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Prayer of the Day
Historical Collect
Almighty God, you have overcome death through your only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, and have opened to us the gate of everlasting life. We humbly beseech you that as you put into our minds good desires, so by your continual help we may bring them to good effect; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Thematic Collect
God of all mercy and grace, your only Son’s death and glorious resurrection have delivered us from the power of death and redeemed all creation. Grant that we may no longer look for the living among the dead and instead daily die to sin and rise to newness of life; through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Thoughts on the Readings
The Common Thread
This is why Jesus was born, lived, suffered, and died: so that “the Lord of all” would be the good news of salvation to “everyone who believes in him,” thereby receiving “forgiveness of sins through his name.” Indeed, there is no good apart from him. So we must always set Christ before us, seeking heavenly things—that is, seeking Christ himself who sits at the right hand of God. This is the life of the new creation, a life buried and hidden in the risen Christ.
First Reading • Acts 10:34-43
Christ is not simply Lord of the Jews, or Lord of the rest of the nations, or a different Lord for the Jews than he is for others. He is the same Lord of all. In the land of the Gentiles, he went about doing good, but in the land of the Jews, he was crucified and raised from the dead for Jews and Gentiles alike. Everyone who believes, whether Jew or any other people, will be forgiven through the name of Christ. This is the Gospel: Jesus is Lord of all, and for those who believe, there is forgiveness of sin.
Psalm • Psalm 16:1-11
Is the Lord always before us (Psalm 16:8)? Do other things get in the way, as they did for Mary Magdalene and the other Mary when they went to see the tomb? They did not go to see the Lord; they went to see his tomb. When we go to worship, do we go to see the Lord? Is he always set before us, or does a hymn or the accompaniment get in the way, or the sermon become our focal point, or something someone said take our gaze off the Savior? If we keep him close, we cannot be shaken, and our hearts will be glad because Jesus, the “path of life,” is set before us (John 14:6).
Second Reading • Colossians 3:1-4
What a perfect picture we have in our Gospel lesson today of Paul's teaching in this Epistle. Mary and Mary went to the tomb with their hearts set not even on things of the earth, but rather on things under the earth. But when Christ appeared to them, everything changed. Their hearts were then fixed on heavenly things because they were fixed on Christ alone.
Gospel • Matthew 28:1-10
Sometimes one visits the burial place of a loved one — perhaps to spruce up the area around the headstone, maybe to place some flowers, but certainly always to remember the one departed. Sometimes people will talk to the dead in such a lonely place. Imagine, for a moment, that on your next trip to the graveyard, the departed speak back. This is precisely what happened to the two Marys when they went to see the tomb. There is no way we might quantify the joyous awe that must have overcome them as they left the tomb and encountered Jesus alive. They came to the tomb with the their minds on the dead, but they left with their minds set on Christ alone.
