Readings for Easter Sunday (Year A)
This sermon was preached at Christ Episcopal Church in Eureka CA on April 5, 2026.
Alleluia! Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!
There’s a popular Good Friday service called the “Seven Last Words” which includes meditations and musical reflections on the last words and phrases spoken by Jesus from the Cross. It’s usually about a three-hour-long service and I’d love to offer it here sometime since we clearly do not offer enough Holy Week services. I don’t think 13 is enough (j/k). While I would indeed love to offer a Seven Last Words service someday, today I want to reflect with you on the “Seven First Words” of the Risen Christ. There are a variety of ways to count these, but I’d like to share with you the Seven First Words of the Risen Christ that are most meaningful to me and may also be meaningful to you on this Easter morning.
Peace
When the Risen Christ first appears to his disciples, he says, “Peace! Peace be with you!” (John 20:19; Luke 24:36). In fact, he says it twice in the Gospel of John: “Peace be with you” (John 20:21). The Lord knows we need the peace of Christ today. During this Lent, I had the privilege of praying with thousands of others in the hometown of the great saint of peace, San Francesco di Assisi, the saint whom Pope Leo XIV has honored on this 800th anniversary of his death with a Special Jubilee Year. The peace, which St. Francis sought to embody, was the peace of the Risen Christ, which is “Peace with God, peace among people, and peace with Creation.”[1] Our Jewish siblings call it “Shalom,” which is not just the absence of war but the presence of a holistic justice and abundance for all. The Risen Christ invites you to participate in that peace, in that Shalom, today.
Do not be afraid
Last night, at the Easter Vigil, we heard Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew say to the women in the garden, “Do not be afraid” (Matthew 28:10). Some say that the phrase “Do not be afraid” appears exactly 365 times in the Bible, one for each day of the year. While that’s not entirely accurate, the phrase does indeed appear frequently throughout Scripture; and in Matthew’s Resurrection account, we get a double dose of “Do not be afraid”: one from the angel at the tomb (Matt 28:5) and then one from the Risen Christ (Matt 28:10). So, do not be afraid. Peace. Do not be afraid.
Believe
The Risen Christ also invites us to believe. We know that doubt is a healthy part of belief and, when our doubt is honestly acknowledged, it often leads us into a deeper and more authentic faith, as it did for St. Thomas. Most of all, the Risen Christ wants us to believe and to trust in his love for us, and to orient our lives and our identity around that faith in his love. Peace. Do not be afraid. Believe.[2]
Tell Others
And then Jesus says, “Tell others about your experience of me. Tell others about your experience of the resurrection.” In Matthew’s Gospel, he says, “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt 28:19 – 20). Peace. Do not be afraid. Believe. Tell others.[3]
Let’s Have Breakfast Together
And then one of my favorites of the “Seven First Words” of the Risen Christ are the words he says to his disciples after helping them catch an enormous amount of fish, 153 fish in a net. He says to them, “Come, let’s have breakfast together!” (John 21:12). The Risen Christ wants to have breakfast with his disciples. The Risen Christ wants to have breakfast with you. The Risen Christ invites you today to break the fast of Lent. Peace. Do not be afraid. Believe. Tell others. Let’s have breakfast together. Imagine having breakfast with Jesus and imagine the questions he would ask you because that’s the next “First Word” of the Risen Christ: all his questions!
Questions, including “Do You Love Me?”
We just heard him in our Gospel today, ask, “Woman why are you weeping?” (John 20:15). He knows the answers to these questions, but he wants us to engage with him. He asks his disciples, “Why are you frightened?” (Luke 24:38) and he seems to playfully ask two disciples who are discussing their grief and confusion about the crucifixion on the road to Emmaus, “What are you two discussing?” (Luke 24:17). At another point, he asks, “Do you have any food?” (John 21:5); and most importantly, he asks, “Do you love me?” (John 21:15 – 17). One of my colleagues thinks that Christian spirituality is essentially a question and that question is “Do you love me?” Peace. Do not be afraid. Believe. Tell others. Let’s have breakfast. Do you love me?
Your Name
The seventh first word of the Risen Christ is expressed in our Gospel this morning and it is the most pleasant-sounding word you could ever hear because it is sound of your own name. In our Gospel today, Mary doesn’t recognize Christ until he says her name and he says it in such a tender and personal way that she recognizes him instantly (John 20:16). This morning, the risen Christ is saying your name, softly, tenderly, and deeply personally. Listen to the Risen Christ say your name and then listen to him say, “Peace. Do not be afraid. Believe in the Resurrection. Tell others about your experience of the resurrection. Have breakfast with me. Do you love me?”
I invite you to enter into more deeply into this conversation with the Risen Christ who says these Seven Words to you now, including your own name. Continue this conversation with Christ throughout these 50 days of Easter. You can spend each week of the seven weeks of Easter with each of these phrases: Your name. Peace. Do not be afraid. Believe. Tell others. Let’s have breakfast. Do you love me? I promise the conversation will bear fruits worthy of repentance and fruits of new life and resurrection.
Alleluia! Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!
[1] “In this age, marked by so many seemingly interminable wars, by internal and social divisions that breed mistrust and fear, he continues to speak. Not because he offers technical solutions, but because his life points to the authentic source of peace. The Franciscan vision of peace is not limited to relationships between human beings, but embraces all of creation. Francis, who calls the sun “brother” and the moon “sister,” and who recognizes in every creature a reflection of divine beauty, reminds us that peace must extend to the entire family of Creation. This insight resonates with particular urgency in our time, when our common home is threatened and groans under exploitation. Peace with God, peace among people, and peace with Creation are inseparable dimensions of a single call to universal reconciliation.” Letter of the Holy Father Leo XIV to the General Ministers of the Conference of the Franciscan Family on the occasion of the opening of the VIII Centenary of the death of Saint Francis of Assisi, January 10, 2026. https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2026/01/10/0027/00055.html
[2] Jesus said to them, “O how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and then enter into his glory?” and then he proceeded to lead them in a Bible Study during a Sacred Saunter (Luke 24:25 – 26).
[3] “Repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed…You are witnesses of these things. I am sending the Holy Spirit upon you” (Luke 24: 47 – 49)
DANIEL DeFOREST LONDON 