Joy and Sorrow: Daily
Readings for Easter
And God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes. (Revelation 21:4)
Joy and Sorrow, Struggle and Redemption
Is Easter time, when we celebrate the Lord's victory over death, the happiest or
saddest point in our calendar? When we take the time to read carefully and think of
the Lord's work in the last several weeks of His earthly life we see incredible
hardship, sadness, and hopelessness. We witness feelings of abandonment and
betrayal. And yet, this is the path to heaven, the path to victory over hell and death.
The Lord's birth into a weak, human body and mind made Him vulnerable to all the
worst attacks of the hells. But this process also made our Lord and Creator visible
and approachable in His work of redemption.
The Lord's life and work shows us the way to go through the “valley of the shadow
of death” toward “still waters and green pastures.” (Psalm 23) The Lord is
immediately and intimately involved with our path toward heaven; not only as the
source of our strength and power but as someone who been in our place and borne
our griefs. (Isaiah 53.4)
This collection of readings follow accounts in the gospel of Luke and focus on the
parallel themes of joy and sorrow which play back and forth across this pivotal
moment in history. These same themes are carried with brief excerpts from the Old
and New Testaments. Insights and a reflection are offered each day as a way of
prompting thinking and action in response to the dramatic story of Easter.
The idea of “temptation” is a major theme of the Easter story. We think of this term
as broader than simply: “the desire to do something bad.” Rather a temptation is a
process in which we experience a spiritual battle in our minds and hearts between
true ideas and good loves and false ideas and evil loves. All people have the dual
influences of heaven and hell. As the Lord works to draw us into heavenly loves we
experience, sometimes very painfully, the conflict between these opposing forces.
This struggle is necessary as part of the process of being reborn into the life of
heaven.
Hopefully these readings help your celebration of spiritual rebirth. Happy Easter!
1
Deny Yourself, and Follow (the Difficult Call) - Friday,
April 15
And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, “The Son of Man
must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be
killed, and be raised the third day.” Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come
after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever
desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For
what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? (Luke
9.21-25)
“Now, therefore,” says Jehovah, “turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping,
and with mourning.” (Joel 2.12)
The state of mutual love between people, which alone is heavenly, consists in a person's not
only saying of himself, but acknowledging and believing, that he is utterly unworthy. And
furthermore that he is something vile and filthy, which the Lord from His infinite mercy
continually withdraws and holds back from hell, into which the person continually strives,
nay longs, to throw himself. (Arcana Coelestia 1594.4)
Reflection: Deny yourself and take up your cross daily? Lose your life for the sake of the
Lord? This difficult charge is echoed in Joel asking that we turn with all our heart, with
“fasting and weeping.” The Lord took this path of complete commitment, to the point of laying
down His life. The excerpt from Arcana Coelestia (Heavenly Secrets) emphasizes that the life
we are to lay down is the life of our selfish desires. The life of heaven involves mutual love
between angels. Can you admit the truth about the evil in your nature? Can you look with
honesty and see the parts of you which desire to control other people, to receive all the
attention, and to enrich yourself at the expense of others? And are you willing to deny this part
of yourself, take up your cross and follow the Lord?
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Warning and Confusion (Commit to the Path) -
Saturday, April 16
Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and
all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished.
For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. They
will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.” But they understood
none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things
which were spoken. (Luke 18.31-34)
Until his regeneration starts a person is not even aware of the existence of the internal self,
let alone of its nature and quality. Since he is submerged in the concerns of the body and of
the world he imagines that there is no difference between the internal self and external self.
Furthermore, he makes a single confused mass out of things that are actually distinct and
separate, because he submerges the things that belong to his internal self in those same
concerns of the body and of the world. (Arcana Coelestia 24)
Few know that “faith” is trust and confidence. And among the few that know this, still fewer
know that trust or confidence is from charity, and is not possible with anyone who has not
lived the life of charity. (Arcana Coelestia 3868)
Reflection: The Lord told his disciples many times about the coming trial but they did not
understand. A similar thing happens for us. We are called numerous times to approach life
from the higher, heavenly perspective of our internal self, but often fail to understand the call
or what it involves. Our confusion comes because we mix up the teachings about our spiritual
life with natural ideas. Our natural lusts and preoccupations spit on and mock the presence of
the Lord within us. The confusion of the disciples, which mirrors our own early confusion, can
be replaced with clarity and confidence as we work on living the life of charity toward other
people.
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Palm Sunday: Joy, Hope and Expectation (Prepare for
the Journey) - Sunday, April 17
Then, as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude
of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works
they had seen, saying: “‘Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the LORD!’ Peace in
heaven and glory in the highest!” And some of the Pharisees called to Him from the crowd,
“Teacher, rebuke Your disciples.” But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these
should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.” (Luke 19.37-40)
Let Israel hope in Jehovah, for with Jehovah there is mercy, and with Him is plentiful
redemption, and He shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities. (Psalm 130:7, 8)
Temptations are attended with doubt in regard to the Lord's presence and mercy, and also in
regard to salvation. The evil spirits who are with the person in these times induce the state
of temptation and strongly inspire ideas of negation. But the good spirits and angels from the
Lord dispel this state of doubt in every possible way, and keep the person in a state of hope,
and at last confirm him in what is affirmative. (Heavenly Secrets 2338)
When a person who has faith and is obedient to the Lord comes to see matters that support
his faith, these bring him hope; for hope arises out of them. (Heavenly Secrets 7065)
Reflection: Even before the struggle has begun, there is a need for joy and hope. The
promises of heaven and the hope that something heavenly can be made out of us, carry us
through the darkest parts of our trials. This moment of recognizing and cheering for the king
coming to Jerusalem guides us to a foundation for hope. We have hope in the king who has
power. Where everything else in your life may twist and turn, you can be confident that “in
Jehovah there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption.”
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Weeping over Jerusalem (The Things which make for
Peace) - Monday, April 18
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to
her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under
her wings, but you were not willing! (Luke 13:34)
Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If you had known, even you,
especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden
from your eyes. For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment
around you, surround you and close you in on every side, and level you, and your children
within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because
you did not know the time of your visitation.” (Luke 19.41-44)
Peace taken in the complex embraces all things of the Lord's kingdom both in general and in
particular, for the state of the Lord's kingdom is a state of peace, and in a state of peace
there come forth all the happy states that result from love and faith in the Lord. (Arcana
Coelestia 926)
The Lord, and also those who are in heaven and in the church, have rest and peace when He
has subdued the hells and has brought all things there and in the heavens into order.
(Apocalypse Explained 700)
I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and take joy in My people; the voice of weeping shall no longer be
heard in her, nor the voice of crying. (Isaiah 65.19)
Reflection: The Lord's weeping over Jerusalem, weeping over all His hurting, straying
people touches us with a sense of His deep love. He longs that we will understand and use the
truths which make for real peace in our lives. The reading from Isaiah offers a contrasting
view from the one in Luke. It speaks of Lord rejoicing over Jerusalem now that weeping is no
longer heard. We have the opportunity to identify the ways we are killing the prophets sent to
us and change the Lord's weeping into joy. To “receive the prophets” is to receive the hard
truths about ourselves, whether from a friend, from the Word or from our conscience. These
are the things which make for real peace in our lives. Identify that hard message about
yourself to which you need to respond.
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Zeal and Cleansing the Temple (Repentance) -
Tuesday, April 19
Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who bought and sold in it, saying
to them, “It is written, ‘My house is a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of
thieves.’” And He was teaching daily in the temple. But the chief priests, the scribes, and the
leaders of the people sought to destroy Him, and were unable to do anything; for all the
people were very attentive to hear Him. (Luke 19.45-48)
One who leads a life of faith does repentance daily; for he reflects upon the evils that are in
him, acknowledges them, guards himself against them, and supplicates the Lord for aid. For
from himself the person is continually falling, but is continually being raised up by the Lord.
