Easter Vigil
For your Maker is your husband; the Lord of Armies is his name. The Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer. He will be called the God of the whole earth. For the Lord has called you as a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, Even a wife of youth, when she is cast off, "says your God. "For a small moment I have forsaken you, But I will gather you with great mercies. In overflowing wrath I hid my face from you for a moment, But with everlasting loving kindness I will have mercy on you," says the Lord your Redeemer. "For this is like the waters of Noah to me; For as I have sworn that the waters of Noah will no more go over the earth, So I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, nor rebuke you. For the mountains may depart, And the hills be removed, But my loving kindness will not depart from you, And my covenant of peace will not be removed," Says the Lord who has mercy on you. "You afflicted, tossed with storms, and not comforted, Behold, I will set your stones in beautiful colors, And lay your foundations with sapphires. I will make your pinnacles of rubies, Your gates of sparkling jewels, And all your walls of precious stones. All your children will be taught by the Lord, And your children's peace will be great. You will be established in righteousness. You will be far from oppression, For you will not be afraid, And far from terror, For it shall not come near you.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, For his loving kindness endures forever. Let Israel now say That his loving kindness endures forever.
The right hand of the Lord is exalted! The right hand of the Lord does valiantly! I will not die, but live, And declare the Lord's works.
The stone which the builders rejected Has become the cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing. It is marvelous in our eyes.
The Lord said to Moses, "Why do you cry to me? Speak to the children of Israel, that they go forward. Lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. Then the children of Israel shall go into the middle of the sea on dry ground. Behold, I myself will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they will go in after them. I will get myself honor over Pharaoh, and over all his armies, over his chariots, and over his horsemen. The Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord when I have gotten myself honor over Pharaoh, over his chariots, and over his horsemen." The angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them, and stood behind them. It came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel. There was the cloud and the darkness, yet it gave light by night. One didn't come near the other all night.
Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. The children of Israel went into the middle of the sea on the dry ground; and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. The Egyptians pursued, and went in after them into the middle of the sea: all of Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. In the morning watch, the Lord looked out on the Egyptian army through the pillar of fire and of cloud, and confused the Egyptian army. He took off their chariot wheels, and they drove them heavily; so that the Egyptians said, "Let's flee from the face of Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians!"
The Lord said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come again on the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen." Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it. The Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the middle of the sea. The waters returned, and covered the chariots and the horsemen, even all Pharaoh's army that went in after them into the sea. There remained not so much as one of them. But the children of Israel walked on dry land in the middle of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. Thus the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Israel saw the great work which the Lord did to the Egyptians, and the people feared the Lord; and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.
Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord, and said, "I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously. He has thrown the horse and his rider into the sea.
Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. Behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from the sky and came and rolled away the stone from the door and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him, the guards shook, and became like dead men. The angel answered the women, "Don't be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus, who has been crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, just like he said. Come, see the place where the Lord was lying. Go quickly and tell his disciples, 'He has risen from the dead, and behold, he goes before you into Galilee; there you will see him.' Behold, I have told you."
They departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring his disciples word. As they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, "Rejoice!"
They came and took hold of his feet, and worshiped him.
Then Jesus said to them, "Don't be afraid. Go tell my brothers that they should go into Galilee, and there they will see me."
Tonight we gather at the threshold between death and life, between the old creation and the new. The Easter Vigil brings us face to face with the most profound transformation in human history, yet notice how it unfolds through the most ordinary elements—water, fire, bread, wine, and human voices telling ancient stories.
The readings tonight trace God's persistent love through time. Isaiah speaks of a covenant as unshakeable as God's promise after the flood. The Exodus story shows us a God who makes ways where there seem to be none, parting seas and leading people through impossible passages. Then comes the earthquake at the tomb, another moment when the natural order bends to reveal something beyond our comprehension.
What emerges is a pattern: God meets us in our most desperate moments—when we're enslaved, when we're grieving, when all seems lost—and opens paths we couldn't imagine. The women coming to the tomb expect to find death; instead they encounter the angel's startling announcement and Jesus himself, alive and calling them by the tender name "brothers."
This is more than historical remembrance. Every time we face our own Red Sea moments—the job loss, the diagnosis, the relationship that seems beyond repair—we're invited to remember that the same God who raised Jesus from the dead is present in our ordinary Wednesday afternoons and our sleepless Saturday nights.
The movement here is always from fear to joy, from bondage to freedom, from death to life. But notice it never happens alone. The women run to tell the disciples. Moses leads a whole people. God's saving work always creates community.
Where in your life right now do you need the waters to part? How might God be calling you to be an angel of resurrection for someone else? What would it mean to truly believe that the same power that raised Jesus is at work in your daily life?