Easter Sunday (Artful Devotion)

Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay.”

—Matthew 28:1–6

Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed . . .

—John 20:1–8

And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.

—Acts 10:39–41

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SONG: “Hallelujah, Our Lord Is Risen” by the Easter Brothers | Performed by Jeff and Sheri Easter, 1992

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To view more paintings by Nikola Sarić, including ones from his “Cycle of Life” series, visit www.nikolasaric.de.

Music and art from previous Easter Sundays at Art & Theology include

• A retuned seventeenth-century hymn and a German Expressionist painting: https://artandtheology.org/2019/04/21/the-strife-is-over-artful-devotion/
• A contemporary gospel song and a chapel mosaic from Slovenia: https://artandtheology.org/2018/04/01/death-is-ended-artful-devotion/
• Felix Mendelssohn’s Octet in E-flat Major, Op. 20, mvt. 1: https://artandtheology.org/2016/03/27/a-string-octet-for-easter-sunday/

This post belongs to the weekly series Artful Devotion. If you can’t view the music player in your email or RSS reader, try opening the post in your browser.

To view all the Revised Common Lectionary scripture readings for Easter Sunday, cycle A, click here.