EASTER • 1

What does a Christ-Centred, Cross-shaped Community look like?

In this week’s reading, we mediate on the birth, values and lifestyle of a believing community.

Introduction to the Easter Season

The Resurrection of Jesus points back to the cross, asserting that Jesus is the Way and his cruciform way of life is the right and only way. God’s raising of Jesus to life also points forward to all his followers, that a new resurrected way of living is now possible, with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that will happen very soon. These readings invite a reflection, NOT upon the miracle of the resurrection itself, but upon the COMMUNITY that is the astonishing outcome of that miracle.

While the reading in Acts takes the image of a reconciled community quite concretely, referring to shared property, which by its sharing, had overcome need and poverty. The Epistle reading on the other hand, takes the notion of communal fellowship in a much more Christ-centred direction, where the Easter church is a new “fellowship” enjoying communion with God, and whose members have communion with one another. While the community in its very existence is an evangelical sign and statement, this reading pushes in an ethical direction. This community is structured around “light,” “truth,” and “righteousness,” what is very much needed in the world today.

reading for: 7 April

John 20:19-31

The Birth of the Church

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The resurrected Jesus comes unexpectedly into the company of the bewildered, fearful disciples. In that moment of fear, they are no community. They have lost every dimension of community—except their shared sense of fear, which is no basis for community. It is the intrusion of Jesus into their life that regathers and reconstitutes this community. Three times the newly alive Jesus says, “Peace.” It turns out that his word is not only greeting, but assurance, and in the end summons to a new life of “belief,” a life of faithful, obedient living.

In verses 19 – 23, we find the birth of the church and its reason for existence – to receive and be transformed by His Presence (v21) and be sent forth into the world as agents who continue His mission bringing the Good News of God’s forgiveness of sins (v21 & 23). Here we see that these verses form an important piece of the story. The locked doors highlight the trauma and fear of the disciples, who have good reason to think that they may be the next victims. In the midst of their terror comes Jesus, with his reassuring words. After he speaks and displays his wounds, the disciples rejoice. The presence of the Lord is transforming.

Jesus is eager for his disciples to recognize him as the same Lord whom they had followed closely the last three years.  His scars are mentioned three times (vs. 20, 25, 27), becomes confirming evidence not only to the disciples and to Thomas but also to us as readers that the Jesus who is risen is the same one who was crucified.

Furthermore, Jesus is not passive but actively bringing His peace to frightened followers and charging them to be bearers of the same peace. This peace is first and foremost a peace with God – through Christ’s death, we have received God’s forgiveness and are therefore no longer God’s enemies.

Along with the mission comes the gift and empowerment of the Spirit (v22 – 23). On the first Easter evening, the church receives the promised Holy Spirit (14:15–17, 25–26; 15:26; 16:7–11, 12–16), who brings both an agenda and a promise. Thus, in the brief space of five verses (20:19– 23) John describes the beginning of the church, authorized by the risen Jesus to declare the good news of peace and forgiveness, empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Finally, the various responses to Jesus in this whole of chapter 20 present interesting snapshot of how faith emerges. The beloved disciple sees the empty tomb and the burial wrappings to one side and believes Mary’s report (v. 8), in contrast to Peter, who views the same evidence and apparently remains skeptical. Mary Magdalene sees the stone rolled away from the tomb but continues in her grief until the unrecognized Jesus calls her name. She then declares to the others, “I have seen the Lord” (vs. 1,11–18). The disciples also must see in order to believe (v. 20). Though Thomas is really no different from the other disciples, he seems to become the one who remains unconvinced until he sees (vs.25, 27–28). In each case, faith comes from sight, though what is seen may vary from discarded grave clothes to Jesus himself.

