Reformátusok Lapja, 1972 (72. évfolyam, 1-7. szám)
1972-03-01 / 3. szám
REFORMÁTUSOK LAPJA 3 é^aóter ?ople Easter is the essence of the Christian faith and hope. The Easter gospel proclaims: Jesus has risen! Jesus lives! Again, the Angels proclaim the glad tidings: “Do not be afraid. I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here.... He is risen, just as he said he would." (Matthew 28: 5) Man is no longer doomed to be in eternal darkness. No longer need he fear the endless night of dreamless sleep. Life had triumphed over death. God had put down forever the revolt of Satan and his fallen angels. On that first Easter morn, the Source of all life proclaimed the victory. Yet, Easter is not so much a matter of fact as it is of faith. Jesus himself puts to us the question: “I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in me,, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11: 25-26) God awaits your answer. At the last, when we have left behind all we have in this world, and we stand before the throne of God may we answer the question: “Do you believe this?” with gladness and gratitude: Yes, Lord, I believe! My prayer is that the people of Calvin Synod become increasingly the Easter People of God. Arpad L. Beretz, Bishop EASTER MESSAGE -1972 Easter — the celebration of the Resurrection of Christ — marks the greatest turning point in history. Mankind from the dawn of time has been aware of a power outside our human universe — God or the gods. But for millenia this was felt to be a remote and sometimes malevolent power to be appeased by sacrifice or moral heroism. Jesus, in his earthly life, spoke of a God whom he called Father — a God of mercy, love and compassion. But the crucifixion seemed to prove that here, again, was a good and helpful person whose work came to a cruel and abrupt end. Then came the crashing event of the resurrection from the dead! The incognito of the gentle teacher from Nazareth was discarded. Jesus was revealed as the Christ — as God in human form — ruler over life and death. And the world has never been the same since that day. His frightened, scattered disciples went out across the world shouting the good news “Jesus is Lord.” And every human being is cousin to the King of Kings! The Church, his Body on Earth, has often failed to live up to its high calling. But every Easter reminds Christians once again of this basic fact of our faith. May we all, on this Easter in the year of our Lord 1972, in the midst of the strife and tension of our time, remember with joy that “neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8: 38, 39 (RSV) Cynthia C. Wedel President, National Council of Churches I THIRST Good Friday Meditation John 19: 28 It is beautifully characteristic of our Lord that before His own desperate needs find entrance into His conscious mind He shows His deep concern for the needs of others. — Behind the cruelty of His enemies He discovers the consuming inferno of hate. He is moved to pity over the jeering mob and prays: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” The enemy might be your captor, your tormentor, your executioner — and still — you can pity him. It is not the agony of pain that strikes the Master first, no — it is the tragedy of the hater, the torment gnawing at the heart of the inflicter of wounds, the tragedy of the perpetrator of inhumanity to man, that moves His heart, and He pleads for His murderers. — He finds time to satisfy the need of His fellow sufferer. In His dying moments He gives new meaning to a hopelessly ruined life, recognizing the yearning in the tone of Dismas and gives him that which alone makes sense to this man, facing ultimate reality: “Today thou shalt be with me in paradise.” — He feels the unspeakable misery of a mother’s broken heart and, with amazing tenderness, makes arrangements for her future wefare: “Woman, behold thy son . . . Behold thy mother.” His commitment to His heavenly vision relegated Mary to a secondary place in the past three years . . . but in this moment personal misery must yield to filial love. Mary must be safe and secure . . . The problems, needs, yearnings of others — first! This is not an assumed role... in this terrible moment of truth the Master shows Himself for what He is: a man with such burning compassion that no agony, not even death could extinguish the commitment born of it.
