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Pastor’s Corner |
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"Although you have not seen Him, you love Him." 1 Peter 1:8a (NRSV) Just two weeks ago we followed our Lord through the triumph and agony of Holy Week, tracing his steps from the joyous welcome into Jerusalem to the night of sorrow in Gethsemane. We read his pain-filled words from the cross and waited silently by the tomb, until the dawn’s break on Easter morning. In startled wonder we read the angels’ announcement, "He is not here. He is risen!" and we followed the elated excitement of the women and disciples in the hours following their discovery of the empty tomb. We are now living between the celebration of Easter and Christ’s ascension where He announces the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that will come on Pentecost. Loving Jesus must have been easy for Christ’s followers in those days following the resurrection. Reunited with their dead Master, who is now alive forever more, they could hardly believe their joy. But, what about us today? Do we love Jesus with that same enthusiasm? This is a good time of year to ask that question. We have just witnessed those around Christ, active in their love for Him in His last days. Mary poured priceless ointment over His feet, drying them with her hair, so that Jesus said of her in Luke 7:47, "She has shown me much love." John 11:16 tells us that Thomas wanted to go and die with Him. The women wept for Him along the Via Dolorosa, sadly keeping vigil at the cross. Joseph of Arimathea provided for Him a burial place. Early on Easter morning, the women came to prepare Jesus’ body for a proper burial. Mary hung back out of love, wondering who might have stolen her Master’s body. And then there were the wondrous reunions that followed. Oh what love, oh what joy Christ’s early followers had reunited with Savior! Jesus held in highest esteem the greatest commandment in Matthew 22:36-38, "to love God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind." His one demand of Peter in John 21:15-17 when Peter had denied Jesus three times, was a threefold question "Do you love me?" And you know something friends, this is our Lord’s question to us today. Our love is proved by our obedience. It is the one relationship that will outlast death. The scripture at the top of this page is Peter’s statement to the believers of his day: "Although you have not seen [Jesus], you love him." This echoes the Lord’s words to Thomas in John 20:29 after the resurrection: "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe." Blessed indeed! Friends as we move on pass Easter into the season of Pentecost let us draw closer to Jesus in the bonds of love, so that God’s Grace might enlarge our hearts with the joy of Easter all year through! Come Join us in Celebrating the 70th Anniversary of the N. Warren Comm. House! Saturday. April 26th at 7:00 pm for a Community Talent Show & Hymn Sing w/ dessert following. In the Name of Christ, Buddy
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