April 4: “Who Are You Seeking?”
♫ Music:
WEEK EIGHT
BRIGHT WEEK
TITLE: FELLOWSHIP WITH THE RISEN CHRIST
April 4 - April 10
“Christ IS risen.” “Indeed HE is risen!” Christians around the world proclaim this greeting to one another today and throughout Eastertide as they rejoice at the victory Christ has won over sin and death. In the ancient Church, the Easter service began at midnight with a reading from the Gospel of John (1:1-17). Completely darkened churches slowly became light as one tiny flame was passed from person to person. This passing of light took place while the Gospel was proclaimed. The eternal Word and Creator— “was Life, and the Life was the Light of men. That Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” In a sea of flickering candles, the darkness had no ability to overcome the light.
There are two names for the week that follows Easter. It is called, both, “Bright Week,” and “The 8th Day.” The phrase, “Bright Week,” refers to the light that Jesus has brought into our own lives, and how we are to spread his light to those we come in contact with. Reverend Gabriel-Allan Boyd says, “Bright Week is where, being filled with Christ’s light, we become a part of the ‘new creation’ (2 Corinthians 5:17), what we were actually created to be in the first place. That’s what the term ‘8th Day’ refers to. When God created the universe, He rested on the 7th day, the Sabbath (Saturday). But, when Jesus rose from the grave, it was on the day after the Sabbath (the day after the 7th). Therefore, Jesus rose from the grave on the 8th day. He became the first-fruits of the new creation, the one unified with God, as the joyful sign and promise of the everlasting ‘Bright Week’ in paradise…a never-ending week of brightness. The entire Bright Week is considered to be one continuous day.”
Biblical fellowship indicates a deep relationship where true communion between Christ and his followers takes place. Saint Paul writes in Philippians 3:10, “That I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings, being conformed to his death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection of the dead.” As we look at the Scripture passages this week and imagine what it might have been like to encounter the resurrected Christ, it won’t be hard to feel the deep longing for fellowship the early witnesses experienced as Christ met them face to face. Quoting again from Reverend Boyd, “We keep this 8th day of Bright Week eternal in our hearts by embracing the reality that God wants to be known; that we were made for that purpose; and that as [his] new creation—as someone united with him—we are being restored to that purpose!”
Day 47 - Sunday, April 4
EASTER SUNDAY
Title: “WHO ARE YOU SEEKING?”
Scripture: John 20:13-18
And the angel said to Mary Magdalene, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and that He had said these things to her.
Poetry:
[haiku],
by Kobayashi Issa
The snow is melting
and the village is flooded
with children.
STOP CLINGING TO ME, BUT GO AND SAY
Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!
How beautifully Kobayashi Issa’s haiku evokes the renewal and joy of Spring – winter snow, that smothers life and freezes movement, melts – and the village, the place of confined, dug-in survival, bursts its seams, it seems, with children – an abundance of human lives promising growth and play and adventure. The disappearance of snow to the delighted joy of children cannot help but evoke for some of us readers the trajectory of C S Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Never-ending winter is overcome through the victorious coming of the lion, Aslan. His victory is through his death on the stone table, and new life in the deep magic of Narnia. Of course, both these imaginative constructions gain their truth for Christians in reference to the beautiful and glorious Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ celebrated this Easter Sunday.
Musically, for today’s devotion, we are treated to Luke Howard’s ‘Dappled Light’ which evokes the fleeting playful light that brightens, illumines, and enchants as it dances. Ariel Ramirez’ ‘Alleluia’ sets one key Scriptural confession – ‘Praise the Lord’ – amid an equally sonorous dappling of sung praise – Oscar Cardozo Ocampo cries out, in Spanish, ‘Happy are the Peace Makers for they shall be called children of God’ (Matthew 5:9, see also John 1:9-13). Whether with jazz ensemble or pan pipes there is an excess to our resurrection theme that defies capture but bubbles over in music.
This abundance is also indicated as today’s art gestures toward our Bible passage. Artist Graham Sutherland captures in bold colors the ordinariness and the brightness of the scene. Jesus in his gardener’s hat extends his left hand up along the balustrade heavenward whence he must go to be glorified in the Father’s presence. With his right hand he wards off Mary’s astonished attentions.
With the words “My Father and your Father, and My God and your God” the risen Lord, whom Mary is blessed to see with her own eyes, demonstrates the wonder of the accomplishment of the Son’s mission. Through descent and death, resurrection and ascent, Jesus achieves the reconciliation that ushers in salvation for those who, despite not seeing him physically, will cling to him in faith. This is a new day.
