First thing this morning our Easter celebrations began on Cleeve Hill shortly after the sun had risen on a glorious, though cold, Spring morning, with wonderful views over to the snow clad Malvern hills. In our mind's eye we went back to the first Easter and walked the way of the women
It was the women who made it happen.
It was the women who saw it through
to the end.
It was the women who spread the word
The Women of Galilee
He
had been down to the sea, up to the heights
Of
Galilee
Through
cities and villages
And
everywhere he went he had a message to share
The
Good News of the Kingdom
of God
On
earth as in heaven your kingdom come
Your
will be done
It
wasn’t only the twelve who were with him.
There
were some women too.
Some
had been sick, very sick
And
they had been healed, made whole, by Jesus.
Mary,
called Magdalene
And
Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza
And
Susanna, and many others.
They
were the ones who made it happen.
They
provided for Jesus,
Got
everything ready for him
And
they saw it through
That
Friday afternoon it had gone dark,
Very
dark, dark as night.
And
the crowds who had come for the spectacle
Saw
exactly what had happened.
They
had had enough.
They
returned home, beating their breasts.
But
his friends, and those women,
The
women who had followed him from Galilee ,
Stood
at a distance,
Watching.
And what they saw, they forever
remembered.
Coming
towards that place they saw
A
good man, a righteous man,
A
man who had been waiting expectantly
For
the Kingdom of God
Waiting
for God’s kingdom to come
Waiting
for God’s will to be done
On
earth as it is in heaven.
They
saw a good man called Joseph
He
was coming from Pilate – of all things to do,
He
asked for the body, the body of Jesus.
He
took it down, wrapped it in a cloth
Still,
those women stood at a distance.
Still
they watched.
The
women who had come with him from Galilee
Followed. They looked.
And what they saw they forever
remembered.
He
laid the body in a tomb carved out of the rock.
No
one had ever been laid in that tomb before.
They
looked, and they saw the tomb,
They
saw how his body was laid.
They
returned back to the city
and
there they prepared spices and ointments.
And
on the first day of the week,
A
Sunday morning,
At
early dawn when the sun had risen
Those
women,
The
women who had followed him from Galilee
Made
their way from the comfort of their home
To
the cold of the tomb.
And
as they walked, one question was in their minds.
Who
will roll away the stone for us
From
the entrance to the tomb?
To the tomb
It was the women who made it happen.
It was the women who saw it through
to the end.
It was the women who spread the word
The Women of Galilee
Still
they wondered in the cold of the morning
Just
after the sun had risen
Who
will roll away the stone for us
From
the entrance to the tomb?
And
then they reached the tomb
They looked up.
They looked and they saw.
And
what they saw, they forever remembered.
They saw that the stone, which was very large,
had already been rolled back
As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man,
dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side;
and they were very frightened.
And
then he spoke. And they listened.
And
this is what he said.
‘Do not be afraid;
you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth,
who was crucified.
He has been raised;
he is not here. Look,
there is the place they laid him.
But go, tell his disciples and Peter
that he is going ahead of you to Galilee ;
there you will see him, just as he told you.’
It was the women who made it happen.
It was the women who saw it through
to the end.
It was the women who spread the word
The Women of Galilee
And what they saw, they forever
remembered.
1 Led like a
lamb to the slaughter
In silence
and shame,
There on
Your back You carried a world
Of
violence and pain.
Bleeding,
dying, bleeding, dying.
You're
alive, You're alive,
You have risen, Alleluia!
And the
power and the glory is given,
Alleluia, Jesus, to You.
2 At break of
dawn, poor Mary,
Still
weeping she came,
When
through her grief she heard Your voice
Now
speaking her name.
Mary,
Master, Mary, Master!
Refrain
3 At the
right hand of the Father
Now seated
on high
You have
begun Your eternal reign
Of justice
and joy.
Glory,
glory, glory, glory.
Refrain
Graham Kendrick (born 1950) CCL
3540
To Galilee
And
so it was the eleven disciples went to Galilee .
And
what of the women?
It was the women who made it happen.
It was the women who saw it through
to the end.
It was the women who spread the word
The Women of Galilee
They
saw him. With their own eyes, they saw
him.
And what they saw, they forever
remembered.
They
looked and once more they saw.
They
saw Jesus come.
And
as he came, he spoke.
And
as he spoke they heard what he had to say.
And
what he had to say spoke to them all.
And what they heard
they forever remembered.
“All
authority in heaven and on earth
has
been given to me.
Go,
therefore, and make disciples of all nations,
Baptizing
them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
And
teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you.”
And
then he gave them a promise.
It
was a promise for the eleven disciples
It
was a promise for the women
who
made it happen.
It
was a promise for the women
who
saw it through to the end.
It
was a promise for the women
who
spread the word
It
was a promise for The Women of Galilee
It was a promise, they forever
remembered.
It was a promise they passed on.
It is a promise that is for us all
It is a promise for men and for
women
It is a promise for young and for
old
It is a promise for us and for
everyone
It is the promise of Easter,
It is the promise of the Risen Lord
Jesus
“And
remember,
I
am with you always
To
the end of the age.”
He is with us all
He is with men and women, young and
old
He is with everyone now and forever.
Thine be the glory, risen conquering Son;
endless is the victory thou o'er death hast won.
Angels in bright raiment rolled the stone away,
kept the folded grave clothes where thy body lay.
Thine be the glory, risen conquering Son:
Endless is the victory, thou o'er death hast
won.
Lo! Jesus meets us, risen from the tomb;
lovingly he greets us, scatters fear and gloom.
Let his church with gladness, hymns of triumph sing;
for her Lord now liveth, death hath lost its sting.
Refrain
No more we doubt thee, glorious prince of life!
Life is nought without thee; aid us in our strife;
make us more than conquerors,
through
thy deathless love:
Bring us safe through Jordan to thy home above.
Refrain
Edmund L Budry (1854-1932), translated by Richard B
Hoyle (1875-1939) CCL3540
That
promise is for us
That
promise is for ever
Remember,
I am with you always
To
the end of the age.
Who
will separate us from the love of Christ?
Will
hardship, or distress, or persecution,
or
famine, or nakedness,
or
peril, or sword?
No,
in all these things
we
are more than conquerors
through
him who loved us.
For I
am convinced that
neither
death, nor life,
nor
angels, nor rulers,
nor
things present, nor things to come,
nor
powers, nor height, nor depth,
nor
anything else in all creation,
will
be able to separate us
from
the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Amen
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