“What happened on Easter Saturday?” was the question posed by Michael Shingler who led our worship last Sunday. He chose hymns based on the events of Easter beginning with the Crucifixion – When I survey the wondrous cross, then Low in the grave he lay, The head that once was crowned with thorns is crowned with glory now, concluding with To God be the glory, great things he has done. Norma Buckley read from John 1, the first disciples of Jesus; Bunty Hodgkins read from Matthew 28, Jesus appears to his disciples.
We celebrate Maundy Thursday, reflect on Good Friday and rejoice on Easter Sunday. Michael considered the time between Jesus’ death and Resurrection from the point of view of his disciples, particularly Andrew. What must he have been thinking? We know little about him. Possibly he doubted he had the strength to do what Jesus had instructed. But God had a plan for Andrew. What is his plan for us? To undertake the great commission as defined at the end of Matthew’s gospel: “Go, then, to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples: baptise them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. And I will be with you always, to the end of the age.”