It seems that Mary recognizes Jesus, her Lord, and teacher, not by appearance but by his voice, and specifically his voice speaking her name, “Mary!” (John 10:27). This second Adam’s garden naming speaks of a renewal of creaturely relationship with the Creator (cf. Genesis 2:18-23) – not yet fully tasted but glimpsed by looking to and for him. Jesus is a gardener of new creation, restoring in his person the blessed creaturely human communion of paradisal walks with God (Genesis 3:8). Hallelujah! We are called to declare and make Jesus’ peace as we walk as children of God.
The risen Jesus offers a sure but tantalizing embodiment of the fullest possibility of creation life – redeemed and glorified. On this celebratory Easter Resurrection day we grasp, like Mary, after his glory fleetingly; in hope, undaunted; in joy, mindful of the missionary time lag between his resurrection and our own.
Seeing Mary reaching for her Lord, consider how much you have craved the commonplace intimacy of touch, the comfort of companionship, and found it denied you in the present pandemic. You’ve perhaps been working from home, missing collegiality, or separated from family and friends, or only coming six-feet-social-distanced from those you care for. The promise of Easter Sunday is that full communion in bodily resurrection, new creation city life is close because Jesus goes before us to prepare a place (John 14:1-3). Listen to Mary’s testimony, “I have seen the Lord” and believe! Go and tell this good news to sisters and brothers in familial rejoicing!
Prayer:
Our Father God,
Jesus’ life melts death
and the city is flooded
with children.
Alleluia.
Grant us joy and comfort this Easter day.
Settle in us, by your Spirit, the confidence to become Peace Makers.
May we reach out to touch the lives of those you seek to call to be your children.
Prepare our hearts with patience to re-join those who have entered their rest with you, at our glorious resurrection.
Lighten our mourning, our sighs and our tears with the extravagant dazzling beauty of new creation hope in Jesus,
In whose name we pray,
Amen
Andy Draycott
Associate Professor of Theology and Christian Ethics
Talbot School of Theology
Biola University
For more information about the artwork, music, and poetry selected for this day, we have provided resources under the “About” tab located next to the “Devotional” tab.
About the Artwork:
Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not)
Graham Sutherland
1961
Oil on canvas
39.6 x 30.8 cm
Chichester Cathedral
England
Artist Graham Sutherland’s Noli Me Tangere (Touch Me Not) is displayed above the altar of the Mary Magdalene Chapel in Chichester Cathedral, England. The painting illustrates the moment when Mary Magdalene becomes aware that she is in the presence of her risen Lord, who has just spoken her name. As she reaches out to touch him, his gesture and his words “touch me not,” in Latin translated as noli me tangere, stop her. Sutherland’s painting is full of symbolism. At the center of the painting Christ is dressed in white, symbolizing his holiness and purity. He is shown pointing to the heavens while ascending a staircase, symbolizing that he is already on his way to heaven. The angle between the ascending staircase and the vertical line of the doorway meet to form a triangle, with the figure of Jesus contained inside, and in this way Sutherland depicts the Holy Trinity at the heart of his work. Beyond the courtyard is the garden; the garden is presumably where Jesus’ body had been laid in the tomb, but also perhaps is a glimpse of paradise.
https://www.chichestercathedral.org.uk/visiting/cathedral-plan/delve-deeper-noli-me-tangere
https://blog.tooveys.com/tag/graham-sutherland/
About the Artist:
Graham Sutherland (1903–1980) studied engraving at Goldsmiths College in London from 1920 until 1925. He turned to painting in the 1930s and quickly gained an international reputation. During World War II he was named an official war artist for Britain, an experience which shaped the remainder of his career. A convert to Roman Catholicism, he painted his first religious scenes in the late 1940s—images of Christ’s passion informed by and commenting on the horrors of the Holocaust. He designed the vast tapestry Christ in Glory, installed in Coventry Cathedral in 1962. Labelled a Neo-Romantic, Sutherland belonged to no school but was regarded as a master in his own right. He participated in many exhibitions which confirmed his international reputation, including the Documenta exhibitions in Kassel in 1955, 1959, and 1964. He is considered one of the greatest English artists of the twentieth century and had an enormous impact on the ensuing generation of English artists.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_Sutherland
https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/graham-sutherland-om-2014
Music #1:
“Dappled Light” from the album Howard: Dappled Light
About the Composer #1:
Luke Howard is an Australian composer. A pianist since childhood, Howard has scored films and performed with artists as diverse as Lior and Jeff Mills, capturing audiences with contemporary classical arrangements. Though wordless, Howard’s songs perform a function unique to music as a medium—that of evoking without describing, bringing listeners to a feeling which defies articulating. Signed to UK label Mercury KX, 2018 saw the release of Howard’s third solo album, Open Heart Story, which explores fragmented relationships, childhood memories and the passage of time. He has toured extensively with shows in Amsterdam, Berlin, Hamburg, Istanbul, London, Moscow, and Warsaw. Back home in Melbourne, Howard composed music for the short film The Sand That Ate The Sea (winner of the 2020 APRA/AGSC Award for Best Music for a Short Film) and the theatre work The Shadow Whose Prey the Hunter Becomes (Back To Back Theatre). He has worked with choreographer Juliano Nunes on pieces for the Royal Ballet in Covent Garden and the Atlanta Ballet. Howard is one of Australia’s foremost practitioners of contemporary classical music, whose work continues to captivate audiences worldwide.