  • REFLECT

    Today, we are one of the many later generations, who will never see the same evidence that these disciples saw—no empty tomb, no voice speaking, no presence of Jesus with visible wounds. Has time and distance made faith less valuable or more difficult for us? To this, Jesus says, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe” (v. 29). For us the John’s Gospel itself is the evidence. This is why it was written (vs. 30–31). Is your faith in Christ is born from the word, from the witness of those who did see and whose witness remains? How can you increase and strengthen your faith?

reading for: 8 April

Acts 4:32-35

The Practical life of the Church

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    The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ has not only transformed our relationship with God, it has transformed our relationships with one another and also how we relate to the world.

    Our passage shows a great contrast between the attitudes of the outside authorities and those of the earliest Christians. In chapter 3, after Peter and John, healed a cripple, they are arrested by the Temple officials when they explain their restorative power as an expression of the living presence of the crucified Christ (3:1–4:22). Upon their release, the two disciples worship with their friends and praise God, while praying for strength for their tasks (4:23–30). As a result, they witness new signs and wonders from God: “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness” (v. 31).

    What happens next must be understood as a result of the work of that same Spirit who gave the disciples the power of articulate speech (v. 29). They now begin to share with one another and to care for those in need with a boldness that matches that of their new language.

    Their communal living is remarkable and grows out of a deep conviction that God’s rule (Kingdom) had come and old values and old ways of living were no longer relevant because life itself had been transformed. The kingdom of God was at hand; of that the resurrection of Jesus and the sending of the Holy Spirit were the sure signs. So, they committed themselves to live as if that which had been experienced in a provisional manner were actually a present reality. The kingdom of God was soon to come, yet the kingdom of God had already come, and life had to reflect the tension between the “already” and the “not yet.” In this conviction they were “of one heart and soul” (v. 32), and everything they owned was held in common.

    Beyond being a simple expression of their unity in Jesus Christ, and their anticipation and celebration of the kingdom, there was a practical basis for their unusual economy - their commonality of goods was designed to ensure that “there was not a needy person among them” (v. 34).

    In the risen Jesus, there was now a new family: the church. It was to the fellowship of other Christians that the men and women of the resurrected Lord submitted their goods for the well-being of all, and it was to that fellowship that they looked for support in time of need. The implications of this new theology and humanitarianism are not difficult to trace. Societies may change, as may the structures of economics and finance, but the needs of people for support and strengthening do not change. Thus, the spirit of Christian unity, in addition to being a proclamation of the Lordship of Jesus Christ, must work to sustain and empower men and women in a variety of ways.

    Not only in deed but in word these early Christians lived their-witness to the renewing power of Jesus Christ. And lives were touched and transformed. 

  • REFLECT

    Recall and celebrate moments where love and unity were expressed among LG members, whether to one another or to others outside the group. Give thanks and celebrate care acts that move you, selfless sacrifices that inspire you and that testify to the living Presence of Christ in your midst.

reading for: 9 April

1 John 1:1 – 2:2

The Fellowship of the Church

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    In John 20:19-31, Jesus appears to the Twelve, not only to quell their distrust, but also to unite them as a newly birthed church (v.23). In Acts 4:32-35, the power of Jesus’ resurrection graces his church with an open heart, out of which every material need is satisfied. Here in 1 John 1:1–2:2, we find an honest yet encouraging meditation on life in a community whose Lord is Jesus.

    1 John starts by emphasizing the concreteness of the 2nd member of the Trinity in the human person - Jesus. “what we have heard, what we have seen with our own eyes, and we have beheld and touched with our own hands” (1 John 1:1, 3).

    The reason for this is so that we, John’s readers can also have true fellowship (koinonia) with the first believers as well as with “the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3).

    In Jesus, God’s love unites the Church. And John’s desire for unity in Christ is so that his “joy may be complete” (1 John 1:4). However, we discover that in practice, it is not at all so straightforward; for soon we learn that he is distraught over a schism in that church, a division over who Jesus is and the difference his coming has made (1 John 2:18-25; 4:1-6; 5:1-12).

