Readings
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation;
for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created…
all things have been created through him and for him.
He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together…
he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
so that he might come to have first place in everything.
For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things,
whether on earth or in heaven,
by making peace through the blood on the cross.
- from Col 1: 15-19
My goal is to know him and the power of the resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death.- from Phil 3:10
Thoughts for Reflection
“A gospel paradox: in getting us ready to live, Jesus gets ready to die…our habit is to think life first, then death. Jesus radicalizes our perceptions, first death, then life.” - from Eugene H. Peterson
“The New Testament writers speak as if Christ’s achievement in rising from the dead was the first event of its kind in the whole history of the universe. He is the ‘first fruits,’ the pioneer of life,’ He has forced open a door that has been locked since the death of the first man. He has met, fought, and beaten the King of Death. Everything is different because He has done so.” - from C.S. Lewis
Personal Reflection
What needs to die in me, or in my life, so I can live?
How does the resurrection make things different for me?
Prayer
Jesus, who has come that we might experience life in its fullest dimensions, give us now that life, and let it ever be in us a river rushing forth to life eternal. Amen
- from A Guide to Prayer for All God’s People
Blessing
Receive every day as a resurrection from death, as a new enjoyment of life;
meet every rising sun with such sentiments of God’s goodness, as if you had seen it, and all things, new-created upon your account: and under the sense of so great a blessing, let your joyful heart praise and magnify so good and glorious a Creator. - from William Law
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Addition Readings
Monday - Psalm 36:5-11; John 12:1-11
Tuesday - Psalm 71:1-14; John 12: 20-36
Wednesday - Psalm 70; John 13:21-32
Maundy Thursday - Psalm 116:1-2, 12-19; John 13:1-17, 31b-35
Good Friday - Psalm 22; John 18:1-19:42
Holy Saturday - Psalm 31:1-4, 15-16; John 19:38-42
- from Revised Common Lectionary