Joan Conway ….An Easter commentary and Bible exercise

Introduction

Easter Day is the first day of a season of joyful reflection on the resurrection of Jesus. The victory of Easter is the precursor of the final victory and redemption.
This season, which includes Ascension Day, ends at Pentecost, the fiftieth day after Easter.  During the Easter Season I have prepared some commentaries, reflections and bible exercises for us to think on,  whilst we are journeying apart from each other.  Peace be with you, Joan.

The Easter Anthems

Christ our passover has been sacrificed for us:
so let us celebrate the feast,
not with the old leaven of corruption and wickedness:
but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.   1 Corinthians 5.7b, 8

Christ once raised from the dead dies no more:
death has no more dominion over him.
In dying he died to sin once for all:
in living he lives to God.
See yourselves therefore as dead to sin:
and alive to God in Jesus Christ our Lord.   Romans 6.9–11

Christ has been raised from the dead:
the first fruits of those who sleep.
For as by man came death:
by man has come also the resurrection of the dead;
for as in Adam all die:
even so in Christ shall all be made alive.   1 Corinthians 15.20–22

Glory to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning is now
and shall be for ever. Amen.

A Song of Faith

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
By his great mercy he has given us
a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading,
kept in heaven for you.

You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors,
not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ,
like that of a lamb without defect or blemish.
He was destined before the foundation of the world,
but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake.
Through him you have come to trust in God,
who raised him from the dead and gave him glory,
so that your faith and hope are set on God.     1 Peter 1.3 – 4, 18 – 21

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Bible exercise…...

How did they know and what happened next?    Look up the passages and fill in the gaps

Mark 16. 1 – 8

When the Sabbath was over …

[but] they said nothing to anyone …

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The I AM sayings in John’s Gospel

The phrase “I am …” appears in the Gospel of John many times.
It is formed of two Greek words [ἐγώ εἰμι] that seem to mean the same thing:
ego – I am; eimi – I exist.

 Why does Jesus use this structure?

In the Septuagint [Greek version of the Old Testament] it appears in Isaiah: 43. 10(11), 25.
God declares that God is the Lord and God forgives sins.
In Exodus (3.14), when Moses tells God that he needs a name to tell the people who is sending Moses with instructions for escaping from Egypt, God responds with the phrase translated as ἐγώ εἰμι in the Septuagint, as “I AM WHO I AM” in the NRSV translation, and is written אֶֽהְיֶ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר אֶֽהְיֶ֑ה in the Hebrew text.

There has been much discussion over the translation of this text especially with regard to the tense of the phrase.

For us, in John’s Gospel we can consider whether we think that Jesus’ use of the phrase is an assertion of his identity, his self-understanding, and then we can look at the various ways in which he connects with us through the use of pictures such as Good Shepherd, Way, Life, True Bread …

I AM the Bread – John 6. 25 – 59

There are links here with the Hebrew Scriptures
Look at Exodus 16; Numbers 11:6-9; Psalms 78:24; Isaiah 55:1-3; Nehemiah 9:15
Genesis 14. 18; 18. 5;21.1425. 3441. 53 – 57
The words bread and food are often interchangeable.

After Jesus has fed the crowds in Galilee he speaks to the disciples.

6:35 – Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never be hungry and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
6:41 – Then the Jews began to complain about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”
6:48 – “I am the bread of life.”
6:51 –”I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

Bread on our supermarket shelves – what a variety!
Bread is no longer a staple food – we have access to food from all over the world.
In the UK we spend about 10% of our income on food.
But in Palestine most of a person’s income was spent on food.
To make bread the cereal must die.

Therefore, in context, if Jesus gives us bread he gives us life: he dies, give his life for us and we live.

Jesus gives us bread: he gives his life for us.
Jesus is the True Bread – John 6. 32