Bible Notes for Easter Sunday to 4th Sunday of Easter, Year A, by Stuart Gunson

Easter 1: 20 April. John 20: 1-18

Bible text

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.’ Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went towards the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’ When she had said this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni!’ (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, ‘Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” ’ Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

These readings for these first four Sundays of Easter have a common thread to them: They all have something about recognition, response and belief/confidence/trust.

Comment

(The four gospel accounts of the Easter morning story are different from each other and here in particular it is important not to read one account into another)

The tomb is empty, and Mary Magdalene draws the conclusion that Jesus’ body had been removed and taken elsewhere. The visit of the two disciples did nothing to change that view. The phrase “he saw and believed” is not qualified and so we can only presume that he believed Mary because we are told that they “did not understand the scripture”.

It was Mary who discovered the significance of the empty tomb. Tearfully she confirms her belief that the body has been stolen as she explains her suspicion to the two angels. Equally tearfully she repeats the suspicion to one whom she presumes to be the gardener, in fact she appears to hold him responsible for the theft.

The moment of recognition has a real feeling of tenderness about it. Just by hearing one word, her name, Mary recognises Jesus. It must have been both the voice and the way the word was spoken that gave it away. In a similar way Mary confirms that she recognises Jesus: just the one word “Master”.

That’s one way that understanding comes: in an instant, like a light being switched on; for Mary ‘the penny dropped’ and she had the confidence to go and announce “I have seen the Lord”

So, according to John, Mary is the first witness to the risen Christ. We are left to imagine the reaction of the disciples to this news. They had to wait a whole day, into the evening, until Jesus came and stood among them (Ch20 v19); we have to continue to imagine how they spent that day, and the immediate impact that Jesus’ presence would have on them.

Easter 2: 27 April John 20: 19-31

Bible text

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.’

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord.’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.’

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.’ Thomas answered him, ‘My Lord and my God!’ Jesus said to him, ‘Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

Comment

The disciples were fearful, probably rightly so. They were known associates of Jesus who had been crucified and so they had locked themselves in. They had a day to discuss/ think through/ wrestle with the announcement that Mary had made. Then when Jesus ‘came and stood among them’ they rejoiced: Mary’s story had been confirmed. That is another way that understanding comes: you have had time to mull over an idea, air your hopes and/or concerns about the implications of it being correct, to share the idea with others offering your interpretation while listening to theirs; and then convincingly, though not necessarily dramatically, the understanding takes shape.

Jesus greets them with ‘Peace’ and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps to link this with John 14v 25-27 in particular is helpful; because the promise in John 14 is confirmed in John 20.

Thomas was not there. ‘Doubting’ is used traditionally to describe Thomas. We might use the words cynical, sceptical, and realistic as well; you can hear most of these words behind his demand for hard evidence. It doesn’t come much harder than being able not only to see, but also to touch. He has a week to live with his uncertainty, and we can never know how his assertion about not believing unsettled the rest of his friends. His reaction was questioning their understanding. Then his moment came. There was the same greeting of peace to the disciples; then Jesus turns his attention to Thomas. Here is the hard evidence. We can only speculate whether Thomas actually touched, but there is no doubt about his response.

The gospel writer affirms that the ‘signs’ he has recorded have been written so that ‘you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God’. John writes to provide evidence so that those who have not seen yet come to believe. This story is one about evidence: how the disciples responded to the first hand evidence of the risen Christ, having had to ‘make do’ with the second hand evidence of Mary’s report; and how Thomas was not prepared to ‘make do’ with anything other than first hand experience.

A useful exploration of this passage may be around the idea of how we interpret experience: our own (first hand evidence) and that of others (second hand evidence). The Christian interprets his/her experiences through the lens of the gospel, how does the doubter, or the unbeliever interpret his/her life experiences?

Easter 3: 4 May. Luke 24: 13-35

Bible text

Now on that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem, and talking with each other about all these things that had happened. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus himself came near and went with them, but their eyes were kept from recognizing him. And he said to them, ‘What are you discussing with each other while you walk along?’ They stood still, looking sad. Then one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answered him, ‘Are you the only stranger in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?’ He asked them, ‘What things?’ They replied, ‘The things about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, and how our chief priests and leaders handed him over to be condemned to death and crucified him. But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things took place. Moreover, some women of our group astounded us. They were at the tomb early this morning, and when they did not find his body there, they came back and told us that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who said that he was alive. Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said; but they did not see him.’ Then he said to them, ‘Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?’ Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.


