“Oh, Love, How Deep,” verse 7 (ELW 322)
Devotion
All glory to our Lord and God
for love so deep, so high, so broad;
the Trinity whom we adore
forever and forevermore.
Easter begins in darkness. Mary Magdalene rises before dawn to go to Jesus’ tomb, there to mourn. But when she reaches the tomb, the stone is rolled away and the body of her Teacher is gone.
Easter begins in grief. Still mourning the events of Friday, Mary now weeps because she cannot even tend to the body of her Lord. "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him."
Easter begins in death, at a tomb, with linen wrappings and a hundred pounds of myrrh, meant to prepare Jesus' body for burial.
And then—"Mary."
At the sound of her name on his lips, everything changes. Light breaks through darkness. Joy shatters grief. Life conquers death. And Mary becomes the first apostle to the apostles, "I have seen the Lord!"
"We are an Easter people," said Pope John Paul II, "and 'Alleluia' is our song." We are an Easter people. Even in the midst of darkness, grief and death, we are an Easter people, because Jesus is risen and we, too, shall rise when he calls our names. Such is our proclamation. Such is our Easter hope. Such is our song: "Alleluia! Alleluia!"
Prayer
Risen Christ, fill our hearts with Easter hope and Easter "alleluias," that we might be witnesses to your resurrection power at work in our lives and in our world. In your most holy name we pray. Amen.