He is Risen Indeed!

He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!

With these words, the Christian Church was begun.

It was very early, around sunrise on the first day of the week. For Jewish folk, it would have been their back to work day, like a Monday morning for us gentiles. On this particular morning, a motley little group of men were gathered in a borrowed room, with the door locked because they were scared of the authorities. 

I think I understand a tiny bit of what the disciples of Jesus must have been feeling that morning. I have had the horrifying pleasure of being in the room when a loved one dies three times: my mother in 2007, my dad in 2015, and then my husband in 2019. Sitting afterwards in the gloom of the "Quiet Room" in the hospital -- an exhausted, dejected gathering of family and friends. 

Back in the locked room: what could they say to cheer each other? They had been The Twelve!  They were only the eleven now, one of their members had betrayed Christ and then took his own life. Another had just denied even knowing the Master three times, he cried bitter tears. All of them had deserted Jesus in His hour of need. What were they to do now? They had thought that when the Messiah came, He would free His people from the oppression of Rome and set up a kingdom in Jerusalem. They had even fought about who would sit at His right and left sides. Were they wrong about their Master? Had they been duped by a false Messiah?

Meanwhile, a group of women carried a heavy load of spices to anoint the body of Christ. It was a hot country, before the days of embalming, so the custom of the day was to apply a pungent blend of spices and perfumes to cover the smell.

What happened next changed the course of human history. He was Risen! Jesus Christ came back from the dead, just like He had said He would, but they hadn't understood. 

And that's how Christianity began. Women were the first witnesses, unheard of at that time. Those cowardly men who ran away and hid for fear of arrest were transformed into Apostles who turned the world upside down. The one who had denied even knowing Jesus brought about 3000 people into the fold with his first sermon. Of the Eleven, ten were martyred for their faith, and the remaining one was exiled to a lonely island where he wrote the book about his amazing revelation. 

Two thousand years later, a deadly pandemic might close the doors of the church buildings, but it doesn't stop the church from meeting. God said that where ever two or more gather in His name He will be there. Even in cyber space.