Meditation for April 2009

Judith reads:

As we come to the beginning of April, we are coming to the last ten days of Lent. This year, Palm Sunday falls on April 5^th, and it marks Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem and the beginning of the last week of his life on earth.

It is a very intense week in the church year; it is the week we call Holy Week and, as Christians, we follow along with Christ from the time he hears the praise and worship of the crowd on Palm Sunday to Jesus showing his servant-hood in the washing of the disciples’ feet on Maundy Thursday. We feel Jesus’ anguish as he prays to the Father in the garden of Gethsemane that he might be spared his upcoming trial; we see Judas’ betrayal of his master in the same garden; and we watch Christ’s subsequent death on the cross on Good Friday.

We go from the height of triumph to the depth of despair in the space of less than a week.

Jesus had been trying to tell the disciples of his upcoming suffering, death, and resurrection but it was impossible for them to understand what he was saying. The disciples were in total shock as Christ was arrested, tried, and put to death on the cross. They were in deep despair on Holy Saturday and they didn’t know what to think on Easter Sunday when Christ’s tomb was found empty. They began to hear rumours of his rising from the dead but how could they possibly believe such a thing and, if it were true, what would it mean?

They began to hope as they remembered his teaching and, one by one, they believed that it was true; believed that Jesus had died, been buried, had come back to life and would be with them for ever. Jesus made himself known to them and convinced them of his resurrection in different ways over the following weeks, according to each one’s ability to understand.

We are now in the season of spring and, at this time, we see everywhere signs of new life—plants beginning to shoot up out of the ground after apparent death; bushes getting new leaves; sap rising in the trees. These signs of life returning to nature after winter death can be taken as symbols of the resurrection of Christ and assurance of our own resurrection after death to be with him in glory.

Even the wilderness and desert will be glad in those days. The wasteland will rejoice and blossom with spring crocuses. Yes, there will be an abundance of flowers and singing and joy! The deserts will become as green as the mountains of Lebanon, as lovely as Mount Carmel or the Plain of Sharon. There the Lord will display his glory, the splendour of our God. Isaiah 35: 1, 2 (New Living Translation).

This is a beautiful description of our own spiritual lives, which now blossom abundantly following our time in the wilderness of Lent. Let us sing with joy to God’s glory. Let us give thanks and praise to God during the Easter season and sing our hallelujahs with Christians everywhere.

 © Judith Lawrence April 2009