Easter from the Church at Perelandra College

April 17, 2022

Welcome to the Church at Perelandra College

It appears that for now at least I am the lead person here. Since I'm not fond of calling myself a pastor, preacher, reverend, or father (unless you are Cody, Darcy, or Zoë) and since we are coming from a college, although according to our corporate status we are also a church, I'll go by the honorable term Professor, or Teacher, or Ken.

I am ordained, by the way, long ago for ten dollars so I could perform marriages when asked to, and later by a legitimate home-church association, because Pam's grandma invited me (after a lot of scrutiny).  

I am presenting this first service on Easter for a variety of reasons, one being that my dad used to mock people who called themselves Christians and only showed up on Christmas and Easter. He avoided that hypocrisy by never showing up at all. Another reason is that I have become so dismayed with established Christian churches, for reasons I will express or imply little by little as the weeks go by, that I have gotten out of the habit of attending and have replaced the habit with home Bible study meetings and daily podcasts and would feel like an intruder at a church with an earthly residence. So I don't plan to attend any.

Now, though I will restrain myself from professing anything on this most glorious day, I will ask you to read what some writers call the climax to the greatest story ever told.

If you prefer to begin reading with the capture, condemnation, and crucifixion, here it is.

And soon comes Easter morning (from the Gospel of John).

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.  So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb.  Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.  He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in.  Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there,  as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen.  Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)  Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

"They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don’t know where they have put him."  At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

He asked her, "Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?"

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."

Jesus said to her, '"Mary.'”

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni."(which means Teacher).

Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

 Now Thomas, one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

"Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name."

For those who aren't convinced or who just like to read, here's the story from another angle.

This is  how Matthew's told it.

Now before we move on the music, a few awfully important words from Professor Ken:

The reason we believers celebrate is quite simple. If in fact Jesus died and returned to what we call life, as he predicted, he proved beyond a reasonable doubt he knew and spoke the truth and no BS. So, if we know what's good for us, we had better follow his instructions. Which, by the way, are not suggestions, but commands.

Okay, here's the music. Please take your pick or listen to all of them, and be sure to skip the ads.

A legion of  happy Mormons;

A Calvary Chapel version:,

I believe this gifted fellow is a Methodist;

Or how about these nice midwestern Congregationalists;

And here are some classy invisible Episcopalians;  

From Notre Dame University, featuring a mighty fine organ;

How about  Steve Green singing in Spanish?

And pretty Lutheran voices.

I will listen to them all day as my 2022 Easter soundtrack. Then it will stick in my mind and play back all week long.

Well, vaya con Dios y'all, please.

And please come back next week.