Easter Sunday! It's a highlight of the year for Christians! Our sanctuaries are full. The brass is playing. Choirs sing. The organist blows all the dust out of the pipes. Easter Lilies add a splash of color and scent, and the "He is Risen" greetings come early and often. It is a mountaintop moment! But as we move into the middle of this week, the flowers are starting to wilt, the candy is gone, and in many of our churches, the pews this coming Sunday will look a lot emptier. Some even refer to it as "Low Sunday."
It’s tempting to think the Easter story ended when the stone rolled away. We treat Easter like a grand finale, but for the first disciples, the Sunday after Easter was where the rubber met the road.
In John 20:19-29, we read the account of two of Jesus' resurrection appearances to his disciples. The first took place on Easter Sunday, "behind locked doors." Then came a second appearance one week after the resurrection. The disciples were still behind "locked doors." All of them had seen the Lord on Easter Sunday, except for Thomas who missed that first Easter Sunday service. And even though the other disciples kept telling Thomas, "We have seen the Lord," Doubting Thomas responded, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, and put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will never believe."
Which led to that first Sunday after Easter, when attendance in the locked room actually increased--by one. Our Savior miraculously appeared once more in the locked room. "Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at my hands. Take your hand and put it into my side. Do not continue to doubt, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
In that moment, Thomas uttered the confession that needs to be yours and mine. “My Lord and my God!”
This tells us something vital: Easter is more than a one-day event. The miracle of Jesus' resurrection isn't only for the masses gathered together to sing his praise on Easter Sunday. It's also for the individual in the locked room a week later.
Jesus concluded that Sunday-after-Easter encounter with a blessing meant specifically for us: “Blessed are they who have not seen, yet believe.” (See also 1 Peter 1:8, 2 Corinthians 5:7, and Hebrews 11:1)
If you feel the "Easter high" fading today—if the house is quiet, the work is piling up, or your faith feels a little more like Thomas’s than Mary Magdalene’s—remember that Jesus is not merely a holiday deity. He is the Lord of the "week after." He is just as present in a half-empty church or a quiet cubicle as he is in a packed cathedral.
The stone stayed rolled away. The tomb stayed empty. And the Spirit still uses Word and Sacrament to move us to shout, "My Lord and my God!" Let’s not leave the Easter miracle behind with the Easter baskets. Let’s carry the reality of the Risen Christ into the ordinary moments of our week.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You that the victory of Easter doesn’t have an expiration date. When the crowds thin and the noise of the world grows loud again, remind us that you are still standing in our midst, breathing the peace of sins forgiven into our lives. We confess that we often live as if the story ended on Easter Sunday. Instead, give us the eyes of faith to recognize your presence in our work, our homes, and our struggles. Help us to live every day in the light of the Resurrection. In the name of the Risen Christ, Amen.
Privileged to Serve,
Rev. Glenn Schwanke
It’s tempting to think the Easter story ended when the stone rolled away. We treat Easter like a grand finale, but for the first disciples, the Sunday after Easter was where the rubber met the road.
In John 20:19-29, we read the account of two of Jesus' resurrection appearances to his disciples. The first took place on Easter Sunday, "behind locked doors." Then came a second appearance one week after the resurrection. The disciples were still behind "locked doors." All of them had seen the Lord on Easter Sunday, except for Thomas who missed that first Easter Sunday service. And even though the other disciples kept telling Thomas, "We have seen the Lord," Doubting Thomas responded, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands, and put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will never believe."
Which led to that first Sunday after Easter, when attendance in the locked room actually increased--by one. Our Savior miraculously appeared once more in the locked room. "Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at my hands. Take your hand and put it into my side. Do not continue to doubt, but believe.” Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
In that moment, Thomas uttered the confession that needs to be yours and mine. “My Lord and my God!”
This tells us something vital: Easter is more than a one-day event. The miracle of Jesus' resurrection isn't only for the masses gathered together to sing his praise on Easter Sunday. It's also for the individual in the locked room a week later.
Jesus concluded that Sunday-after-Easter encounter with a blessing meant specifically for us: “Blessed are they who have not seen, yet believe.” (See also 1 Peter 1:8, 2 Corinthians 5:7, and Hebrews 11:1)
If you feel the "Easter high" fading today—if the house is quiet, the work is piling up, or your faith feels a little more like Thomas’s than Mary Magdalene’s—remember that Jesus is not merely a holiday deity. He is the Lord of the "week after." He is just as present in a half-empty church or a quiet cubicle as he is in a packed cathedral.
The stone stayed rolled away. The tomb stayed empty. And the Spirit still uses Word and Sacrament to move us to shout, "My Lord and my God!" Let’s not leave the Easter miracle behind with the Easter baskets. Let’s carry the reality of the Risen Christ into the ordinary moments of our week.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You that the victory of Easter doesn’t have an expiration date. When the crowds thin and the noise of the world grows loud again, remind us that you are still standing in our midst, breathing the peace of sins forgiven into our lives. We confess that we often live as if the story ended on Easter Sunday. Instead, give us the eyes of faith to recognize your presence in our work, our homes, and our struggles. Help us to live every day in the light of the Resurrection. In the name of the Risen Christ, Amen.
Privileged to Serve,
Rev. Glenn Schwanke
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