It’s Only Monday.
It’s a day just like any other day in Jerusalem. The marketplace reopens and people begin to prepare for the journey home after the Passover.
The Roman soldiers that have been in town prepare for the march back home with Pontius Pilate.
It’s Monday.
The group that arrested Jesus and had him executed on the cross thinks that everything is about to get back to normal. The authorities think the rebellion has ended. People saw him die.
It’s Monday.
The closest followers of Jesus have started to get the accounts that Jesus’ tomb is empty. Some have their doubts. Many still haven’t seen him and still think he’s gone. Some say they won’t believe the reports until they see Jesus in front of them.
It’s Monday.
No matter how that Monday started out, the signs of change are beginning to break out everywhere. The curtain in the temple was torn. The tomb is still empty. The cross didn’t win. Nothing will ever be the same again. They just don’t know yet what it all means.
It’s Monday. Only Monday.
Centuries later, in 2020, churches weren’t packed as they usually are. Christians weren’t gathered together to remember the ways they used to be. Pastors and churches went online to share a message of hope in a world filled with anxiety and fear over coronavirus. Maybe, some, gathered together in their cars in parking lots to hear the sermon. But no matter how it happened, the message was the familiar account of the resurrection. Maybe, in the midst of all that uncertainty over COVID-19, there was a moment to pause and remember that God is still in control.
But, now, it’s our Monday.
And, what do we do on this Monday? We have to think about the way we view this resurrection and whether it actually has the power to save our world and our lives. If we view Easter as a “wrapping up” of the story of Jesus, as tying up the loose ends, then Easter is just another great Sunday that fades into the reality of Monday.
And it’s Monday.
However, this Monday is going to be different if we see what Easter is trying to tell us. On Good Friday, Jesus, the son of God, was nailed to a cross along with all of the sin our ancestors, we and our children and grandchildren would ever commit. And, on Sunday, that first Easter, Jesus got back up and the what was standing between us and God stayed buried. And, God did that for all of us.
So, yes, it’s Monday!
And on this Monday, stuck in the middle of a global pandemic, quarantined in our homes, with anxieties about what happens next, we still have the power to proclaim that, “God is with us!”
Those bad days we are having can fade away. Because of that first Easter, because of what Jesus did, we can confidently know that “our worst days will never, ever be our last day.” (Frederick Buechner).
Jesus is not in that tomb.
Jesus is risen.
It’s Monday and he’s back at work.
If you want to keep up with the Jesus who is back at work then don’t take this Monday off. Get moving! Step closer to him. Find that hope that will get you through this pandemic and beyond.
It’s Monday and everything has changed.
Reignite my Story 