https://www.lukehoward.com/about/
About the Performers #1:
Jess Gillam and the Jess Gillam Ensemble
Jess Gillam (b. 1998) is a British saxophonist and BBC radio broadcaster. Gillam hosts This Classical Life on BBC Radio 3. Gillam attended the Junior Royal Northern College of Music while at secondary school.
About the Music #2:
“Aleluia” from the album Misa por la Paz y la Justicia
Lyrics:
Aleluia, Aleluia!
Felices los que trabajan por la paz,
Porque serán llamados hijos de Dios!
Lyrics Translation:
Hallelujah, Hallelujah!
Fortunate are the peacemakers,
Because they shall be called sons of God!
About the Text #2:
In many Christian traditions, alleluias are left out of the liturgy during Lent. Therefore, on this most high and holy day, we return to shouts of “Hallelujah!” with eagerness. While Alleluias (meaning “Praise the Lord”) are often combined with verses from the Psalms in liturgical chant, here they are linked with a verse from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.” Today we rejoice that Christ, our ultimate peacemaker, has conquered death and brought us into his family.
About the Composer #2:
Ariel Ramírez (b. 1921) is one of Argentina’s most loved choral composers. As a young man, Ramírez traveled all over rural South America studying and collecting folk music. After studying in Buenos Aires, he went to Europe, where he studied first at the Institute of Hispanic Culture in Madrid, Spain, and then at the Academy of Music in Vienna, where he concentrated on Central European folk music. In 1954 he returned to Argentina and completed his musical training in Buenos Aires. His politically inspired popular songs soon earned him fame as a leader of the Nueva Canción Movement, which began in the 1950s and early 1960s as a movement contesting the political dictatorships of the time.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariel_Ram%C3%ADrez
About the Performer #2:
Mauricio Cardozo Ocampo (1907–1982) was the main representative of the so-called “golden generation” of Paraguayan popular music and a strict student of Paraguayan folk music.
About the Poet:
Kobayashi Issa (1763–1828) was a Japanese poet and lay Buddhist priest known for his haiku poems and journals. He is better known as simply Issa, a pen name meaning “cup of tea.” He is regarded as one of the four haiku masters in Japan, along with Basho, Buson, and Shiki—“The Great Four.” Issa wrote over 20,000 haiku, which have won him readers up to the present day. Though his works were popular, he suffered great monetary instability. Issa’s haiku are as attentive to the small creatures of the world—mosquitoes, bats, cats—as they are tinged with sorrow and an awareness of the nuances of human behavior. In addition to haiku, Issa wrote pieces that intertwined prose and poetry, including Journal of My Father’s Last Days and The Year of My Life. Issa’s haiku were sometimes tender, but stand out most for their irreverence and wry humor.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobayashi_Issa
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/kobayashi-issa
About the Devotion Author:
Andy Draycott
Associate Professor of Theology and Christian Ethics
Talbot School of Theology
Biola University
Andy Draycott is a British immigrant scholar living in Southern California with his family. He is a lifelong Charles Schultz’ Peanuts fan, enjoys reading novels and social history, cycling, running, and baking. Currently, he is an Associate Professor of Theology and Christian Ethics at Biola’s Talbot School of Theology. He counts God’s blessings in Christ, in local church, in family life, and in delightful work colleagues. His teaching and research on John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress can be sampled at ProfessorPilgrimsProgress.com.