For the Sundays beginning with Easter and following, the first lesson does not come from the Old Testament; it comes from the book of Acts.  We shift our focus from the old promise to the actions of the apostles, who will spread the Good News with the help of the Holy Spirit.

ACTS 10:34-43

THE BACKGROUND

The Holy Spirit has called Peter to go to the house of Cornelius in the city of Philippi. Cornelius is an officer in the Roman army, and a Gentile.  But he is a “god-lover”.  This is what they called non-Jews who worshipped Yahweh, but did not fully convert to all the Jewish practices, namely the dietary laws and circumcision. The Holy Spirit called Peter to bring the Good News to Cornelius’ household.  At this point in time, most of the Christians were Jewish, and kept all the Laws of Moses.

THE DETAIL

• Peter begins his speech by making a bold statement.  He says that “…God shows no partiality.”  Because of what the Holy Spirit has revealed to him early in this chapter, Peter now knows that Yahweh is not just interested in a relationship with His “chosen people”; God loves everyone, showing no partiality to the Jews. (This is very good news to all of us Gentiles!)  (v.34)
• He then says “You [already] know his relationship with the people of Israel, and the teachings of Jesus [the] Christ.  By the way, Jesus is Lord of all “.  (This is my personal paraphrase of verses 35 & 36.)
• Peter goes on to concisely explain the life and ministry of Jesus.  (vv. 37-39)
• He concludes with Jesus’ death and resurrection, adding that he and those who came with him that day were witnesses to all of this.  (vv. 40-41)
• Now comes the clincher.  Jesus not only commanded them to spread the news.  Jesus is the one ordained by God to will judge us all.  Not only that, everything you (Cornelius) know about the prophets—they all testified about him.  (vv. 42-43)
• The rest of the story, not included here, is that Cornelius and his entire household believed in Jesus, and were baptized that day.  The Holy Spirit came, and caused them all to speak in tongues, just like those at Pentecost.

THE TAKEAWAY

No longer do the Jews have exclusive access to God’s love.  God sent Jesus to gather us all in, even Roman army officers.  He commands us all to preach the Good News of Christ to everyone, regardless of who they might be.  
 

1 CORINTHIANS 15:1-11

THE BACKGROUND

This reading is really the tip of a huge iceberg.  Chapter 15 is 58 verses long.  After the 11th verse, Paul shifts into a long discussion on the resurrection—its truth and meaning.  Apparently, some believers in Corinth were questioning whether or not the resurrection actually happened.  This would be a wonderful study and basis for a sermon, but who wants to hear 58 verses of the bible read on Easter Sunday?  I do recommend that you at least skim over the entire chapter, if you have time. But let’s focus on what Paul says in these eleven verses.

THE DETAIL

• Paul reminds them what he had previously taught them, that Jesus lived, died, was buried, and rose on the third day.  (vv. 1-4)
• Paul provides a long list of Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances. (vv. 5-8)
• Paul gets around to humbly including himself in the list.  (vv. 9-10)
• He concludes this section by saying that Paul and the apostles did this for their (and our) benefit. (v. 11)

THE TAKEAWAY

These verses are good for me to read during times of doubt.  It wasn’t just a couple of people making this up—there were many witnesses and many appearances.  We can rest assured that Jesus not only died for our sins, but rose on the third day. He truly is Lord of All!
 

MARK 16:1-8

THE BACKGROUND

For the Jews, the Sabbath begins on Friday evening, and ends on Saturday at sundown.  You are not allowed to do any work on the Sabbath, so completing the burial operations on Jesus’ body had to wait until the first day of the week—Sunday morning.

This passage comes at the end of Mark’s gospel.  Verses 9- 20 are about Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances.  It should be noted that these verses are absent in the older manuscripts of Mark’s gospel.  Some have concluded that these verses were not part of the original gospel, but were added at a later time. 

THE DETAIL

Three women who were close to Jesus are assigned the task of caring for Jesus’ body.  But they had a big surprise waiting for them.  The body was gone!  A young man in a white robe explains that Jesus was raised from the dead, and was no longer there.  The women fled in terror and amazement.

THE TAKEAWAY

Those poor women went to the tomb in grief and left in terror.  They were so filled with fear, they spoke of this to no one.  From the other gospels, we learn that it took some time before the apostles believed them. 

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Why might these women been so full of fear?  Were they afraid of being ridiculed?  After all, who ever heard of anyone rising from the dead?  Don’t we also share this same fear?  Why are we so reluctant to share the good news of Jesus’ resurrection?  We should listen to the young man at the tomb, and not be alarmed or afraid.  We should be like Paul and the others, sharing the good news with others.