Dear BPCWAians, This morning, many of us began our Easter celebrations by attending Sunrise Service at Melville Amphitheatre. I remember my first Sunrise Service in Perth. That early morning was cold. After some time into the Service, the air warmed up a little, and soon we could see the first rays of sun shining through the trees. It was a memorable experience, and ever since then, I’ve looked forward to our Sunrise Service each year. How was that first day of resurrection close to 2000 years ago?
When was Christ crucified? We know that the night Christ was betrayed was when the Jews were celebrating the Passover. The Passover was an Old Testament Sacrament instituted by God in Ex 12:13, when God passed over the homes of the Jews when He saw the blood upon the door posts of their houses. This annual feast was celebrated on the evening of the 14th day of the month Nisan. In the year that Christ died in AD30, it is likely that the Passover would have been toward the end of March, or early April. The True Passover Lamb had been prepared for us. The Lamb of God would be led to the slaughter for our sins.
What did some of the believers do after Christ’s crucifixion? On the Friday before the first Easter, some saw their Master mocked, spat on, and beaten – in Pilate’s hall, on the way to Calvary hill, and finally hung on the cross to die. And they had experienced 3 hours of darkness (Lk 23:44). The events of that Friday were unlike anything the world had ever seen. Had most of us been there that first Good Friday, we would probably have returned to our homes emotionally and physically drained, and demoralised. We would have felt that after all that had happened, we would be justified to just call it a day and take our rest, and forget about the Master. But for the women, their day was not yet over. Their preparation for their Lord was exemplary. Beholding where their Saviour was laid, they “returned, and prepared spices and ointments” (Lk 23:56), working relentlessly on that Friday before the Jewish Saturday Sabbath when they cannot do such work. Their heart’s desire was to return to the tomb prepared, immediately after the Jewish Sabbath. And they didn’t let anything that they could help stand in their way. Early that Sunday, they arose. No alarm clocks, no heated cars. Unescorted and undeterred by the darkness of night still hanging around them, these women made their way to the tomb together – in the cold, on foot. What hearts filled with adoration would do, would put us with our modern amenities and conveniences to shame. For them, the day was not about them. United in purpose, their priority was to care for the body of their Lord. Actions motivated by true love and devotion.
What happened that Easter morning? I t was the Sunday morning after the Jewish Sabbath (Saturday). It must have been a sad Jewish Sabbath for the early Christians the day before. The Bible tells us that it was “very early in the morning” (Lk 24:1), while “it was yet dark” (Jn 20:1-2). They had prepared the spices for the anointing. They didn’t think that they would be able to roll the stone away from the sepulchre. Besides, there were the Roman guards there – how would they even be able to go in to anoint their Lord’s body? Despite what seemed like insurmountable difficulties, they went. They really wanted to care for their Lord’s body. They hoped that they would at least see the dead body of their Lord. Now, nothing – not the darkness, nor the cold – would deter the women from their act of devotion to their Lord, on what would come to be called the Lord’s Day (Rev 1:10). What a pattern for us to remember that first Lord’s Day. And we are familiar with what happened after that. Their Risen, Resurrected Lord never needed the spices they had prepared to anoint a corruptible body. The great Creator who had put on the body of flesh had risen with a glorious body, one that would never corrupt. God never needed what they had prepared for Him, but He Himself prepared a way for them – by rolling away the stone from the sepulchre and removing the Roman guards. God rolled away the stone not for the Lord to go out, but for the disciples to go in to see that He is no longer there. That Sunday morning, they would be among the first to behold with their eyes their glorified, victorious, Risen Redeemer. A sight which the great prophets of old had desired to see, but never saw except through the eyes of faith (Matt 13:17). A sight which one day, we shall behold, face to face, as we stand before Him to receive the things done in our body (2 Cor 5:10). Their eyes were privileged to behold the very King of Heaven and of earth. From then on, Sunday would replace the Jewish Saturday Sabbath and be the New Testament Christian’s Lord’s Day.
How it should affect us today. What they thought they would do in service that first Lord’s Day, the Lord turned to their blessing and their privilege. That was the first Lord’s Day – a day of the Resurrection of our Saviour. A day that today, and every Lord’s Day, we assemble together in Holy Worship. This is what God institutes as the Christian Sabbath after Christ’s Resurrection. As we celebrate His resurrection today and every Lord’s Day, let us remember that God does not need our worship. We are not doing God a favour by coming every Sunday. He is infinitely glorious. If we were silent, the stones would immediately cry out to worship their Creator (Lk 19:40). Rather, it is our loss, if we fail to worship Him as we ought on His day. God seeks worshippers that worship Him in spirit and in truth (Jn 4:23). It is 2017, and we live in a world of much greater conveniences and technological advances than the women did on that first Lord’s Day. How is our spirit of worship on the Lord’s Day? Is our fervour and adoration befitting the worship of this great God and King in Whose Name we gather and come? Do we rejoice, as the early disciples rejoiced, to meet with Him? Just as God was silently watching the women at the tomb as they prepared to show their devotion to Him, He watches everyone who comes to worship Him. May we come into His presence today and every Lord’s Day with anticipation, and with thankful hearts prepared to praise our Resurrected LORD.
Psalms 118:24 This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
Yours in our Lord’s service
Pastor