From his own power he falls when he thinks what is evil with desire; and he is raised up by
the Lord when he resists evil, and consequently does not do it. (Arcana Coelestia 8391)
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make
me hear joy and gladness, that the bones You have broken may rejoice. Hide Your face from
my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. (Psalm 51.7-9)
And [King Josiah] commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priests of the second order, and
the doorkeepers, to bring out of the temple of Jehovah all the articles that were made for
Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven; and he burned them outside Jerusalem in
the fields of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. Then he removed the idolatrous
priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense on the high places in the
cities of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem, and those who burned incense to
Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven. And he
brought out the wooden image from the house of Jehovah, to the Brook Kidron outside
Jerusalem, burned it at the Brook Kidron and ground it to ashes, and threw its ashes on the
graves of the common people. Then he tore down the ritual booths of the perverted persons
that were in the house of Jehovah, where the women wove hangings for the wooden image.
(II Kings 23.4-7)
Reflection: Psalm 51 above was written by a remorseful king David after He had coveted,
committed adultery, stolen, lied and murdered. David was asking the Lord for a thorough
cleansing which would free him from these sins. The reading from II Kings tells of King
Josiah cleansing the idol worship from Judah after he found the book of the law and realized
how far the kingdom had slid from true worship. And in Luke we have the story of the Lord
performing a similar cleansing process on the temple, throwing out the corruption which was
polluting people's ability to worship. What is an idol in your life which has taken too much of
your focus away from the Lord? What are those things which pollute and distract from your
ability to worship? When you identify something in yourself that is blocking a free expression
of worship you can change this offending behavior or mental habit with the same zeal and
urgency which the Lord used to cleanse the temple.
6
Occasion for Testimony (Patience) - Wednesday, April
20
You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name’s sake. But it will turn out for you
as an occasion for testimony. Therefore settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on
what you will answer; for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will
not be able to contradict or resist. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers,
relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. And you will be hated by all for
My name’s sake. But not a hair of your head shall be lost. By your patience possess your
souls. (Luke 21.12-19)
Thus says Jehovah: “Refrain your voice from weeping, and your eyes from tears; for your
work shall be rewarded, says Jehovah, and they shall come back from the land of the enemy.
(Jeremiah 31.16)
"The patience of the saints" means the temptation of the faithful, or of those who are made
spiritual by the Lord (Rev. 14.12). This is because “patience” means spiritual patience, that
is, patience in sustaining temptations. People have this patience who fight in themselves
against the falsities that are contained in the dogma of faith alone and the ideas connected
with it. (Apocalypse Explained 813)
Reflections: Avoiding the trials of life is not an option. These trials always come. They can
come from challenges within us or from the people around us. Friends, family, colleagues or
our broader culture can all trigger trying times. But the Lord promises our safety if we stand
with patience. There is a spiritual process going on inside us; it is converting our hearts,
minds and souls. Despite the difficult times when the things we love and the beliefs we hold
are under attack we can maintain a patient confidence in the Lord's care. Consider an area of
life where you feel under attack. Meditate on the teaching from Jeremiah as you think of this
painful area in your life: “for your work shall be rewarded, says Jehovah, and they shall come
back from the land of the enemy.” (Jeremiah 31.16)
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Last Supper (Betrayal and Abandonment) - Thursday,
April 21
When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. Then He said to
them, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I
say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”... But behold,
the hand of My betrayer is with Me on the table. And truly the Son of Man goes as it has
been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!” Then they began to
question among themselves, which of them it was who would do this thing. (Luke 22.14-23)
But [Peter] denied Him, saying, “Woman, I do not know Him.” And after a little while
another saw him and said, “You also are of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not!” Then
after about an hour had passed, another confidently affirmed, saying, “Surely this fellow also
was with Him, for he is a Galilean.” But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are
saying!” Immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. And the Lord turned
and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him,
“Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” So Peter went out and wept
bitterly. (Luke 22.57-62)
There are evil spirits who at [the time of temptation] activate a person's falsities and evils....
