The message of Easter is that Jesus Christ lives. To say that He “has risen” or “was raised” is only a part of the story. Jesus Christ lives just as surely as He spoke to Mary, met with his disciples in the upper room, comes in the water of baptism, or teaches in the words of confirmation and Sunday School classes. Jesus lives.
Perhaps one of the more powerful stories from scripture about the living Christ is pictured in the large stained glass window on the north side of our sanctuary at Grace Lutheran Church. Jesus meets two men on Easter evening, according to Luke’s gospel, on a road from Jerusalem to the village of Emmaus. They do not recognize this stranger to whom they unburden their sorrow at the loss of the beloved messenger they had from God. Jesus teaches them to find His presence in their Bible, and when He breaks the bread at the table that evening (like holy communion), they recognized that they have met the living Lord.
Spring is a good time to recognize the life that lives around us. Let this church window remind you of how often Jesus Christ lives with you here and now in scripture, in conversation, in worship, in study, in friends, in family, in sacraments, in self. He lives!
(Text about the stained glass windows at Grace provided by Pastor Darrel Gerrietts, 1990.)