Sights and Insights
Weekly Devotion for April 6, 2021
Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; he was the one who had reclined next to Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?”Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!” So the rumor spread in the communitythat this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?” This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true.But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. – John 21:20-25 (NRSV)
We have made it through Holy Week, celebrated Easter, proclaimed that Jesus has risen, and hopefully found a way to feast in celebration. So, what now? Is anything different this week? What has changed for your day-to-day life coming out of these events?
I wonder what the time after the resurrection was like for the disciples. We know from the Gospels that Jesus’ appearances occurred over time, so it was not such a clear cut division of time. Still, they went from the intensity of following Jesus into Jerusalem to the events of his crucifixion, and then the first reports of and encounters with the risen Christ. At some point they needed to begin to return to a regular routine. They still needed to eat and attend to daily necessities. Even with the unexpected occasional appearances of Christ, much of their time was a return to the mundane parts of life. How much had actually changed?
Yet clearly everything had changed. The day-to-day details may have been largely the same, but their sense of what was essential had clearly been altered. They could not look at the world the same way they did before, even if they had returned to the same places and were doing the same things. Their perceptions of reality had been permanently changed.
What new nuances does the experience of Holy Week bring out for you this week? How do you see God’s grace anew? How do you see new hope where previously there was none? How are you marked this week as an Easter person?