EASTER SUNDAY 21STAPRIL2019
You are all most welcome to this service as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Jesus is risen today: halleluiah, He is risen indeed!
The resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ is indeed a fact- it truly did happen. I would like to share two scenarios, namely, about the women who worshipped him and the soldiers who were bribed to lie about what had happened!
Firstly, according to scriptures we read, “…and as they went to tell his disciples, behold Jesus met them, saying “Rejoice” so they came and held him by the feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them do not be afraid. Go and tell my brethren to go to Galilee and there they will see me” (Mathew 28:9-10).
Secondly, the soldiers were bribed as we read from Mathew 28:11-15 as follows; “Now while they were going, behold some guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened. When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, saying, “Tell them, His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept”. And if this comes to the governors ears, we will appease him and make you secure” so they took the money and did as they were instructed; “And this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until This day”.
How do we interpret the above two scenarios?
In the first one, the women responded by worshipping the risen Lord Jesus Christ. Praise the Lord, How about you? Today as we celebrate 2019 Easter, does it mean anything different for you in your spirituality? Or it is just business as usual? Think about that.
Looking at the second scenario; we are struck by the relevance of what happened then to what is happening today in our Ugandan situation. There is rampant corruption in both public and private lives e.g people telling lies, the methods,cheating on reach other, stealing here and there paying and receiving bribes, grabbing land and committing all kinds of murders in order to get rich, How can we get out of all these?
Thanks be to God for Jesus Christ (Rom. 1:16-19, Acts 4:12).
In Conclusion:
Whereas there cannot be a denial of the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ as shown by the women who met him and worshiped him, today there are people who are opposed to Christianity and arguing that the resurrection of Jesus was not true. They continue to believe the lie told by the soldiers who were bribed to do so as the scriptures tell us above.
What about you? What is your take on this?
Whether we like it or not, we must believe in the resurrected/ risen Jesus because He is the way, the truth and the life. Without Him no one can get to the Father. (John14:6). There is no salvation on earth except through him alone (Acts 4:12).
Happy Easter!
Udongo Albert Festus (Rev. Canon)
CHAPLAIN
