder and outreach officer, and so this year I’ve thought a lot about the people of Jerusalem welcoming Jesus with palms as he approached their city. They went out to greet him, having heard of the miracles he’d performed and his teachings, and wanted to see him for themselves. I hope our church can offer the same spirit of welcome to all of our visitors. We want to make anyone who comes to our church, even via Zoom as we worship these days, to feel welcome and special. For the people of Jerusalem and for kids walking in the palm procession, the day is about celebrating and beginnings.

I also think about Jesus sending his disciples into the city to get a donkey and foal. We know from Matthew 21:1-11 that Jesus told them to go and tell anyone who asked that they were taking the donkeys because the Lord needed them. This had been predicted by the prophets, too. But how would someone in the city have reacted had they asked and been given that answer? How would we respond if someone showed up on our doorstep and said that the Lord needed our car or bicycle? I’d like to think I would respond with grace and a giving heart, but I think I would be surprised to say the least.

But on Palm Sunday, the people of the city didn’t protest or question the logic of the request. The disciples were able to take the donkey and foal and see their Messiah enter the city on the donkey as the prophets had predicted. God’s hand was in every step that day and in every person’s actions. 

But Jesus knew even as he waved to his followers what was coming. He knew how the week would end. But he let the people and his disciples enjoy the day. Hopefully, he found some joy in it, too. I hope he felt loved and honored in that act of the laying of the palms. And I hope that we can all find some joy in the rituals of Holy Week as we reflect on the terrible loss of Jesus’s death and the amazing miracle of his resurrection.  And this year, I hope we can celebrate the next Palm Sunday with smiling kids waving their palms inside our sanctuary.