What is Important?

The Resurrection of Our Lord – April 19/20, 2025

Isaiah 25:6-9
Psalm 114
1 Corinthians 5:6b-8
Luke 24:13-49

It had been an emotional roller coaster from the high of the triumphal entry into Jerusalem to the death and burial of Jesus. And the followers of Jesus handled it all in different ways. While the men who had followed Jesus hid in a locked room somewhere in Jerusalem, the women returned to tradition. Luke tells us that they faithfully observed the Sabbath and once it was over went to give Jesus’ body a proper burial anointing. Each disciple of Jesus, then, did what seemed important to them. It was their way to deal with the disappointment (they all had wonderful expectations of Jesus) and grief in the way in which it all ended. We do know that that time was very confusing by the different ways each Gospel writer tells the story of the empty tomb. In fact, for Luke, it seems that this is not the story of the resurrection. That story is the one that takes place on the road to Emmaus – a walk of grief and disappointment as the travelers find their way back to their old lives. 

We all know those times of grief and disappointment because we have traveled that path ourselves. How many of those times have you not recognized the stranger walking with you? How many times have you stepped into the empty tomb and not believed? How many times has a messenger of God spoken to you and you did not hear? That is all easy to do. Just as the disciples of Jesus did not see and understand what was going on around them because what they saw was the most important thing to do. In short, their priorities got in the way of seeing God.

I wonder what your priorities are. Do some of them, like mine, block you from experiencing  the resurrection of Jesus? Are you like the disciples blinded to God’s new world by self preservation or the need to do things the way they have always been done? The disciples reverted to those actions because it was easy. To experience God to see what God wants for your life is not easy. To see that you just need to read the book of Acts. There we find the story of the early Christians struggling to find out what it is that God desires of them. A brief look at the history of the church shows that that struggle has gone on from Jesus’ resurrection to now and will continue until the time when Jesus returns. As it has been throughout history God’s people have struggled between their own priorities and God’s.

So, in these confusing times how do we learn God’s priorities and act on them? I turn to Jesus as our model. Jesus when confronted by the contrast between his and God’s priorities turned to prayer – “not my will but yours,” Jesus prayed. Jesus also knew his scripture. When handed the book of Isaiah he knew where to find the passage he wanted to read. This is a good beginning for us. I would suggest that all of us spend much more time watching television or scrolling our Facebook page than we do in prayer and Bible reading. That is not necessarily bad, but when those other activities take over our Bible reading and prayer time we may lose the desire to act as Jesus acted. So, take some time out of your social media and television time and spend it with Jesus. You will find that time with Jesus is more rewarding.