Easter Sunday: He is risen!

A message of hope in the "post" world (NT Wright)

A very interesting "informal" meeting with Tom Wright, the Lord Bishop of Durham.

History and Resurrection

I found interesting to bring the following historical account. It was written by a non-believer historian, who had probably another agenda. Flavius Josephus gives an objective tone for the celebration of Easter. Jesus was risen from being dead as the witnesses reported. Hence, Jesus was indeed the expected Jewish Messiah since he fulfilled the old prophecies about him. Moreover, Josephus reports that Jesus begun a new "tribe", the so called "Christians" that were still alive and are still alive today all over the world.

Now there was about this time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was [the] Christ. And when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; for he appeared to them alive again the third day; as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day. (Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book 18, Chapter 3, Paragraph 3)

I used the drawing "Resurrection" by Luc Freymanc (© Luc Freymanc 2001-2007) who allows specific free use for "Use on a non-commercial website or blog." Please visit Luc Freymanc drawings.

Holy Week 2008

At the end of this week, specifically on Friday, our Church has organised a small gathering for the celebration of the Communion. I've gotten the responsibility to prepare some thoughts, maybe a meditation on the Last Supper (or maybe the First Kingdom Celebration). I guess that there are many places where it has been done already, so it would not be anything new. However, I'm not planning to simply surf on internet and cut-and-paste some nice thoughts, even if it is really tempting.

King Jesus is amazing. He left us a simple meal, bread and wine to celebrate his Kingdom, and to announce out loud that he is indeed coming back. Somehow the "already-not yet" tension is manifested in this meal. We join together with Jesus in the upper room, we join together with all those who through history have celebrated King Jesus in the same way, and we anticipate the consummation of times, when Jesus will appear for ever.

What is also more important is that as we celebrate communion, as we share the bread and the wine with each other, we declare that there's no more division between "Jews and Gentiles", for both have been inserted in Jesus, the true Vine. We proclaim that forgiveness of sins is available for all those who welcome King Jesus in their lives, and that are made co-heirs of the Kingdom.

The Supper is also a symbolic representation of the lifestyle of love. Love is not at all a simple feeling. It is a lifestyle that embraces the other, that campaigns for social righteousness, that actively engages in the preservation of our heritage (the Earth), that longs for the end of poverty and hunger. Actually, Jesus said that his disciples were going to be known because they loved each other in a way that would put the social systems upside down.

My question today and that probably will remain: how do we embody as Church this love-vocation?

I found the image here.