It is as if it was yesterday that we celebrated Easter. Since then I was surprised to notice that we have been in the Easter season for three Sundays now for today is the Third Sunday of Easter. If anyone is to use the Easter Greetings today most people will think that it is a belated greeting. After all, Easter has past and we should now look ahead and not backward.

We are the people of the present. What happens today that makes headline news tends to be forgotten in the next few days. We want to put the past behind us and get on with our lives. This is why we are so restless, anxious, confused, and afraid when we discover that the Corona virus decease seems to be persistent and keeps on the headlines in the news every day.

The people in the days of our Lord were not any different. The Resurrection had shaken them to the core. A whole series of events happened that left them confused. They did not witness the Resurrection. It was two women who took the news to the - women for that matter. Women were not reliable witnesses. They were not even allowed to give evidence in court in those days. It was a couple of women that our Lord sent with the news that he had Risen.

To add to their confusion, our Lord himself appeared to them at least two times, and at the second appearance, even Doubting Thomas had to accept Jesus as “Lord and God.” For the disciples, a chapter had closed in their lives and they were ready to move on but alas! The Resurrection was not going away.

Two of Jesus’ disciples, not any of the eleven, who were still hiding, were traveling to Emmaus and discussing the news that won’t go away: how Jesus, who they thought was the messiah, was arrested, tried, and sentenced to death - death on a cross. What a disappointment! It was then that Jesus joined them and explained the scriptures to them in such a way that they were captivated. Remember? In Mark 1:22, “How he taught as one with authority.” Even then, they remained blind until at meals, when Jesus took bread, broke it, blessed it, and gave it to them; then were their eyes open and they recognized the Lord.

We on this side of history are called to attention that the Resurrection is not just an event in history - one that took place some 2000 years ago and is well left in the history books and perhaps left to His disciples to celebrate it every year. The resurrection continues to dominate the planet since then while those who are His disciples have mushroomed to more than 1.5 billion and growing.

You see, every Sunday is Resurrection Day. Every Sunday, Christians everywhere assemble for the celebration. Do you fast? Sunday is not for fasting - it is for celebrating the Resurrection.

Cleopas and the other disciple learned a lesson that evening in Emmaus; Jesus meant it when He promised in Matthew 28:20 that he will be with them till the end of the ages. His promise leaves on. Jesus joins us on our journeys every day. He joins us when it is hard and challenging. He joins us when we find ourselves in the valleys of our lives and he remains with us and helps us ascend the hill.

Recently, we saw how nurses, doctors, scientists, cleaners, Police, Army, Ambulance men and women, even gravediggers all join together to fight deceases, especially the Corona virus Disease. In short, the first responders. I’ve got news for you: Just as He appeared alongside the disciples on the way to Emmaus, so He is with you on your struggles every day - every one of you.
The 1.5 billion of His disciples can attest to that - He is with us always even to the end of the ages.

That same evening the disciples returned to Jerusalem with the news - they too had seen the Lord. This was no news to keep under wraps. They had to obey the angel when he said to the women at the tomb, “He is not here, He is Risen. Go and tell His disciples”.

It is that message that is so compelling that Peter, who was so afraid the night they arrested Jesus, that he vehemently denied that he ever knew Him - boldly testify in Acts 2:36, “Let the entire house of Israel knows with certainty that God has made him both Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

Easter is not going away, not now, not ever. We are called to take the message to the world, now 1.5b of us and counting, to continue spreading the message, He is not here, He is risen, Go and Tell; Go and Tell; Go and Tell;

It is by so doing that the earth will eventually be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters covers the sea.
Go and tell.
Amen.