Indeed they draw out of his memory whatever he has thought and carried out since early
childhood. Evil spirits can do this so cleverly and wickedly as to defy description. But the
angels who are with him draw out his goods and truths, and in this way defend him. This
conflict is what the person feels and perceives in himself and is what causes the sting and
torment of conscience. (Arcana Coelestia 751)
So long as temptation continues, the person supposes the Lord to be absent, because he is so
severely troubled by evil devils that he is sometimes reduced to despair, and can scarcely
believe there is any God. Yet at those times the Lord is more closely present than he can
possibly believe. But when temptation ceases, the person receives consolation, and then first
believes the Lord to be present. (Arcana Coelestia 840)
Reflection: Not only was the Lord betrayed by Judas and abandoned by Peter but the
gospels of Matthew and Mark describe His feeling of being forsaken by God. "My God, my
God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matt. 27:46; Mark 15.34) We can barely imagine the Lord's
feelings during this time. He “fervently” desired to eat the supper with His disciples and join
His life with theirs. At the same time He was aware of the betrayal and lack of reciprocation
on the part of the human race. Yesterday we looked at the Lord's warning to his disciples that
they would be betrayed and today we read about the experience of going through it. In the
depths of despair our strength fails us. And in these times – when almost all faith in the Lord
is gone – we can remember His teaching in the book of John: “be of good cheer, I have
overcome the world.” (John 16.32-33).
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Crucifixion (the End and the Beginning) - Friday, April
22
Now as they led Him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, who was
coming from the country, and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus.
And a great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and
lamented Him. But Jesus, turning to them, said, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for
Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. For indeed the days are coming in which
they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never
nursed!’ Then they will begin to say to the mountains, 'Fall on us!' and to the hills, 'Cover
us!' For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?” (Luke 23.26-
31)
Now it was about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth
hour. Then the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And when
Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, “Father, ‘into Your hands I commit My spirit.’”
Having said this, He breathed His last. (Luke 23.44-46)
Moreover those who are in despair, which is the last of temptation, think [despairing] things,
and then they are as it were on the slope, or are as it were sinking down toward hell. But at
this time such thought does no harm whatever, nor do the angels pay any attention to it, for
every person's power is limited, and when the temptation arrives at the furthest limit of his
power, the person cannot sustain anything more, but sinks down. But then, when he is on
the downhill course, he is raised by the Lord and thus liberated from despair; and is then for
the most part brought into a clear state of hope and of the consequent consolation, and also
into good fortune. (Arcana Coelestia 8165)
Reflection: We each get pushed past our limits for endurance. We hit points in life where we
start to give up and sink downwards, like Peter, when he was trying to walk on water. (Matt.
14.22-33) In these times in our life, when darkness seems to “cover all the earth” we can
remember the central paradox of the Easter story: a death in obedience to the Lord is the
beginning of life. The Lord conquers death or as the book of Romans puts it, “death no longer
has dominion over Him.” (Romans 6.9) This is a time for surrender. As you reach a point of
giving up, you can use His words, “Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit.”
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Sabbath (Waiting and Worshiping) - Saturday, April 23
Now behold, there was a man named Joseph, a council member, a good and just man. He had
not consented to their decision and deed. He was from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who
himself was also waiting for the kingdom of God. This man went to Pilate and asked for the
body of Jesus. Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen, and laid it in a tomb that was hewn
out of the rock, where no one had ever lain before. That day was the Preparation, and the
Sabbath drew near. And the women who had come with Him from Galilee followed after, and
they observed the tomb and how His body was laid. Then they returned and prepared spices
and fragrant oils. And they rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment. (Luke
23.50-56)
Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life, he that believeth in Me, though he were dead,
shall live; whosoever liveth and believeth in Me, shall not die to eternity” (John 11:25-26). To
believe in the Lord is to approach Him immediately, and to have confidence that He saves;
and since no one can have this confidence except he who lives well, therefore this also is
meant by "believing in Him." (Apocalypse Revealed 553)
Reflection: It was the Sabbath when the followers of Jesus had to wait for the Lord's
resurrection, thinking that He was lying dead in the ground. Many times we are waiting for a
stronger sense of the Lord's presence in our lives, for a clearer sight of the path He has for us.