    In 1:5, John reminds listeners of the gist of his message: God is complete holiness, or light without any darkness whatever. 1 John 1:6-10 now unpacks this truth in a series of descriptions that elaborate on this. If (on the one hand) we say we have fellowship with him (God or Jesus), yet walk in darkness (conduct ourselves unscrupulously), we’re lying and aren’t doing the truth (1 John 1:6). But if (on the other hand) we walk in the light, as he is in the light (live in accord with his righteousness), then we indeed have fellowship with one another. Such community is based on Jesus’ power to cleanse us from all sin (1 John 1:7).

    On the subject of sin: If (on the one hand) we say we don’t have sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us (1 John 1:8). But if (on the other hand) we confess our sins, he is dependable, righteous, will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

    And if (on the one hand) we say we haven’t sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word (his promise of forgiveness) is not in us.

    Finally John pastorally comforts the believers (1 John 2:1-2). He writes, not to stir up sin or despair, but to console a riven church that Jesus Christ is a living, righteous force that releases us from our sins.

  • REFLECT

    We often think of ‘fellowship’ in loose ways. We might ‘fellowship’ over many different common interests and hobbies. How does John’s idea of ‘fellowship’ affirm, challenge or enrich your existing understanding of what Christian or Life Group fellowship is?

reading for: 10 April

Psalm 133

The Blessing of the Church

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    This psalm sits within a larger group of “Songs of Ascents” (Pss. 120–134), probably used in pilgrimage toward the Jerusalem Temple. The entire group tends to be buoyant and somewhat celebrative, the kind of songs we might expect in a group of joyous, exuberant pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem.

    The theme of the psalm is presented clearly in the first verse. To have members of an extended family (tribe) living together in harmony and unity is a wondrous thing, “good and pleasant.” The alternative, which this poem wants to reject, is that a family should be at cross-purposes, quarrelsome, inclined to hostility, and, in the case of a tribe, given to internal vengeance. Thus the poem affirms and celebrates a community that functions in a healthy, reconciling way.

    This vision of communal harmony may be rooted in a quite concrete social experience. The imagery of vs. 2–3a suggests that this may be a specific agricultural community, one most likely to dispute over land and property (see Luke 12:13).

    The image of a reconciling community itself is wondrously open in several directions of interpretation. What is clear is that hostility in a human community is does not belong to the practice of gospel faith.

    Verses 2 and 3a, contain two metaphors, that serve the theme of v. 1 well. The psalmist characterizes the goodness and loveliness of communal harmony in two ways. First, such communal harmony is like precious oil, in which a community may luxuriate when it is festive, secure, and prosperous. Oil was a scarce and precious commodity in a local community, and was to be used only for the essentials of life, such as light and heat. But on festive occasions oil might be “wasted” in extravagance, when one could be showered with it as a sign of special well-being. One can imagine a community without any surplus of riches on occasion permitting itself extravagance that is economically wasteful—life is so good that it must be marked by luxury (see Mark 14:3–9). Communal harmony is as good as extravagant oil, overflowing in joy and delight, turning life into a celebration of well-being that is unguarded, careless, and generous. A community at peace is one with more than enough.

    Second, communal harmony is like mountain dew. This image may be especially significant in a dry climate, where any hint of moisture is a special gift and a cause for joy. The two images of oil and dew reinforce each other, and together present a picture of extravagant well-being—that is what harmony is like!

    Mount Zion is a hill in Jerusalem. In referring to this mountain, the Psalmist celebrates Jerusalem as the place the blessing of God, life forever, is located. Notice that “life” and “joy” found in 1 John 1:1–4, is exactly the emphasis of our psalm. Moreover, the threefold announcement of the risen Christ in the Gospel reading concerns “peace,” exactly that which is celebrated in this psalm.

  • REFLECT

    What is one thing you can do to bless a brother and sister this season? What is one thing you can do as an LG or in your Kampong that can make a difference to individuals or certain families? Consider planning a simple care act or activity.

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