Living the Lectionary

Second Sunday of Easter

Season: Easter
Week of May 1st

“Imperishable”

About the Season: We are in the season of Easter.

Easter is a 7 week long season, one week longer than
Lent. In this season, we celebrate the Resurrection
of our Lord and consider ourselves as a part of the
church which is promised a Resurrection like His.

About this Sunday: Jesus is imperishable, He

could not be held by death or sin or the devil.
Instead, He rose from the new tomb and ushered in a
new life of imperishability for those who have faith in
Him and accept His forgiveness and restoration of
life.

Reflecting on the Readings:

• Acts 2:14, 22-32 – Unheld – Peter explains
how Jesus it was impossible that Jesus be held
by the power of death. What power does death
have and how does Jesus conquer it?
• Psalm 16 – Not Abandoned – David’s Psalm
expresses a joy that we all share in Christ that
God has not and will not abandon us. Have
you ever felt abandoned? Did someone rescue
you from that feeling?
• I Peter 1:3-9 – Imperishable Inheritance – This
week we begin a series of Epistle readings from
I Peter. Here Peter tells us that we will share
Jesus’ imperishable nature in the Resurrection.
Do you believe you’re imperishable?
• John 20:19-31 – Beyond Crucified – Thomas
demands to see signs, but strangely demands
to signs of death – of crucifixion. Jesus shows
those, but also signs of life beyond crucifixion.
What signs do you expect to exhibit “beyond
death” in the Resurrection?
Law and Gospel:
• Law: Our mortal bodies will experience death,
the tomb, the rot, the perishing of our limbs
and eyes and whatever else. We experience
these because of our sins that we commit daily
which we know lead us to death’s door.
• Gospel: Jesus won a life beyond death for us.
Because of Him, we know that our bodies –
though they die – will rise again and live
forever with Him in the Resurrection. We will
not be held by death. It will not consume us.
We shall live!
Living the Lectionary Ideas:
• Learn: Read I Corinthians 15 and then do a
search for “N.T. Wright” or “Jurgen Moltman”,
two Christian authorities on the Resurrection
and theorists about the Resurrected state.
• Do: Preserve something. Things in this world
are subject to decay and rot, but we can
attempt to preserve them and in so doing,
think about our own mortality and our own
incorruptible lives in the Resurrection.
• Live: Thinking through your doubts. Thomas
needed proof, and sometimes we all do. What
do you disbelieve and why? Could your
disbelief be shattered by some revelation?