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The Lord is Risen Indeed

By Vicar Lisa Rygiel

Following on last week’s reading from The Church Year Makes Sense by John G. Williams, this week’s excerpt focuses on the disciples.

I try hard to picture what it was like for them – and specially for Peter – on Good Friday night and all through that black terrible Saturday, going over and over in their minds all he wonderful things they’d done together and then, how at the last minute, they’d failed him and deserted him; and now he was dead, leaving them only sad and bitter memories for the rest of their lives. And they were terrified too, terrified that their turn might come next and that a knock on the door might mean the police – and so they crouched hiding in their secret upper room, hopeless and defeated men. That’s what things were like for them during that awful weekend. They’d stopped living. There was nothing to live for.

And then suddenly, on Easter Sunday, something happens to those men. They’ve changed in a flash, every single one of them together. Instead of slinking off and trying to escape, they’re actually going round in broad daylight saying quite openly that Jesus, who died three days before, is alive again – and saying it to people who’d watched him die and seen him buried. They know quite well that they’re risking their lives by coming out into the open and saying that, but it doesn’t worry them now – in fact, most of those men who’d run away on Good Friday because they were afraid to die with Jesus were persecuted and tortured and hounded to death because they persisted in telling the world that Jesus had risen again. The more I ponder on that strange story, the more certain I am that those men were right and not making any mistake when they said, “The Lord is risen indeed!”

May the presence of the Risen Christ go with us and fill us with his power, today and always.

May 4 -- 3rd Sunday of Easter

10 a.m. Sunday Worship with Communion

Announcements

  • Fellowship Time: Join us after worship in the Fellowship Hall for our First Sunday Potluck. All are welcome.
  • Meetings: Both Church Council and the Call Committee will meet after worship on Sunday. The church council is meeting a week early as next Sunday is Mother’s Day.
  • Weekday Bible Study: Continues at 1 p.m. on Thursday, May 1, and again at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 3. The studies explore Biblical allusions in everyday life. After that, studies will be on summer hiatus.
  • Flower Chart: To make sponsorship easier to track, a traditional flower chart will replace the book to sign up for sponsorship. Anyone who previously signed up for special dates in 2025, is asked re-enter that information on the new list. If you have yet to sign up, please consider doing so. A gift of $35 is suggested for flower donations. The sign-up chart and donation envelopes are in the back of the sanctuary. Donations can be placed in the offering plate or given online using the Tithe-ly app (follow the link on Zion’s homepage at org to give online.)
  • As a reminder: Zion’s is discontinuing the Portal of Prayer subscription, however many past editions are still available in the Fellowship Hall. Please feel free to take one or more of them to read and share.
  • May Newsletter: The May issue of the Zion’s newsletter Connections will be sent via email on Wednesday morning. Printed copies will be available in the Fellowship Hall and Sanctuary. The deadline for contributions to the June Newsletter is May 20.

E-formation – 3rd Sunday of Easter, May 4, 2025

Easter lasts for fifty days: this coming Sunday is the third Sunday of Easter, and we hear another story of Jesus’ appearance after his resurrection. To encounter Jesus here and now, come to worship, to hear the word, to eat with him, and to connect with his body of believers.

John 21:1-19

Since John 20:30-31 reads like the conclusion to the fourth Gospel, many scholars suggest that chapter 21 was an epilogue added soon after the book was finished. The narrative assumes that the disciples have returned to their previous life and occupation. Placed here rather than at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, this version of the catch of fish accounts for both Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances in Galilee (the Sea of Tiberias is another name for the Sea of Galilee) and for Peter’s status as primary communal leader. As in Luke 24, the disciples recognize Jesus when he serves them bread. There is no clear meaning to the number 153. The three-fold questions to Peter parallel Peter’s three-fold denial. Peter is to follow the Good Shepherd through life and into death. Verse 19 is the oldest written indication of Peter’s martyrdom.

Acts 9:1-6 [7-20]

Luke, ever the masterful storyteller, writing in the 80s after the death of Paul, sets the stage for Paul’s role in spreading the word to the Gentile world by providing an affecting narrative of the appearance of the risen Lord to Saul, which is absent from Paul’s own autobiographical statements (see Gal. 1:15-16). Scholars question the claim (vv. 2 and 14) that the high priest had authority of extradition over the Jews in the diaspora. According to this narrative, there were Christians in Damascus already in the 40s. Christians have access to God by invoking the name of Jesus. The shorter excerpt is the appearance of Christ to Saul, and the longer excerpt adds the details of Saul’s blindness, the gift of the Holy Spirit, Saul’s baptism, and his faith in Jesus as Son of God. Thus, Luke uses the narrative to typify conversion to faith in Christ.

Revelation 5:11-14

Following the introduction (chap. 1) and the seven letters to the churches (chap. 2–3), Revelation gives a lengthy description (chap. 4–5) of the heavenly court with multitudes of varieties of worshipers around God’s throne. The vision is marked by symbols rooted in inter-testamental apocalyptic literature. Angels, divine messengers, are imagined as courtiers who perpetually praise God. The four living creatures recall Ezekiel 1:10, where the four probably symbolized the powers of the earth’s four directions. The reference to elders indicates early Christian polity. The dominant title for Christ is the Lamb, which was killed to grant life to believers.

Zion's Lutheran Church

A Reconciling in Christ Community

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719-846-7785