Many of the mission projects that began during 40 Days will continue, and further updates on these and other mission projects will be posted at news.zionbuffalo.org under Missions & Social Ministry news.

For those seeking a small group experience at Zion, current and upcoming opportunities are also listed at news.zionbuffalo.org

• Bible Studies & other Adult Education opportunities
• Social & Recreational opportunities based on interests or life stage
• Youth Groups

To those who have been receiving the devotions by email subscription, this will be your final email. As this is the first time we have used this email service, I would be most interested to hear your feedback. I know we had that glitch there in the middle, but I think I learned my lessons

Other subscriptions that are available at this time are:

• All items from the main news page: Based on the last 3 months’ history, there are typically 3-5 emails per week. This does NOT include news from the children’s ministry or youth pages.
• Headlines from the main news page: Includes just the news items that are listed on the home page. Based on the last 3 months’ history, there is typically 1-3 emails per week or 6 emails per month.
• Sermons: Includes the printed text of the gospel and an mp3 of the sermon. There is typically one email per week on Sundays.

If there are other sets of news from Zion that you would be interested in receiving by email subscription, please let me know and I’ll see what I can set up.

Angela
abengtson (at) zionbuffalo.org

To see more photos from Zion’s 40 Days of Community:

• Mission Projects
• Ministry Fair
• Small Groups
• Kick Off
• Other

John 20:1-18

1Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

3So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. 8Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9(They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)

10Then the disciples went back to their homes, 11but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

13They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

15″Woman,” he said, “why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

16Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).

17Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ “

18Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to have been there? What would it be like to walk with Jesus, to listen as he speaks, to see what he does and walk through those last days of his life, the last supper, the trial and the crucifixion. Do you think it would be any easier to believe to believe in the resurrection if you had been there? If you could have run to the empty tomb yourself, do you think it would be easier to believe?

Was it easy for those who were eyewitnesses? No, not really. They saw an empty tomb, but what did that mean? It might just as well have meant that someone had stolen the body of Jesus.

The gospels report the first Easter as an occasion for fear, disbelief, and astonishment. There was joy, but the joy came after the more understandable emotions of disbelief and incomprehension.

Easter is like that. What we have here is not so much a problem of history, the gap between our time and the time of the first Easter. What we have here is a problem of faith. Not faith as blind belief in something, but rather faith as the ability to trust even that which we do not have the equipment to comprehend. It is beyond our wildest imaginations. The problem is not one of time, a gap between our modern time and their pre-modern time. The problem is faith in God’s ability to work life from death.

I love Easter, the colors, the festivity, the feeling of new life and hope. Easter moves us beyond our wildest imaginations and out to share the good news.

Lord Jesus, in your glorious resurrection, you not only defeated evil and the powers of death but you also came back to us. You revealed yourself to us; you spoke to us; you fed us. For your continuing presence with us, we give thanks. For your continuing nurture and care of us, we give thanks. For calling us by name, we give thanks. Amen.

This is the night! This is our Passover with Christ from darkness to light, from captivity to freedom, from death to life. Tonight is the heart of our celebration of the Three Days and the pinnacle of the church’s year. The resurrection of Christ is proclaimed in word and sign, and we gather around a pillar of fire, hear ancient stories of our faith, welcome new sisters and brothers at the font, and share the food and drink of the promised land. Raised with Christ, we go forth into the world, aflame with the good news of the resurrection.

John 20:1–18

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. 4The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 6Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 8Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10Then the disciples returned to their homes.

11But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 12and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” 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.” 16Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). 17Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

Psalm 22:30-31
Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord, and proclaim his deliverance to a people yet unborn, saying that he has done it.

Not very many Christians have ever read Psalm 22 in its entirety. It’s gruesome. It’s intense. If they do read it, they don’t often get much past verse 1, the words that Jesus quotes from the cross.

I’ve sat through Good Friday worship services that have used parts of Psalm 22 to create word pictures of the crucifixion that make the congregation feel as though they are part of the event. Through these experiences I have come to realize that in some twisted way this makes Christians feel good, as though they have empathy with Jesus as he slowly dies, like maybe they can share somehow in this act of salvation.

We are missing the point. To really understand what God was about on that tragically wonderful day read the psalm all the way through from beginning to end. In particular, pay attention to verses 30 – 31. We can choose to live the tragedy of the cross if we want to focus on the drama; if we want to fool ourselves into thinking that we can understand the horrors our savior endured on our behalf; if it makes us feel better about the dark topic of Good Friday, but we miss the point.

The point in this dark, gruesome, intense psalm comes in the last four words, “…he has done it!” Jesus has paid the price for my sin so I can be free. Even in the midst of death, the power of God’s life shouts through the darkness that we are to live his great victory with gratitude and joy as God intended. Who else but a very great God would dare to proclaim a victory in the innocent suffering and death of God’s son? Who else but a very great God would do this for you and for me?

The last four words of the psalm say it all, “…he has done it!” The period of vigilance on Saturday, the empty tomb on Sunday, these are yet to come. But right now, this day, this moment – it is enough that we, once bound to sin, are free! On this dark day, our moment of deliverance has come. He has done it!

Thank you Lord Jesus. Thank you for paying the price for my sin. You have done it! Thank you. Amen.

A day of service. A day to be served. When Jesus washed the disciples feet he gave us the example of true service. His was a task lacking in glory or honor. Washing feet, lowly service given to the men who followed Jesus. We keep seeing everything turn upside down as Jesus comes closer to the cross. The one who should be served is serving. The one who was praised a few short days ago will soon be deserted. We serve in his shadow and we are served by Jesus in the shadow of the cross. His life is given for us.

During these 40 days we have learned how to be a community and also how to serve. May we always remember how to turn things upside down, creating a community where the lowly become important. May we remember to turn things inside out, seeing our exit from worship as a “servants’ entrance” into the world.

O God, Host of the festival table, you have prepared the Passover lamb, and you have broken bread with the disciples. We praise you for all the food you have served to us and to all the world. And now, O God, servant at our table, teach us to serve one another. Make us willing to wash the feet of the world, and to welcome all people at our table; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Prayer from ELCA World Hunger program

This day was formerly called “Spy Wednesday,” an allusion to the gospel accounts in which Judas is identified as the betrayer of Jesus. As Jesus endured the suffering of the cross, we are called to run the race of life with perseverance, confident of the joy to come. In the Three Days, which begin tomorrow evening, we will journey with Christ from darkness to light, from captivity to freedom, from death to life.

John 13:21–32

21After saying this Jesus was troubled in spirit, and declared, “Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me.” 22The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he was speaking. 23One of his disciples — the one whom Jesus loved — was reclining next to him; 24Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking. 25So while reclining next to Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?” 26Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot. 27After he received the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “Do quickly what you are going to do.” 28Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. 29Some thought that, because Judas had the common purse, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the festival”; or, that he should give something to the poor. 30So, after receiving the piece of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.

31When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. 32If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once.