This Joyful Eastertide - Easter 2009

On Easter Day we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. This great act of God is when He brought Jesus out of the captivity of death as the first fruits of the resurrection of the dead (1 Corinthians 15.20). The good news for us is that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us in his presence. He will do this by the Spirit who lives in us and who will give life to our mortal bodies (2 Corinthians 4.14, Romans 8.11).

The season of Eastertide includes Ascension Day and concludes with the feast of Pentecost. For the first 40 days of this season the scriptures describe how Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead. He did many signs in the presence of his disciples. Those that are recorded in the Bible are written so that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing we may have life in his name (John 20.30-31). After Jesus ascension into heaven, the disciples were to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit which happened on the feast of Pentecost.

This Joyful Eastertide One of the wonderful things about the Church of England is the tradition of Choral Music. Whether in a catherdal, parish church or on the BBC Radio 3 programme of Choral Evensong, church choral music is enjoyed by many people. Those who have been privileged to attend the service of sung Evensong will no doubt have noticed the rubric in the 1662 Book of Common Prayer which reads 'In Quires and Places where they sing here followeth the Anthem'. There are many anthems used at Evening Prayer and during this season we may hear the anthem 'This Joyful Eastertide' by Charles Wood. The words of this anthem echo those of St Paul in 1 Corinthians 15.1-11 where Paul writes of the gospel by which we are saved. He writes about the things of first importance which he himself had received: Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures; he was buried; he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures and he then appeared to Cephas (Peter) and the twelve. The scriptures referred to here are those which we know as the Old Testament. Paul is proclaiming that God the Father has fulfilled what He said in those scriptures about what He would do.

There is tremendous power in proclaiming that God has fulfilled what he said He would do. During Eastertide the appointed New Teatament readings are from the Acts of the Apostles. In Acts the Apostles are proclaiming that God has fulfilled His Word. God confirms His word with signs following (Mark 16.20) and the church experiences tremendous growth. God has promised that the word which goes out from his mouth will accomplish what he desires (Isaiah 55.11). In Acts 8.26ff, Philip is sent by an angel to an Ethiopian who was reading Isaiah 53 but without understanding. Philip proclaims to him that the passage is about Jesus. In effect Philip tells him about the things which St Paul says are of first importance, i.e. Jesus died, was buried, rose again all according to the scriptures and that he appeared. In Acts the disciples proclaimed this message so well that they were accused before the Sanhedrin of 'filling Jerusalem with their teaching'.

This Joyful Eastertide is the season for us to reflect of the Acts of the Apostles and then proclaim in our lives how God has fulfilled his word in us. Our proclamation will have the same power as that of the Apostles, since it is the same word spoken by the same God who has proved that he is faithful by raising Jesus from the dead. Jesus has indeed risen as the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep (1 Corinthians 15.20).