At times, it may feel as if He is dead and buried. As yet, we may not be aware of the results of
the Lord's work in our minds and hearts. This is a reminder of why we need Sabbath times.
Each stage of the Lord's process was important. These times of waiting and quiet can help us
be clear that we do not deserve credit for the progress in our spiritual rebirth. The Easter story
tells of the Lord at work, not of any incredible contribution of His disciples. It is our part to
prepare the spices and fragrant oils of worship. After you come through a spiritual struggle,
but before the elation and joy of the new beginning, you can pause for a quiet moment to
reflect on the Lord's care and power throughout the process.
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Easter Morning (Redemption) - Sunday, April 24
And they remembered His words. Then they returned from the tomb and told all these
things to the eleven and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of
James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles. And their
words seemed to [the disciples] like idle tales, and they did not believe them. But Peter arose
and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he
departed, marveling to himself at what had happened. (Luke 24.8-12)
For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; weeping may endure for a night, but
joy comes in the morning. (Psalm 30.5)
A state of peace is the state of the Lord's kingdom. In that state the Lord's heavenly and
spiritual things are, as it were, in their morning, and in their springtime. For this peace is
like the dawn in the early morning, and like the new life in the springtime. The dawn and
the spring cause all things that meet the senses to be full of joy and gladness. From the
general affection for the dawn and spring, every object draws a particular affection. It is the
same with the state of peace in the Lord's kingdom: in this state of peace all heavenly and
spiritual things are as it were in their morning or springtime flower and smile, that is, in
their happiness itself. In this way the state of peace affects everything, for the Lord is peace
itself. (Arcana Coelestia 1726)
Reflection: In works of literature and art, it is the stories of redemption which touch us most
deeply. The troubled, straying hero who is brought back brings a different kind of tears to our
eyes – the tears of joy and gratitude. The Lord taught that there is “more joy in heaven over
one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.” (Luke
15.7) Redeeming the lost was the Lord's purpose in coming into the world. His victory over
death is replayed for all eternity in the life of each person whom He touches. Take some time
to reflect on Peter's experience at the tomb. He came to see if the account of the women was
true. And as he looked at the linen cloths, marveling, he felt a dawning relief and joy that
Jesus was still alive. Look for the signs of the Lord's redeeming work in your life so that you
too can marvel with gratitude.
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Ascension (A State of Heaven) - Monday, April 25
And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. Now
it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into
heaven. And they worshiped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were
continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen. (Luke 24.50-53)
And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them
and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more
death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed
away.” (Revelation 21.3-4)
[The phrase] “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men" means the Lord speaking from love
and declaring the glad tidings, that He Himself will now be present with people in His
Divine Human. "And He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and He Himself
shall be with them their God" means the conjunction of the Lord, which is of such a nature,
that they are in Him, and He in them. (Apocalypse Revealed 876)
A woman, when she is in labour, has sorrow because her hour has come; but as soon as she
has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human
being has been born into the world. (John 16.21)
Reflection: Without the Lord's process of temptation and trial it would be difficult to
understand the joy of this final blessing which the Lord gave to His disciples at the end of the
book of Luke. Without crying, we could not understand the value of the Lord “wiping away
every tear” from our eyes. Without the freedom to explore a life without the Lord, we cannot
really understand the blessedness of His promise that He will be in us and we in Him. Jesus
teaches us about a woman in labour and beautifully expresses how such a painful process can
rapidly fade when the new child is born. There is a great amount of pain, doubt, confusion
and sadness in the Easter story, but it all works toward a wonderful purpose. The Lord works
toward the spiritual rebirth of each person, into a heavenly life. This is a message worth
sharing with others. Can you find an opportunity to share something of this message of the
Lord's blessing with the people around you?
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Happy Easter
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