EASTER AFTERTHOUGHTS

The records provided by Matthew, Mark, Luke and John vary in details, but when taken together they give us a colorful account of the miraculous resurrection of our Lord! 

It was clearly a group of women who found the empty tomb and were spoken to by angels. One account reports that the apostles simply didn’t believe them, but Luke and John report that Peter and John had a foot-race to the tomb, but found it empty. 

It’s not possible for us to imagine the fear and confusion that these early followers of Jesus experienced.  But this confusing news did seem to bring them together!  Should they believe these incredible reports of the women? 

That’s when we read:

So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord.   [John 20:19-20 All quotes from the NASB unless otherwise noted]

But doubting Thomas was not present that evening!  Poor Thomas! Can you imagine his regret?  When they told him about the visit, he said:

“Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”

But John continues his account:

After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then He said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here with your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.” Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!”

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We are incapable of grasping the significance of a change that would soon take place among these Jewish believers in Jesus!  For centuries upon centuries they had worshipped on the seventh day – the Sabbath!  This tradition and its exercises had been DEEPLY entrenched in Jewish practice.

However, the death and resurrection of Jesus impacted them so powerfully that somewhere along the way, they gave up the sacred practice of observing the Sabbath and began worshipping the Lord on the first day of the week – clearly to honor the resurrection of Jesus and the hope that His redemptive work had instilled in them! 

We do not know how quickly this massive transition took, but we have hints:

Luke probably wrote his record of the Acts of the Apostles by 62 A.D. In this record we find:

On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart the next day…   [Acts 20:7]

This leads us to believe that within thirty years after the death and resurrection of Jesus this worship transformation had been initiated.

We find further evidence of this transition in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian Church. It is strongly believed that this letter could have been dated as early as 56 A.D. [a mere twenty-six years after the resurrection]!

On the first day of every week, each of you is to put something aside and store it up, as he may prosper, so that there will be no collecting when I [Paul] come.

Let’s look at one more incidence in Revelation which was likely not written until 95 A.D. – probably the last written book to be included in our Bibles.

I [John] was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet…   [1:10]

So, by the close of the first century this remarkable transition seems complete.  The followers of Jesus now worshipped on the first day of the week [instead of the last] and they commonly referred to it as the Lord’s Day [instead of the Sabbath]!

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And we continue this practice today in 2025!  Every Sunday is a celebration of the first encounter with the risen Lord!  Therefore, every Sunday is a ‘Little Easter’! 

The enthusiasm and joy we saw this past Sunday should indeed be replicated EVERY SUNDAY – EVERY LORD’S DAY!