As they came near the village to which they were going, he walked ahead as if he were going on. But they urged him strongly, saying, ‘Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.’ So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. They said to each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?’ That same hour they got up and returned to Jerusalem; and they found the eleven and their companions gathered together. They were saying, ‘The Lord has risen indeed, and he has appeared to Simon!’ Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Comment

This story, now in a different gospel account addresses the subject of how we can be blind to what might appear to be obvious, but then how recognition comes.

The two travellers in the story were wrapped up in their own conversation about ‘what had happened’. Their experience of the living Christ had provided them with the evidence on which they had established the hope that he was the ‘one to redeem Israel’. The events of recent days were causing them to review that evidence, and they were trying to fit into that the reports about the risen Christ. They became aware of a fellow traveller with whom they shared their discussion and he calls them ‘foolish’ and ‘slow of heart to believe’. This challenge does not appear to make any difference. The traveller reminds them not just of their recent experience, but of evidence with which they had grown up: the teaching of the prophets, the record of the scriptures; he spelled out the history and put the present into context, but still it appears to make no difference.

It was probably their tradition of courtesy and hospitality that obliged them to invite him to stay. It was in an ordinary and familiar activity that recognition came: in the blessing of food before a meal. That was their first hand experience and it was over in an instant. However it compelled them to reflect on what had gone before and they realised that their ‘guided bible study’ had prepared them for the moment of recognition.

Their response was immediate and ‘that same hour’ they hurried back to add their account to the growing number of encounters with the risen Christ.

The passage allows us to explore how we handle conflicting experiences, how we weigh evidence, how we can easily ignore the contribution of history to our understanding of the present; and then how all that history and experience needs a moment of illumination when ‘the penny drops’. It is that moment that inspires action and conviction.

Easter 4: 11 May. John10: 1-10

Bible text

‘Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.’ Jesus used this figure of speech with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.

So again Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and bandits; but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

Comment

There are two possible links to other parts of John’s gospel that might profitable be explored:

It may be interesting to link this passage with John 21 (15-18). Is Jesus passing on the responsibility of shepherding to Peter?

The phrases “I am the gate. Whoever enters by me will be saved,” and “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” are reinforced in John 14: 6-7 “I am the way, the truth and the life”. The former are spoken in a public encounter, the latter in the intimate context of an ‘over the table’ conversation with his friends

This passage appears in the gospel before the resurrection and therefore before the three stories we have considered in the previous three weeks. However, we have to remind ourselves that the gospel was written after the resurrection and would be read or heard by those who knew about the resurrection. So we fail to get the most out of this passage if we simply ask the question “What was Jesus trying to say to the Pharisees” (his audience at the time) (see Jn9v40)? The question is more like “What was the gospel writer trying to say to those readers and hearers who are exploring their belief in the risen Christ?”

We should look at the story in its context: it follows the healing of the man born blind (Jn 9). It is, therefore, relevant to consider the conversation between the cured man and Jesus (Jn 9: 36-37) and the expression of belief/recognition in the words: “Lord, I believe”, and the question of the Pharisees “Surely we are not blind are we?”

The metaphor changes from seeing to hearing. The gospel writer is linking together two stories about recognition: 

1. The account of a healing followed by seeing and believing. 
2. A ‘Jesus story’ about identifying someone familiar and trustworthy through hearing their voice and a willingness to follow. 

So we have experience (seeing) and believing, and recognition (hearing) and responding. This passage may therefore be used to draw together the stories of the previous three weeks.

However, here we have an added dimension of discernment. ‘The sheep’ can differentiate between the ‘shepherd’ and the ‘thief/bandit’. They recognise the truth, the sincerity, the identity and can distinguish it from insincerity and falsehood and follow when called. The shepherd knows his own sheep; he too is able to discern where obedience lies.

The account continues (v11-18) with Jesus claiming to be ‘the Good shepherd’ through which he points up his vocation and how he will fulfil that vocation.