Joy Unsurpassed

Sunday, April 20

Today, we share the Paschal Greeting and response: "Christ is Risen," Truly He is Risen. "In keeping with this joyful theme, the Word of the Day is "alive."

Our journey to the Cross is complete, so we think. We are apt to believe that we can now resume our lives with the memory of the glorious hymns of Pascha to uplift us. However, let us dismiss any suggestion that we can relax in Christ's victory over sin and death. As our Great Lent consisted of forty days, we now have forty days between the Lord's resurrection and His ascension. We enter the time when Luke says in today's reading of Acts 1:1-8 that Christ "presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them for forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God" (NKJV vs. 3).

THE SEASON OF THE APPEARANCES OF THE RISEN CHRIST

These forty days were a crucial time of proof that the Crucified Lord had indeed conquered death and risen from the dead. As our key verse indicates, it was a time of instruction when the Risen Christ "opened the Scriptures" and "expounded in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself (NKJ Luke 24:27. The word "expounded" in Greek means to "explain thoroughly" (Strong's #1329, 68). Accordingly, the Lord Himself taught the disciples to interpret the Scriptures in the light of His Cross and resurrection, and understanding His teaching completes our joy.

WE CAN'T KEEP OUR GLADNESS TO OURSELVES

Thus we are so full of rejoicing that we must share it. Fred Kreisler was a renowned violinist and composer known for the lovely, melodic tone that he could get from a violin. The musician owned several prized violins from the world's best violin makers, such as Antonio Stradivari. Once, he came across an especially magnificent violin. But at the time, he could not afford it. When he finally collected the funds, he returned to the dealer, but he found that the violin had been sold to a collector.

Determined, Kreisler went to the collector to ask if he could buy the precious violin from him. But the collector said it wasn't for sale. Disappointed, Kreisler started to leave. But at the door, he turned around and asked if he could play the precious instrument just once. When Kreisler played, the owner was so moved by the gorgeous sound of the violin that he said, "Take the violin. It is yours. I can't keep such magnificent music to myself." So because of our joy in the resurrection, we are compelled to say and sing again and again, "Christ is Risen!"