Stations of the Resurrection: Station 11: 500 Witnesses

Stations of the Resurrection

By

Raymond Chapman

Station 11

500 Witnesses

V         We adore thee O Christ and we bless thee

R.        Because by thy glorious Resurrection thou has given life to the world.

This appearance may have taken place in Galilee, where many of the people who had believed in Jesus lived, though some think it is a reference to the Pentecost experience/ Whether in Galilee or Jerusalem, the number of witnesses to the Resurrection was dramatically increased.

We give thanks for the millions of our fellow Christians with whom we are one in the Lord; for the friendship of those who are close to in our own family of faith; for all the witnesses who have gone before us to share in the Resurrection.

We sometimes become self-centered in our faith and forget that we are part of a great company that no one can number. In which each is equally precious in the sight of God. Help us to live as members of the Body of Christ, always more eager for the good of others than for our own’

V         Christ is risen.

R         He is risen indeed.

V         Let us bless the Lord.

R         Thanks be to God.

Who were you, the nameless, the unrecorded, not set down in Scripture or remembered in the festival of saints” Had you gather for worship when the Lord appeared to you. or  did he break into a working day, bringing some little town to a halt in shared adoration?

You were not called to go out into the world, to the despised Samaritans, the unknown Gentiles, to confront the power of Rome by sea and land to its farthest limits. You had to go on living, witnesses in the workshop, by the lake, or in the family dwelling. You were the first of the faithful who did no great deeds, who are not enrolled among the saints and scholars, the missionaries and martyrs. You are our ancestors in the faith.

He comes to us still, unheralded, unexpected, When we are recollected in worship or distracted by the demand of the hour. He is the quiet presence that says, “Go on, be faithful, take the next steps in the narrow path before you” Or he may be the sudden illumination that changes everything , lighting a road that we did not know was there.

What they shared that day, five hundred together, was forgotten in harder times. The threat of hostile power, the sorrows of life in a fallen world, the weary annoyances of day after day: these did not break the fellowship of having seen God and lived, to have grasped eternity, through some had died.   

Risen Lord, keep me in loving fellowship with all who share the faith, who have known your presence. Unite me with the great company who have kept the vision to the end and are gathered into the fullness of life.

Whenever and where ever you come to me make me ready to receive you.