Alleluia! Christ is risen.
He is risen indeed. Alleluia!
Theme Prayer
God of glory, by the raising of your Son
you have broken the chains of death and hell:
fill your Church with faith and hope;
for a new day has dawned and the way to life stands open
in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
Confession
Christ our Passover Lamb has been sacrificed for us. Therefore let us rejoice by putting away all malice and wickedness, and confessing our sins with a sincere and true heart:
You raise the dead to life in the Spirit. Lord, have mercy.
(Lord, have mercy.)
You bring pardon and peace to the sinner. Christ, have mercy.
(Christ, have mercy.)
You bring light to those who dwell in darkness. Lord, have mercy.
(Lord, have mercy.)
God forgives us: be at peace. [Pause] Rejoice and be glad, for Christ is resurrection and reconciliation for all the human race. Amen.
God’s Word - John’s Gospel, chapter 20, verses 1 to 10 :-
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb. She saw that the stone had been moved away from the entrance, and ran to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb,’ she said, ‘and we do not know where they have laid him.’
So Peter and the other disciple set out and made their way to the tomb. They ran together, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and reached the tomb first. He peered in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not enter. Then Simon Peter caught up with him and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the napkin which had been round his head, not with the wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed; until then they had not understood the scriptures, which showed that he must rise from the dead.
Thanks be to God, for this his holy word. Amen.
A Reflection on the Reading
Women came to the tomb early on Sunday morning, with the intention of anointing the body of Jesus, Mary of Magdala among them. And the tomb was empty, the stone rolled away. They were astounded and horrified - something dreadful had happened. Mary runs to where the disciples are hiding, not with glad tidings but a story of further desecration: “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb . . .”
Who is this “they”? Probably the Jewish authorities, angry that this upstart messiah from Galilee should be dignified in death by a proper burial; or perhaps the Romans, anxious that the tomb might become a rallying point for those who preached rebellion against Rome. The story is over, they have seen Jesus die. The only reason Peter and the others are still there is that they had needed to wait out the Sabbath before they could leave Jerusalem for the relative safety of Galilee.
But then again, there was perhaps something that held them there. Peter and John had been with Jesus on the Mount of the Transfiguration, and while they couldn’t yet work out what it was they had seen that day, that glimpse before Calvary of resurrection glory, maybe lodged in their hearts was a sense that it couldn’t all just end here, even though they had seen him die, even though they had witnessed the victory of those who stood against him.
What was in their minds as they ran to the tomb, we can’t know - but run they did, maybe despairing at this new desecration, but maybe with just a little seed of hope beginning to germinate, as well.
What they found there changed everything. Had they found their Lord brought back to life, that would have been amazing and wonderful, but that isn’t what they found. They found an empty tomb, and the grave clothes that had bound the body of Jesus lying there, no longer needed.
The force of the original Greek here in John’s account is as though the body had risen, leaving the grave clothes lying as though they still clothed the body, except that now they did so no longer. Peter and (one assumes) John would have recognised that this was not like the bringing back to life of Lazarus, who had come out of the tomb still wrapped in his grave clothes. Jesus had not come back to mortal life, but on - on to the new life that is immortal and eternal, which he calls us to know and to share.
The Easter Anthems
1 Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us: ♦
so let us celebrate the feast,
2 not with the old leaven of corruption and wickedness: ♦
but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
3 Christ once raised from the dead dies no more: ♦
death has no more dominion over him.
4 In dying he died to sin once for all: ♦
in living he lives to God.
5 See yourselves therefore as dead to sin: ♦
and alive to God in Jesus Christ our Lord.
6 Christ has been raised from the dead: ♦
the first fruits of those who sleep.
7 For as by man came death: ♦
by man has come also the resurrection of the dead;
8 for as in Adam all die: ♦
even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
Glory to the Father and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now and shall be for ever. Amen.
Prayers
Pray for the world at this time of continued stress and challenge: as the Covid-19 virus continues its spread, pray especially for the poorer countries and communities that are least able to deal with its impact, for refugees and homeless people wherever they may be, for wise and co-operative leadership and for those engaged in research to find a vaccine.
Pray for the Churches of and peoples of Jerusalem and of the Holy Land at this Easter festival. It seems strange this day of all days not to be able to worship together in our church buildings, but give thanks for a Church still working here and worldwide to live and share the Easter message of the triumph of love.
Pray for those in need today: for all who grieve, for the worried and anxious, and for those who are alone. Pray for all who are ill, and especially for those infected by Covid-19. Give thanks for the commitment and courage of health workers and carers, and pray they may be kept safe from harm and infection.
Pray for our own communities and for families and friends. May we act with care and responsibility, and look out for each other. Give thanks for all who have offered themselves as volunteers, locally and nationally.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Prayer for today and Blessing
May the light of Christ, risen in glory, banish all darkness from our hearts and minds. Amen.
May God our Father,
by whose glory Christ was raised from the dead,
strengthen us to walk with him in his risen life.
And may almighty God bless us, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
now and for ever. Amen.
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