The Resurrection Is Timeless

Acts 4:23-31
John 3:1-8

Can we be born all over again? Is the question that Nicodemus asked Jesus in today’s gospel as he visits him at night. Yes certainly we can.
That’s what Easter is all about—being born again, passing from death-in-life to true life; passing from fear to trust and anxiety to peace; passing from small mindedness to a love that never stops expanding; and surely passing from old world sadness to superabundant joy. In other words, Easter is not about making everything just a little bit better; it’s about making everything dazzlingly new. To be part of this new life, therefore, Jesus tells us that we must be begotten from above, born not of flesh, but of the Spirit. It is to take our bearings not from a world that is passing away, but from the risen one. It’s saying yes to a love that’s been calling to us since the day we were born.

In today’s first reading, we see the two apostles, Peter and John returning from their encounter with the Sanhedrin; the very Sanhedrin that condemned Jesus to death. Peter and John returned to the community and the two reported all that had happened to them and all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. We can just picture Peter and John saying, We got to preach to the Sanhedrin. They commanded us not to tell others about Jesus! Their first instinct was to share with other believers what had happened, and this led to communal prayer:And when they heard this, they lifted their voices to God with one accord and prayed.

The first response of this group of believers was to turn to God in prayer. Is prayer your first response in difficult situations? Do you understand the importance of prayer? How often do you pray about your boldness in proclaiming the Gospel of Christ? Most of us are so consumed by desiring “things” that we give little attention to praying for opportunities, boldness, clarity, and passion in presenting Christ to a lost world.

The trouble with Easter is that we don’t hold onto it. We celebrate it and then slide back into the tomb. Like Nicodemus, Jesus invites all of us to embrace Easter as a feast that ought to be a way of life. It is not one day to celebrate and then quickly forget, but the exultant life Jesus’ death and resurrection make possible for us, one in which no hope is too wild and no dream ever foolishly farfetched

Fr Joseph Osho