Bishop’s Easter Message

Whether you hear the Easter Gospel from John 20 or Matthew 28 this year, both accounts are filled with powerful emotion.

Matthew tells of fear—the fear of the trembling guards and the women at the tomb. No matter who we are, you and I all carry our own fears about the present and the future.

John tells of misunderstanding and weeping. You and I know what it is like to hear words we cannot comprehend, to see things we struggle to believe, or to grieve losses that feel hard to console.

These reactions—fear, confusion, and tears—are not only part of the Easter story long ago. They are real for us today, 2,000 years later.

And yet, in the midst of fear, doubt, and sorrow, the Risen Christ comes. He appears to his friends, tells them not to be afraid, promises to go ahead of them, and he tells them, “Go.”

Dearly beloved of God, this is the promise of Easter: no matter your fears, whatever you do not understand, in the midst of your tears—Jesus is already going ahead of you and promises to meet you right where you are. Just as you are.

You do not need to pretend you have it all together. You cannot fix everything that is broken in yourself—or in the world. But God loves this world so much that in Jesus Christ crucified, God bears your brokenness, your sin, your fear, your confusion, your sorrow, and suffers with you. God takes what is broken—even sinners like us—and makes us whole. And in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, God makes you and the whole world new.

The promises of Easter continue. The risen Christ goes ahead of you today and still promises to meet you in the most unexpected places of your life. And then he tells you—go, see, and tell.

Blessed Easter, dear friends.

+ grace and love, joy and peace,
Bishop Dee Pederson