Resurrection Sunday -- one week removed

Sunday, April 23, 2017

Andrea King wrote the following message last Sunday to my Sunday School class. With her permission I wanted to use it this week for my blog. (It is lightly edited.) I think you'll enjoy her insight. 

Sweet SISTERS, 

I hope you all have had a wonderful and blessed Easter. If you had the opportunity to attend the Easter service (at First Baptist Richmond), then I'm sure you were blessed by the Choir 's Easter Cantata followed by a wonderful sermon given by Pastor Bill. Then, as usual, we had an awesome time in Sunday school.  

For those that were not able to be with us this morning, here is a recap of our time together in Sunday school.  

We had a sweet time of fellowship and digging into God's word. We looked at the four accounts of the resurrection story told by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. 

Each of these four men had different recollections of what happened the day Jesus rose from the dead.

Does it make one of them right and the others wrong?  No, absolutely not. 

There were many things that transpired that most special day, and Matthew, Mark and John explained what stood out to them. Luke may not have been at the empty tomb, but his account of Christ's resurrection is also special. I'm sure Luke had spoken to many people and recorded the details he was told that stood out to him. 

After reviewing the resurrection accounts, I began thinking,  "Isn't this an example of how God reveals things to us and gets our attention? We can all see, hear, and participate in the same event, but all get a different message or lesson from God." I think God uses the different accounts of the resurrection story to meet us all where we are. He speaks to us all in ways we will understand. 

Another key moment that stood out to me that I had never noticed before was in Matthew' s account when Jesus tells the women at the empty tomb to "go and tell my brothers." We discussed this in class, and with Patience's guidance, we saw that this was a very special and intimate choice of words for Jesus to use. I could also see the humility that Jesus had. He put himself as one with his disciples, just as he had done before he died. 

I know I will never look at the resurrection accounts the same. I love it when God reveals new things about his love, word and life.

(Lord, thank you for this class and for these lovely ladies. Thank you for Andrea's perspective on your word. May we all be open and attentive to new things you want to show us in the Scripture.)