Pascha: The Feast of the Resurrection of our Lord God and Saviour, Jesus Christ
Acts 1:1-8; John 1:1-17
Read John 1:1-17
Christ is risen! Truly, He is risen!
After previously having to be told by Jesus that Peter, when he forbid that Jesus should suffer and die, was not on the side of God but of men; that they would have to deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him; that, in response to their request for special places of honour, James and John would follow in Jesus’ sufferings; that Jesus himself did not come to be served but to serve and give His life as a ransom for many – after all that – and after witnessing Jesus’ passion and resurrection, what do the apostles ask Him?
“Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
Our God-given yearning to see justice and peace here on earth can keep us reverting back to our visions of kingdoms as we know them – political, military, economic. In the stewardship of our lives together, we are called to attend to important, sometimes urgent, matters in these spheres of life. But, as the apostles were soon to realise, the kingdom which Jesus Christ is bringing comes with a different kind of power and a different kind of mission.
St. Luke says that his gospel was only about what Jesus began to do and teach. His second book reveals what Jesus was continuing to do and teach. As we open ourselves anew to the resurrection of Christ in our lives, what will Jesus do and teach in and through us? Ask Him to show you.