Week 22 of the Church year
ഉയിർപ്പു പെരുന്നാൾ (ക്യംതാ)
At dawn two women come to see the tomb. The earth shakes, an angel rolls the stone away and sits on it, and the guards fall down like dead men. He is not here, the angel says.
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary go to the tomb at dawn. An angel tells them Jesus is risen. Running to tell the disciples, they meet Jesus himself. The guards are paid to lie. On a mountain in Galilee Jesus sends the eleven to all nations.
This is the feast of feasts, the resurrection of Christ, the centre of the whole Church year. Great Lent and Holy Week end here.
The women ran from the tomb “with fear and great joy”. Easter does not remove fear at once. It puts joy beside it.
ഈ ഞായറാഴ്ചയുടെ വായനകൾ
The women find the stone rolled away: “He has risen; he is not here.”
Mary Magdalene at the tomb hears Jesus call her name.
The Day of Atonement, a day to humble yourselves before God.
Arise, shine, for your light has come.
[NOTE: add once the reference is checked]
Peter at Pentecost: God raised Jesus and made him Lord and Christ.
Christ died, was buried and was raised on the third day; if not, our faith is futile.
He is not here; he has risen. Go and make disciples of all nations. This is the Gospel of the day.
Open in five scenesLeviticus describes the Day of Atonement, and Isaiah calls Jerusalem to arise and shine because its light has come. Peter tells the crowd that God raised Jesus from the dead, and Paul says that if Christ is not raised, our faith is empty.
References follow the official lectionary of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. Your parish may read them in a different order.
Pick a scene to see what happens in it and what is easy to miss.
As the first day of the week dawns, the two Marys go to see the tomb. There is a great earthquake. An angel rolls back the stone and sits on it. The guards shake with fear and become like dead men.
The stone is rolled away not to let Jesus out, but to let the women see in.
Do not be afraid, the angel tells the women. You are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, as he said. Come and see the place, then go quickly and tell his disciples.
The guards, who were armed, are the ones who collapse. The women are told not to be afraid.
They run from the tomb with fear and great joy. Suddenly Jesus meets them: Rejoice! They take hold of his feet and worship him. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, he says.
Jesus calls the disciples who ran away “my brothers”. Easter begins with forgiveness.
Some of the guards report to the chief priests, who pay them to say the disciples stole the body while they slept.
Matthew says this story was still told “to this day”. The empty tomb was never in dispute, only the explanation.
The eleven go to the mountain in Galilee. They worship him, though some doubt. Jesus says: all authority has been given to me. Go and make disciples of all nations, baptising and teaching them. I am with you always.
“Some doubted”, even then, even there. Jesus sends them out anyway.
The verse to keep
“ഞാൻ നിങ്ങളോടു കല്പിച്ചതു ഒക്കെയും പ്രമാണിപ്പാൻ തക്കവണ്ണം ഉപദേശിച്ചുംകൊണ്ടു സകലജാതികളെയും ശിഷ്യരാക്കിക്കൊൾവിൻ; ഞാനോ ലോകാവസാനത്തോളം എല്ലാനാളും നിങ്ങളോടുകൂടെ ഉണ്ടു എന്നു അരുളിച്ചെയ്തു.”teaching them to observe all things that I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
Mary Magdaleneമഗ്ദലക്കാരത്തി മറിയ
A follower of Jesus from Magdala, first at the tomb.
“Of Magdala”, a town on the Sea of Galilee
The other Maryമറ്റേ മറിയ
Probably the mother of James and Joseph (Matthew 27:56).
“Hebrew Miriam”
The elevenപതിനൊന്നു ശിഷ്യന്മാർ
The apostles without Judas, sent to all nations.
“—”
ഭയവും മഹാസന്തോഷവും
The women came to the tomb expecting grief. They had watched Jesus die and seen where he was laid. They came to sit with a dead friend. Instead the ground shook, a stone rolled, and an angel told them to come and see that he was not there.
Matthew says they ran away “with fear and great joy”. Both at once. Easter did not make their fear disappear in a moment. They had just been through the worst week of their lives. But joy came and stood beside the fear, and then Jesus himself met them on the road and said: rejoice.
Many of us come to Easter carrying something: an illness, a loss, a worry that will still be there on Monday. The resurrection does not pretend those things are not real. It tells us they do not have the last word. Christ is risen, and he is with us always, to the end of the age.
കുടുംബമായി സംസാരിക്കാം
What is one fear you are carrying today? What would it look like to carry joy alongside it?
Two minutes after the audio. Everyone gets a turn, and nobody is interrupted.Greet each person at home this week with the Easter greeting, and share an Easter meal with someone who would otherwise eat alone.
Christ is risen from the dead! Lord Jesus, you met the women on the road and said “rejoice”. Meet us in our fear, fill us with your joy, and send us out to tell what we have seen. Amen.
The whole year
Every Sunday of the Church year, season by season: readings, the Gospel and a question for the family.
Sunday 1 of 7 in Kyomtho