Into the midst of this angst and struggle, Jesus comes to the disciples with a word of greeting, “Peace be with you.” He then emphasizes the fact that he’s there in the flesh. Jesus invites them to touch him…something they couldn’t do if he was a ghost! And then he does something equally delightful…he asks for a snack. They get him a little leftover fish and find themselves “joyful, disbelieving and still wondering.” Isn’t that a great description? How often are we, just like those early disciples, a mix of joy and disbelief and wonder?

Despite anything and everything that has come before, despite hardship and struggle, despite pain and suffering, despite plagues and pandemics, despite any and all circumstances that have felt as if they were too much to bear, morning comes…day breaks…Easter arrives.  And we are reminded, once again, that God’s goodness, God’s love, God’s life-giving, life-restoring, life-saving force has been at work, is at work and will continue to be at work until God’s kingdom comes in its fullness.  Christ is risen!  Christ is risen indeed!  Alleluia! 

On Sunday we enter into Holy Week with what’s often called Palm/Passion Sunday.  Holy Week, in its entirety, begins on Palm Sunday as we remember Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem.  Maundy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper and the giving of a new commandment.  The word “maundy” comes from the Latin word for “mandate” and Jesus gives a new mandate to “love one another as I have loved you.”  On Good Friday we traverse the desolation and despair of the crucifixion and on Easter morning we celebrate the risen Christ! 

I don’t know about you, but I find interruptions to be bothersome. If I have finally found myself “on task” it can be a real nuisance for someone (or something) to pull my attention away. Maybe I finally catch that groove where I can be productive and efficient. Maybe I’m so deep in thought or action that I find it difficult to form words along any other train of thought. Interruptions can be frustratingly intrusive, and the same is true across experiences of life. 

Our lectionary readings this week bring us two fairly complex and curious passages with which to wrestle.  The first testament reading from Numbers may be totally unfamiliar. Our Gospel reading, on the other hand, is likely to be familiar to all.  It contains perhaps the best known and often repeated line of Christian scripture that’s out there…“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son…”  But just because it’s familiar, doesn’t mean it’s straightforward.  Not only are these two passages interrelated but they both hold, in tension, the dual reality of sin/judgment and God’s amazing grace.