Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. After that, he was seen by more than 500 of his followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then he was seen by James and later by all the apostles. Last of all, as though I had been born at the wrong time, I also saw him. [1 Corinthians 15:3-8 (NLT)]
Found in almost every Roman Catholic church (and some Protestant and Orthodox ones), are the Stations of the Cross—a series of fourteen icons or carvings on the walls—each of which depict a moment in the Passion of Christ. Created to help people contemplate the events leading up to Christ’s crucifixion, they start with His death sentence from Pilate and end with His dead and battered body being laid in the tomb. Because Good Friday and Jesus’ death aren’t the end of the story, some churches have begun adding the resurrected Christ as a 15th station.
More recently, the idea of “Stations of the Resurrection” has taken hold in both Roman Catholic and Protestant traditions. While the Stations of the Cross depict just one day in the life of Christ, the Stations of the Resurrection illustrate the 50 days of Eastertide. There is no official list of “stations” but they usually begin with the angel speaking to the women at the empty tomb. They continue through the days Jesus remained on earth showing events like Jesus on the road to Emmaus and His appearance to the disciples on Easter, as well as His appearances to Thomas, the disciples on the shore, and the 500 mentioned by Paul. After portraying Jesus’ Ascension on the 40th day, the “stations” conclude either with the Holy Spirit’s descent on the 50th day (Pentecost) or Jesus’ appearance to Paul on the road to Damascus.
Having spent the season of Lent spiritually preparing for Good Friday and Easter Sunday, we shouldn’t need the Stations of the Cross or those of the Resurrection to help us remember Christ’s suffering, death, and rising from the dead. Nevertheless, once we put away the Easter baskets, we may not give Easter another thought until the following year. Easter, however, is more than one day; it is a liturgical season called Eastertide. Lasting for seven weeks, it concludes with Pentecost. Why not spend these weeks reading about and meditating on those 50 days in the gospels and Acts. Imagine the shock of finding an empty tomb. What was it like for Cleopas when he realized the stranger with whom he’d walked, talked, and broken bread was the resurrected Messiah? If you’d been one of His frightened followers hiding in a locked room, how would you react to seeing Jesus miraculously appear? Visualize seeing the scars on His hands and feet. What was it like to have breakfast with Him on the beach and to walk with Him, hear His voice, and witness His miracles once again? Can you imagine watching Jesus ascend into Heaven? Picture what it was like that 50th day on Pentecost when the disciples were filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. Consider how Peter, the one who denied Christ three times, became the one who boldly proclaimed Him “Lord and Messiah.” The Easter story doesn’t end at Easter, or even at Pentecost; it continues to unfold today!
Christ’s resurrection is the most powerful world-shaping event in history. It is why we are freed from our sins and live in hope not fear! The good news of Easter is so good that we should continue to celebrate Christ’s resurrection long after the rest of the world (having eaten the last of the Peeps and chocolate rabbits) is thinking about the next holiday. Remembering Easter and the events that followed should be an important part of our spiritual lives—not just for the 50 days of Eastertide—but all year long. As Augustine of Hippo said, “We are an Easter people and Alleluia is our hymn of praise!” Let us be Easter people all year long. Alleluia!
As I pondered my goals for this year’s Lenten practice, I remembered Alica Britt Chole’s suggestion to “consider Lent as less of a project and more of a sojourn.” While we often encounter the word ”sojourn” in Scripture, it’s not a word typically used today. Although the basic meaning of gûr, the Hebrew word translated at sojourn, is to “live, settle, dwell,” gûr usually included the sense of it being a temporary or transient stay. Typically, a sojourner was someone living outside their clan or a noncitizen in a strange place. Because of famine, Israel sojourned in Egypt for 430 years and, because of their disobedience, they sojourned forty years in the desert before entering the Promised Land. It is Jesus’ 40-day sojourn in the wilderness before entering His public ministry that is remembered in Lent.
“How was work today?” asked the wife in the Born Loser comic strip (drawn by Chip Sansom). Her husband answered, “Horrendous!” adding, “It feels so good that it’s over, I’m almost glad it happened!” Having had times when my prayer was simply, “Lord, just get me through this!” I understand. Sometimes, life seems so challenging and exhausting that we’re willing to settle for merely getting through it. That, dear friend, is setting the bar far too low. God has better plans for us than just getting by and none of us are born losers.
Joe Btfsplk was a character in Al Capp’s Lil’ Abner comic strip. With a last name that sounds likes what’s known as a “raspberry” or “Bronx cheer,” the poor man had a dark cloud of perpetual bad luck hanging over his head. Btfsplk no longer appears in the comics but I think his dark cloud of misfortune has settled over the head of a dear friend I’ll call JB (in honor of Capp’s luckless character). Since JB’s retirement, if something could go wrong, it has and, as soon as one challenge resolves, another one appears. When I saw the photos from his most recent mishap, JB looked as if he’d been tossed around in a giant rock tumbler filled with broken glass and boulders.
Several years ago, two friends joined the ranks of widowhood within a week of one another. Because her husband surrendered to cancer several months earlier by stopping all treatment, one woman was not surprised when she joined the club. The other woman, however, went to bed a wife and awoke the next morning to find herself a widow. Despite his looking the picture of health, her husband, having suffered a fatal stroke while she slept, lay dead on the kitchen floor.
Psalm 119, the longest of the psalms, is a song in praise of the Word of God. Since we don’t read this psalm in its original Hebrew, we fail to appreciate its intricate construction. Each of its twenty-two sections begin with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet in sequence. Each of the eight verses in those twenty-two sections begin with the letter that introduced it. For example, the first word of the first section begins with alef, as do the next seven verses. In the second section, every line begins with beth. The psalm continues that way up to the 22nd (and last) section where every line begins with the final letter of the Hebrew alphabet, tav. 
Devotions of the Heart 