April 14, 2021
INVITATION and READING
Lo, Jesus meets us, risen from the tomb.
Lovingly He greets us, scatters fear and gloom.
John 20: 11-18 Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. 13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). 17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.
Luke 24: 13-16, 30-32 On the Road to Emmaus
13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles[a] from Jerusalem. 14 They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16 but they were kept from recognizing him.
30 When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32 They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
John 20: 24-29 Jesus Appears to Thomas
24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus[a]), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”
29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Thine be the glory, risen conquering Son!
HYMN REFLECTION
I’ve been thinking this week about how Jesus revealed himself to his followers after his death and resurrection, how the Gospel writers recorded some of these accounts, and why several did not recognize Jesus when he appeared – at least not right away. Whether Mary Magdalene blinded by her tears, the two disciples on the road to Emmaus prevented from recognizing him, or even Doubting Thomas requiring physical proof of the risen Lord, their human limitations certainly play a role. Sadness, disappointment, disbelief – all of our human qualities affect how we see, or fail to see what is right in front of us. As the risen Christ chose the ways he would satisfy those he visited, he made clear he would remain most visible through the eyes of faith and obedience. The same is true for us today. God walks beside us whether we know it or not – this is the promise of the resurrection.
From G.F. Handel’s oratorio Judas Maccabeus (ca. 1753) comes the triumphant tune that sings the text penned by Swiss hymn writer Edmond Budry (1854-1932), “Thine Be the Glory” (UMH #308). The translation from French to English was done in 1923 by Richard Hoyle. It is worth noting that the first European hymnal to include this hymn was The Methodist Hymnbook of 1933.
Thine be the glory, risen, conqu’ring Son;
endless is the vict’ry Thou o’er death hast won.
Angels in bright raiment rolled the stone away,
kept the folded grave-clothes where Thy body lay.
Thine be the glory, risen, conqu’ring Son;
endless is the vict’ry Thou o’er death hast won.
Lo, Jesus meets us, risen from the tomb.
Lovingly He greets us, scatters fear and gloom;
let His church with gladness hymns of triumph sing,
for the Lord now liveth; death hath lost its sting.
Thine be the glory, risen, conqu’ring Son;
endless is the vict’ry Thou o’er death hast won.
No more we doubt Thee, glorious Prince of life!!
Life is nought without Thee; aid us in our strife;
make us more than conqu’rors, through Thy deathless love;
bring us safe through Jordan to Thy home above.
Thine be the glory, risen, conqu’ring Son;
endless is the vict’ry Thou o’er death hast won.
PRAYER
Dear Risen Lord, before your ascension you visited many that knew you when you lived and taught among them. Even though they did not always trust what they saw, you wanted them to know that you still loved them and would not desert them. Let us learn from their testimonies that we can trust your presence in our lives in spite of our human limitations. Let the eyes of our faith be fully opened to you, that we may live and work in your service. Amen.
Offered by Joche Wilmot, Director of Music Ministries