Acts 10: 34-43
34 Then Peter began to speak to them: ‘I truly understand that God shows no partiality, 35but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. 36You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. 37That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: 38how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 39We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; 40but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, 41not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. 43All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.’
Colossians 3: 1-4
3So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, 3for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ who is your* life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.
Matthew 28: 1-10
28After the Sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. 2And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. 4For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. 5But the angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. 6He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he* lay. 7Then go quickly and tell his disciples, “He has been raised from the dead,* and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.” This is my message for you.’ 8So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9Suddenly Jesus met them and said, ‘Greetings!’ And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshipped him. 10Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.’
Many of you will have heard of the Camino de Santiago, known in English as the Way of St. James, …. Some of you may have even walked it. The Camino is a network of pilgrims’ ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint James the Great in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain
I had never heard of it until about 15 years ago ….. now nearly everyone I meet seems to have done it! I first came across it when staying in the French town of Vezelay one of the feeder routes through France that meets up with the actual Camino
It was rumored until the 9th Century that Mary Magdalene was buried in the church there, and it became an important place of pilgrimage in its own right
In the Easter accounts Mary Magdalene is making a pilgrimage herself. It is a sorrowful journey to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus. It is interesting and very important that these women in the gospel story are the key witnesses to the Easter story – they are there at the crucifixion …. they are there at the resurrection
They are the first evangelists … and the example to us all. They are told to go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead” The women are the first to witness to the fact that the journey continues ….. What they thought had come to a juddering halt on Good Friday has not ended
The women, like us, understood all about death …….. but now they realize they don’t understand all about life …. but they, and we, don’t need to understand ….. rather simply hear what the angel has said and act upon it ……… “He has been raised from the dead and is going ahead of you” … it was true for the first disciples and it is true for us
The southernmost point of Africa is a point which for centuries has experienced tremendous storms. For many years no one even knew what lay beyond that cape, …… the “Cape of Storms”. But then a Portuguese explorer in the sixteenth century, Vasco De Gama, successfully sailed around that very point and found beyond the wild raging storms, a great calm sea, and beyond that, the shores of India. The name of that cape was changed from the “Cape of Storms” to the “Cape of Good Hope”.
Until Jesus Christ rose from the dead,…… death had been the cape of storms on which all hopes of life beyond had been wrecked. No one knew what lay beyond death, or indeed if anything did. We dare to believe that we shall experience in our own human lives exactly what the Son of God experienced in his, …… for the risen Christ says to us, “Because I live, you shall live also.” (John 14:9)
This is the heart of the Easter faith ..that our life is now hidden in Christ and because Christ has been raised from the dead …. He is going before us and he calls us to follow him into new life and with new hope