Welcome to Anglican Church of Christ the King, Tripoli, Libya
Deacon Crimson Jebaraj
Greetings to you in the most precious name of our Risen Lord. From all these readings we find the traces of the Risen Jesus either as a 'Prophecy' or as a 'real occurrence' or as a 'revelation' to Paul.
The first Reading starts “He will swallow up death in glory---“ This shows very clearly how Jesus conquered death by tasting death. There are so many celebrities those who had lived on earth and gone forever. Great Pharaohs built their own tombs those are still standing as pyramids. Before dying they had instructed their descendants keep their with all great wealth with an aim of coming back to life. That was the reason that their bodies were mummified but still lying as dead bodies. But Here is the King of kings and the Lord of Lords who repeatedly said of his resurrection and the empty tomb testifies that the grave could not hold Him anymore Acts 13: 34 – 37.
Meanwhile, in 1 Colossians, we read that Jesus is the beginning, the Head and the firstborn to raise from death to live forever and everything remains and lives in Him in full. Though it looks highly philosophical, it is the reality that the Lord reigns forever and He has the full dominion and authority all throughout the generations.
When the risen Lord appeared to His disciples, most of them doubted in the beginning, but later they believed. But Thomas was away and when he heard the news, he was not ready to believe until he could see and touch his body again. Jesus came for the second time and specifically showed himself alive to Thomas. At this moment, the doubting Thomas called him as My Lord, My God. The divinity manifested in Jesus was well apparent to him as he asked him to touch his hands and ribs. Later on, Thomas came as a first missionary to India and was martyred for Jesus.
But the words are so pointing to us that “Blessed are those who believe without seeing”. We are called believers because we believe in the resurrection of our Lord and we are more blessed indeed. The power of resurrection though being started as small movement of Christianity, spread to the rest of the whole world . We are also the part takers of such strong belief and with that we can see the glory of God.
Loving Lord heavenly Father, we thank you for sending your precious Son Jesus Christ into the world to be the eternal sacrifice for us. Help us to experience the power of resurrection in every moment of our lives so that we can stay strong in our faith and nothing can separate the love of God that is rooted in us. Help us to be the strong witnesses for you and take away all sort of doubts and disbelief from us. In Jesus precious name we pray. Amen.