Meditation for May 2009

Judith reads:

This whole month of May appears to have an Easter ambience—an aura of resurrection life. May 21^st brings us to the Ascension of Our Lord, which is still part of the Easter season and, this year, the feast of Pentecost—when we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit to each one of us, is on May 31^st.

The Easter season is the climax of the Christian religion. Good Friday could have represented the end of things for Christ’s followers and that is what it must have seemed like to them on the day after he had been put to death on the cross. However, on the third day, the day we now know as Easter Sunday, Christ began to reveal himself to his followers as the risen Lord.

At first, it was difficult for them to believe that his resurrection from the dead was real and not some apparition or ghostly appearance. In order to help them understand the meaning of his resurrection, Christ stayed on earth in human form until the day of his ascension into heaven. During this time, he revealed himself to different people in different ways according to their ability to comprehend this resurrection event, an event that is still difficult for us to understand today.

According to the gospel writings, Christ was not raised from the dead with loud trumpets and great noise, but quietly, gently and with dignity. As Christians in today’s world we know the story of what happened and yet it is still not something that can be understood by our reasoning mind but is more a matter of faith and belief that Christ is alive and with us at all times. We have read the account of Christ’s life, death and resurrection but, as wonderful as that is, it would still be only a story of something that happened 2000 years ago except that we are given something more—the assurance of Christ dwelling in us and never forsaking us, no matter what happens.

Christ gives to each one of us now, in this life, our own exclusive experience of what it means to have him as our personal Saviour. Throughout our lives we are given revelations of his journeying with us; we discover that we are not alone whether in times of difficulty or times of joy and celebration. We are not always aware of his presence with us. There is so much on our minds that most of the time we may not remember that Christ lives in us; in fact, we may not think much about Jesus at all. But, from time to time, we become aware of his presence with us; most often it is in times of trouble that we remember the wonderful gift of his resurrection presence.

We have the story of two of Jesus’ disciples who were on the road to Emmaus from Jerusalem after Christ’s death and resurrection. They were still in shock at the death of their Master—they couldn’t fathom the terrible tragedy of the death of their beloved Jesus and they couldn’t believe the rumours that were beginning to go around about the risen and living Christ. They were discussing it as they walked the seven mile journey when a stranger joined them on the road and asked them what they were talking about. They told him their sad story (Luke 24: 15) and the stranger listened to them and reminded them of the prophetic scriptures about the Messiah.

When they reached their destination the stranger made as if to continue his journey but the men invited him to stay with them as it was getting late. They sat down to eat and the stranger took the bread, broke it and gave it to them. In that moment of the breaking of bread Christ’s two followers recognised that it was Jesus himself who was the stranger on the road with them. All the head talk and discussion on the road did not make them understand the presence of the risen Lord; it was the simple act of hospitality given and received that opened the inner eyes of their hearts and souls to the reality of Jesus with them.

It is never too late to know and accept Christ as our risen Lord and personal Saviour. For some it comes early in life; for others it may be after a particularly traumatic experience; for still others it may be at the very end of life. Jesus never gives up on us. No matter how many times we may have turned away from him; no matter how many times we may have denied the truth that is plainly there before our physical eyes; no matter how many times Christ offers himself to us as our personal Saviour and we refuse to accept him, he still keeps revealing himself and his love until our inner eyes are opened and we recognise him and accept him with thanks and praise as our risen Lord.

 © Judith Lawrence May 2009