Luke 24:1-12
That first Easter morning arrived without a bang.
No sound-and-lights show. Just another day of work for the people in Jerusalem.
Jesus died and rose again with no fanfare. A good PR person could have
made the day quite memorable. But for the most part, Jerusalem woke up, got up,
and went about their day like it was any other Rishon (Sunday).
Really, we shouldn’t be surprised, right? I mean,
look at the birth that we celebrated just 16 weeks ago. Jesus, the Son of God,
born into the world…and basically nothing. A few shepherds, some ‘wise-guys’
from the East, and Mary and Joseph. The rest of Bethlehem went to sleep and
woke up, and they were none the wiser. Again, we find this same thing at the
death and resurrection—basically non-events for the world around. Why this way?
Jesus gives us a hint. Luke tells the story of the
temptation in the desert in chapter four of his Gospel. One of the temptations
involved jumping off the top of the Temple and making a huge scene before the
whole city. Jesus rejected that. If he had done it, he could have reduced a
three-year ministry down to one day! Everyone would have known Jesus…and his
‘other worldliness’. But, in rejecting that path, that approach, Jesus made it
very clear: He prefers friends over fans, family over fanatics.
We’re all fans of someone or something, for sure.
I’m a fan of Helen Mirren and Meryl Streep, amazing actresses. Many are fans of
sports figures, movie stars, and politicos. But, a fandom is a one-way connection.
I can know about the people I’m a fan of, but they never know me. I’m more than
a fan of Eugene Peterson, author of The Message and many other books.
I’m more than a fan because I wrote him a letter, and he wrote me back,
and I wrote another, and he wrote me again…so, I moved from fan to…pen-pal?
Something a little more. When he died in 2018, maybe I felt a sense of loss a
little more than the average fan…?
Jesus wants more than fans. Jesus showed us
through his life that he wants to connect with people. He walked the roads of
Judea and talked with people. He sat on the grass and told stories and listened
to stories. He reached out to touch and heal the sick…and reached out to touch
and bless the children. He poured his life into his disciples…and expected them
(and us!) to live the same way.
So, Resurrection morning was a quiet affair, even
quieter than our own Resurrection Sunday this week. We gathered and sang and
celebrated…but the world around us just went about their day—cutting grass,
shopping, working, preparing for a carne asada. Like Jerusalem (Judea, Samaria,
and the ends of the earth), our world waits for us to walk alongside and tell
them the story. Our work, it seems, is to live this quiet yet impactful disciple-life
that Jesus calls us to so that others might move from fan to friend, from
fanatic to family, and know the Life God has for us all. Happy Easter!
Sunday, April 20, 2025
“A Quiet Resurrection”
Watch/Listen: HERE
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