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Easter Evening: On the Road with Christ

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Sometimes the longest journeys happen in the shortest distances. The road to Emmaus is one of those kinds of walks . Two disciples, hearts broken and dreams shattered, wander down a road trying to make sense of all they’ve seen. They are confused, hurting, and unsure of their future. Jesus begins to walk with them, but they can’t yet see the hope standing right beside them. They do not recognize him. Luke tells us that as they walked, “beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures” (Luke 24:27). Christ meets them right where they are and gently opens the scriptures so they can see the thread of grace woven through the whole story. This is a tremendous gift of grace at work: Christ coming alongside us long before we recognize him, guiding our steps and stirring our hearts. Later, when they sit down at the table, something shifts. “He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, ...
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Easter Sunday: The Dawn of New Life

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Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb… Jesus said to her, 'Mary!' She turned and said to him in Hebrew, 'Rabbouni!' (which means Teacher). (John 20:1–18, NRSVue) Easter morning always begins in the dark. The sky is quiet, the world still wrapped in shadow. Mary Magdalene steps into that darkness carrying grief. The one who had changed her life is gone, and all she can do is come to the place where his body had been laid. It is love that brings her there. It is a love strong enough to face sorrow head-on. But what she finds is not what she expects. The stone is rolled away. The tomb is empty. Confusion and fear give way to astonishment as the risen Christ speaks her name, “Mary!” When she hears it everything changes. Light breaks into darkness, despair turns to hope, and death itself loses its power. This is the miracle at the heart of our faith: God r...
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Holy Saturday: Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus

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Sometimes the most powerful acts of faith happen quietly, away from the crowds. They don’t come with fanfare or applause. They come in moments of risk, when love outweighs fear, and grace nudges someone to step forward. That’s what we see in Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. After Jesus died, Matthew tells us that “there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus” (Matthew 27:57). He went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. John’s Gospel adds that Nicodemus came too, bringing “a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds” (John 19:39). Together, they wrapped Jesus’ body and laid him in a tomb. These two men had been quiet followers. Joseph was a member of the council. Nicodemus had come to Jesus by night. They had influence, wealth, and status. But in this moment, they risked it all to honor Christ. Their actions were not loud, but they were full of love. They didn’t preach a sermon or perform a miracle. They simply showed up w...
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Good Friday: Love That Stays

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Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, here is your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home. After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), ‘I am thirsty.’ A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the wine, he said, ‘It is finished.’ Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. (John 19:25b-30, NRSVue) There are moments in life when words fail us, when all we can do is stand, watch, and weep. Good Friday is one of those moments. The scene at the cross is not polished or comfortable; it is raw, aching, and holy. Yet even here, amid the nois...
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Holy Thursday: We Remember

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We remember the night Jesus gathered his closest friends in an upper room. Around a shared table, amidst the weight of what was coming, he took bread. Matthew tells us: “While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take, eat; this is my body.’ Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.’” (Matthew 26:26-28, NRSVue). The room was full of Passover memories—stories of deliverance, promises of God’s faithfulness, reminders that God never gives up on his people. Yet Jesus takes this holy meal and gently reshapes it around himself. He offers bread and cup as signs of a new covenant, a new Exodus, a new way of life shaped by self-giving love. In this simple act of breaking bread and sharing the cup, Jesus poured out the deepest meaning of his life and impending sa...
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Holy Wednesday: Extravagant Love and Everyday Mercy

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Jesus visits the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. It is a simple gathering of friends, but something extraordinary happens. Mary kneels at Jesus’ feet, breaks open a jar of costly perfume, and pours it out in an act of deep devotion. The fragrance fills the whole house. It is a moment of love that is both beautiful and costly. [See texts: John 12:1-8; Matthew 26:6–13 ] Her act is nothing short of extravagant. She pours out her most valuable possession as a gesture of love, gratitude, and devotion. In this single act, she gives not just her perfume, but her heart. Judas, on the other hand, sees only cost and his own self-interest. He cloaks greed with words of charity. His concern for money outweighs his love for Jesus. Judas complains that the perfume could have been sold and the money given to the poor. The Gospel tells us that his concern was not genuine—his heart was shaped more by greed than compassion. Here we see two very different responses to Jesus: Mary’s generous love...
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Holy Tuesday: Truth Confronts Hypocrisy

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It is the Tuesday of Holy Week, and Jesus has returned to the temple in Jerusalem.  Just the day before, he turned over the tables of the money changers. Now, the chief priests and elders are waiting for him. “By what authority are you doing these things,” they demand, “and who gave you this authority?” (Matthew 21:23). They are not asking because they want to learn. They are asking because they want to trap him, to discredit him, to silence him. And Jesus — with the kind of calm that only comes from knowing exactly who you are — turns the question back on them. [Today’s text – Matthew 21:23–27; 23:1–12 ] What we see here is a reckoning. Jesus sparred with the Pharisees, the elders, and the scribes — and in each exchange he revealed something about the nature of true spiritual authority. Authority, he showed them, doesn’t come from titles or positions or public performances of piety. It comes from alignment with God, from a life lived in genuine love and truth. Then Jesus say...
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