The Easter Vigil ---- 31 March, 2018

as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead.

·        Tonight we take part in a vigil. There was a time when this vigil would last all night and the darkness would be filled with hymns, poems, readings, and talks. There might be processions and people might come and go at times.

·        All this would be done to await the dawn – the age-old symbol of the Resurrection of Christ – and the rising of the sun in the east would remind the worshippers of this Resurrection.

·        I suppose we’re not the people our ancestors in the faith were. We’re not any less, but the world and how we find ourselves in it have changed. There are still some who hold vigil all night and there are some who wake early to greet the dawn on the shores of the lake here in our area.

·        The point is we wait and we continue to wait. The point of such a vigil is to wait for what we know will come. Any such vigil is an exercise in hope.

·        Our Gospel reading tonight tells us that Mary Magdalene came to the tomb with no hope of seeing Jesus and maybe no hope of anything. She came to mourn and to sit in her loss. She didn’t expect anything but a closed tomb. To find the tomb open still did not impart hope to her since the body might have been stolen.

·        Peter and the “disciple that Jesus loved” were without hope as well. They did not understand what Jesus has told them. They did not comprehend what had been told about what would happen to Jesus. The crucifixion dashed their hopes and the hopes of all the disciple.

·        None of them expected the Resurrection. We however know the entire story and we know the end. We hold vigil to remind ourselves that we are part of this story of the empty tomb and the surprise of the resurrected Jesus.

·        The story of Jesus Resurrected does not end with the conclusion of any of the Gospels. The Gospels end as written works; the Good News goes on through our lives. Just like those disciples on the first day of the week – the day of the New Creation, we don’t understand the Scripture either. There will come a time when we will understand. Until then we wait in vigil, although it is a vigil of joy rather than despair.

·        Once again, we know how the story ends. And we will understand. You know when that will be? When we can say what Mary Magdalene said to all the disciples that first day of the renewed creation – “I have seen the Lord!”

·        Maranatha. Come, Lord Jesus.