10 April 2020 | Lockdown

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. (John 20 vv 19–20)

We aren’t the first disciples to be in lockdown at Easter!

S.Cecilia Church, Trastavere, Rome  © Philip Richter

We always tend to think of Easter as a very joyful occasion, and I hope you manage to get some joy, most especially through a broadcast service, or reading and praying, but also by doing something special to celebrate – Philip got his Really Meaningful Easter Egg by post!

But we have to remember the resurrection was not immediately a joyful experience for the first disciples – they were deeply afraid, just as now people are deeply fearful of the Covid 19 virus. It was difficult to assimilate the good news of those who had encountered the Risen Jesus, and doubly difficult when the disciples were fearing that, following on from the death of Jesus in a cruel crucifixion, those known to be associated with him would be the next target. (The way that Christians are persecuted throughout the world today is not only by punishing them, but by threatening them with targeting their families.)

The disciples locked themselves away. Granted they were able to meet together, which we are not (though we can have contact over social media) but it was a frightening time. We are in the middle of a terrifying time, we don’t know what could happen. We are in different circumstances, but experiencing the same emotions as the first disciples. Lockdown, fear and distress when thinking about what has happened.

If you are a fan of the quiz show ‘Pointless’, when contestants get the same number of points and one set need to be eliminated at the end of the round, the normally affable Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman take on a different persona, and go into a sinister sounding rap ‘oooooh, oooooh, oooooh lockdown, oooooh, oooooh, oooooh lockdown’! I keep thinking of that rap as an earworm, as lockdown is a challenging position to be in.

But for the first disciples, the joy of the resurrection is in the wonder of Jesus coming into that lockdown situation – they don’t know how, but he enters their place of fear, and is there giving words of comfort. Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Words of peace and the strength of his presence needed to be given and received. Jesus showed them his wounds, to show that he still bore the marks of what he had been through, but his presence and his love and person were very much there for them. It is then the spirit of the resurrection came into play: The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

May we in our fears and worries and lockdown suddenly come to and realise that we are seeing Jesus – Christ with us and beside us - bringing words of peace to strengthen us.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Halleluiah!

Rosemary