Daily Devotion

21st April – He is not here

Audio

Today is the Monday of Easter Week, 21st of April. As we gather around the empty tomb, let’s be still in His presence.

We praise the Lord together in the words of Psalm 146:

146 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord, O my soul!
² I will praise the Lord as long as I live;
    I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.

³ Put not your trust in princes,
    in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.
⁴ When his breath departs, he returns to the earth;
    on that very day his plans perish.

⁵ Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
    whose hope is in the Lord his God,
⁶ who made heaven and earth,
    the sea, and all that is in them,
who keeps faith forever;
⁷     who executes justice for the oppressed,
    who gives food to the hungry.

The Lord sets the prisoners free;
⁸     the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
    the Lord loves the righteous.
⁹ The Lord watches over the sojourners;
    he upholds the widow and the fatherless,
    but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

¹⁰ The Lord will reign forever,
    your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the Lord!

Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit:
as It was in the beginning, is
now, and shall be forever. Amen.

The scripture reading is Mark 16:1-8

When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. ² And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb.³ And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” ⁴ And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. ⁵ And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. ⁶ And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. ⁷ But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” ⁸ And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

Reflection

“He has risen; he is not here.”

At the tomb, there was no trace of Jesus. He had completely disappeared. His body cannot be found because it was renewed and resurrected.

Most believers sees the significance of Easter as an affirmation of afterlife. Death will only lead to a better everlasting life. While this is true, Easter is also significant because it concerns the bodily resurrection of Christ.

“See my hands. See me feet.” Jesus said in Luke 24:39. St Paul spoke at length about the implications of Jesus’s bodily resurrection and nature of His new body in 1 Corinthians 15.

As the Church confess in the Apostles Creed: “I believe in…the resurrection of the body and life everlasting.”

Christianity insist that our bodies last. That is, they are resurrected to eternal life. The resurrection sheds new light on the value of our bodies. We are stewards of this gift. So will we do well with them? Whoever you are, whatever condition you are in, will you do well with them? 

Every act done through this body (or life) has meaning. Every act of justice. Every word of truth. Every creation of true beauty. Every act of self-giving love will be reaffirmed in the new world. The resurrection is God’s affirmation of humanity. 

Unfortunately, every sin will have consequences too. Our bodies are not just toys to be thrown away after a life of amusement and abuse. We have to account for how we use it. This is the real incentive towards genuine holiness, not from fear of punishment but from a correct understanding of what it means to be human. 

Our bodies do decay and some of us may be suffering from illnesses. Even these do not take away the immense value of our bodies. And as we age, our bodies are not miserable rags, old and wrinkled, considered best forgotten by some. No. Our bodies are priceless. For He will renewed it.

As you seek to follow Jesus, will you do so with the body He has given you? Will you let His grace work through your bodily weaknesses? For He has said: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9

And let us look forward to the day when we will inherit a renewed glorious body.

Collect

Lord of all life and power,
who through the mighty resurrection of your Son
overcame the old order of sin and death to make all things new in him: 
grant that we, being dead to sin and alive to you in Jesus Christ,
may reign with him in glory;
to whom with you and the Holy Spirit 
be praise and honour, glory and might, now and in all eternity.
Amen.

Link to today’s Morning Office