Easter Sunday, April 20, 2014

"Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me."

       Paul of Tarsus, 1 Corinthians 15:8

As the gospels were written 40 to 60 years after the resurrection, we see that the earliest written record we have of the Easter resurrection come from the letters of Paul which were written to the early church.  It was likely written in the 50's which would put it at twenty years after - during the early growth of the Jesus movement among first Jewish and then later Gentile populations.

Of course, Paul was not one of the original disciples.  His experience with Jesus entirely lies within the appearance of the risen Lord to him on the road to Damascus.

This must have been frustrating to those who followed Jesus in the flesh.

Who does Paul think he is?

Of course, his experience is more in line with our experience.  None of us ever walked with Jesus on the dusty roads of Judea.  We didn't sit at his feet as he told and explained the parables.

Our experience lies within the mystical just as Paul's did.

Our experience also lies within the body of Christ - the church.  How we share together in worship shapes us and forms us.  It allows the risen Christ to live within us as we seek to change the world for the better.

On Easter, we try to approximate God's kingdom coming on earth as is is in heaven.  Just as Jesus taught us to pray.

We celebrate at worship.

We gather with family to eat together.

We indulge in whatever things we gave up for Lent!

As we think of those early disciples who walked and talked with Jesus, we see that his teaching rubbed off on them.  How else would they have allowed this upstart who was so self-assured to preach to the world?  And if they hadn't allowed this, we likely wouldn't be gathering for worship today or reading this blog.

So on this Easter, I'm thankful to the disciples for following and listening.

Just as Paul was blinded by the light, the light
is continuing to shine to people today.
Can you see it?

Because I'm untimely born as well.  And yet we see the time is right.

Christ is alive today just as he was for the disciples and just as he was for Paul.  Our witness is just as important as Paul's.

Maybe future Christians will be thankful for you!








Photo by EzykronHD (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons