Sunday’s hymn
of the day, O Sons and Daughters of the King (LSB #470), recounts
the story of Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances and particularly His
encounter with St Thomas. His words to Thomas are meant for us, also: ‘How
blest are they who have not seen / And yet whose faith has constant been, / For
they eternal life shall win. / Alleluia!’ Alleluia!’ Alleluia!’
“O Sons and
Daughters of the King (Lutheran Service Book # 470)
How do you
come to the Second Sunday of Easter this year—still basking in the glow of last
week’s celebration of Christ’s victorious resurrection or exhausted and
emotionally down in the aftermath of lower attendance this weekend?
This week’s
Hymn of the Day unwraps the ongoing gift of Easter by simply retelling the
Easter story so that you can continue living the Easter story. Unmistakably, this
15th-century Latin hymn addresses you in your current mental state as “sons and
daughters of the King” with the rock solid truth of Christ’s physical
resurrection from the dead, “Today the grave has lost its sting! Alleluia!”
Now relive
the stories of the first witnesses to Christ’s resurrection. That Easter morn
three women come in grief to anoint Jesus’ body, but see and hear an angel clad
in white announce, “Your Lord will go to Galilee”(Mark 16:5-7). We are there
with them.
Then the hymn
writer tells the Easter story from John 20:24-29. That night as the disciples
meet in fear, Jesus, “their master dear”, appears in the upper room with a
calming message, “My peace be with you here.” The Easter glow continues eight
days later when Jesus appears again to the apostles, including the doubting
Thomas. Immediately Jesus shows Thomas his hands, feet, and side, inviting him
to touch his crucified and risen body. Thomas believes and cries, “You are my Lord
and God.” With our own fears and doubts, we join the apostles and receive his
forgiveness for a life of sending and confessing Jesus as Lord and God.
Looking
deeper, we ask how our Easter story connects with the eyewitness stories of the
women and the disciples. The hymn writer, by quoting accounts from both Mark
and John, reminds us that there is only one Gospel as proclaimed by Peter and
the other apostles: “The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by
hanging him on a tree” (Acts 5:30).
Furthermore,
that one Gospel of the resurrection connects with our new birth in baptism: “According
to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3-9). We picture the
newly baptized in the early church during the eight day period from the Easter Vigil
wearing white robes which reminds the believers of their own baptism for a life
of joyful service, “though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been
grieved by various trials” (1 Peter 1:6).
Sturdy
resurrection hope for the realities of our life after Easter, 2014—Christ is
risen indeed! The women and apostles tell their Easter stories in that simple hymn.
We claim the Easter story as our own— Christ for us at the cross and empty
tomb; Christ in us through baptism. By his grace, we live the Easter story in
all circumstances as witnesses to Christ’s resurrection. “To God your hearts
and voices raise. Alleluia!”[2]
Collect for Easter 2—Almighty God, grant that we who have celebrated the Lord’s
resurrection may by Your grace confess in our life and conversation that Jesus
is Lord and God;[3]
[1] The Risen
Christ, © Ed Riojas, Higher Things
[2] https://www.cuchicago.edu/globalassets/www-digital-team-media-files/documents-and-images/academics/centers-of-excellence/center-for-church-music/devotions/hymn-of-the-day-devotion-easter-2-april-27-2014-1.pdf
[3] Collect for
Easter 2, Lutheran Service Book, and © 2006 Concordia Publishing House. St.
Louis
[4] Collect for
Saturday of the week of Easter 1, For All the Saints, A Prayer Book For and By
the Church, Vol. III © 1995. The American Lutheran Publicity Bureau. Delhi, NY
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