Genesis 1: 1 – 2: 2; Psalm 33: 1–11; Exodus 14: 10–15:
1; 8: The Song of Moses; Romans 6: 3–11; Psalm 114; Matthew 28: 1–10
This is a homily by
Fr. Gene Tucker which was given at St. John’s, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania on
Saturday, April 15, 2017.
“STANDING
ON THE BRIDGE”
On
this holy night, we stand on the bridge between Good Friday and Easter. We
stand, looking back at the beginning of the crossing over of our Lord Jesus
Christ from death to life. We stand in expectation, looking at the other shore
which the Lord will reach in the morning, for this bridge will carry Him and us
from the land of death to the land of life.
The
bridge on which we stand is firmly anchored in death, but also in life.
The
early disciples, and the women who had been with Jesus during His ministry,
after that first Good Friday, didn’t have it so good: For them, there was no
bridge, and no crossing over to life from the crushing reality of death. There
was no hope, and the only prospect that they could see was a life lived in the
land of death. We can see their perspective in the actions of Mary Magdalene,
who comes to the Lord’s tomb early on Easter Sunday morning, bringing spices
with which to anoint Jesus’ body. She is expecting to find only death, not new
life.
But
we, along with those early disciples and the others who had been with the Lord
during His ministry, have a different perspective: On that first Easter Sunday
morning, those first disciples had been shown the other end of the bridge, for
God had disclosed the entire span of this life-giving bridge, burning away the
fog which had enshrouded the far end, in the rising of the Lord on Easter
Sunday morning.
Christians
down through the years have understood that this bridge, which brings us to new
and eternal life, is firmly anchored in the past, a past which is characterized
by sin and death. But it is also firmly anchored in the future, a future which
God guarantees to us in the raising of Jesus from the dead. Now we know God to
be the One who has power, all power, power even over death.
We
cannot cross this bridge unless we enter it from the boundary of sin, our own
sin. We acknowledge that, in order to have a full and rewarding life, we must
cross the bridge, leaving behind our sinful past and the failures of life. But
we cannot cross unless someone pays the toll. That person is Jesus Christ, who
paid the price for our sins, and who opens the gate of God’s promise to us and
to all who believe.
As we
cross this wonderful bridge, we are able to look back at the beginning of our
journey, which was mired in sin and in hopelessness, and we see the open gate
which has allowed us to begin our crossing over from death to life. For we know
that we – like the Lord – are entering a new and full life, a life which God
promises to all who come to Him in faith.
So
this night is one of invitation. It is a night in which we are invited to see
the bridge which leads to life, and to see the open gate which allows us to
begin the journey.
Come,
accept the invitation. Come, begin the journey to life, life in all its
fullness, life which is eternal.
AMEN.
