About Today
Thursday 9 April 2026
Easter Thursday
The Lord has truly risen, alleluia.
Year: A(II). Liturgical Colour: White.
The disciples were startled, frightened and thought they saw a spirit
Today's gospel reading
Luke 24:35-48
The disciples told their story of what had happened on the road and how they had recognised Jesus at the breaking of bread.
They were still talking about all this when Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, ‘Peace be with you!’ In a state of alarm and fright, they thought they were seeing a ghost. But he said, ‘Why are you so agitated, and why are these doubts rising in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; yes, it is I indeed. Touch me, and see for yourselves a ghost has no flesh and bones as can see I have.’ And as he said this, he showed them his hands and his feet; And their joy so great that they still could not believe it, and they stood there dumbfounded; so he said to them ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ And they offered him a piece of grilled fish, which he took and ate before their eyes.
Then he said to them, ‘This is what I meant when l said, while I was still with you, that everything written about me. in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets and in the Psalms, has to be fulfilled.’ He then opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and said to them, ‘So you see how it is written, that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be preached to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses to this.’
Reflection on the coloured print
Today's Gospel account of the risen Lord appearing to his disciples makes clear how hard they found it to accept what they were seeing. When Jesus stood among them, they were startled and afraid, unsure whether it could truly be him, almost as if they were looking at a spirit. The resurrection was so overwhelming that they struggled to grasp it, standing there in a mixture of wonder and disbelief. The events of the Passion which took place only a few days before today's episode, had shaken them so deeply that the reality of his risen life took a long time to sink in.
There is something of that same hesitation in us. The message of Easter is so extraordinary that we, too, can find it difficult to fully take it in. It is often much easier to relate to the suffering of Christ than to the mystery of his resurrection. Perhaps this is because suffering is something we know so well in our own lives. That is why images of the Cross are so familiar to us, while the Resurrection can feel more elusive. Artists have always depicted more image of the cross, than of the resurrection. Like the disciples, we struggle to comprehend it. And perhaps this is why the Church gives us Eastertide, a season giving us time to grow into this reality. Seven weeks to the Ascension to try and take in the resurrection.
Our artwork today by William Blake, Christ Appearing to His Disciples After the Resurrection, feels strikingly modern, even through it was painted around 1795. Blake abandons naturalism and instead gives us something visionary, almost dreamlike. Forms are simplified, colours radiant, the whole scene charged with dreamlike, spiritual intensity. At the centre stands Christ, upright and majestic, his presence both commanding and luminous, while around him the disciples can only kneel. It is all they are capable of in that moment: not yet understanding, not yet ready to move, but overwhelmed by what they see. Soon the disciples will rise, find their voice, and go out into the world. For now, however, they remain on their knees, caught between disbelief and adoration, before the mystery of the risen Lord.
Christ Appearing to His Disciples After the Resurrection,
Painting by William Blake (1757-1827),
Painted circa 1795,
Colour print (monotype), hand-coloured with watercolour and tempera on paper
© National Gallery of Art, Washington.
Easter Thursday
The Lord has truly risen, alleluia.
Year: A(II). Liturgical Colour: White.
The disciples were startled, frightened and thought they saw a spirit
Today's gospel reading
Luke 24:35-48
The disciples told their story of what had happened on the road and how they had recognised Jesus at the breaking of bread.
They were still talking about all this when Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, ‘Peace be with you!’ In a state of alarm and fright, they thought they were seeing a ghost. But he said, ‘Why are you so agitated, and why are these doubts rising in your hearts? Look at my hands and my feet; yes, it is I indeed. Touch me, and see for yourselves a ghost has no flesh and bones as can see I have.’ And as he said this, he showed them his hands and his feet; And their joy so great that they still could not believe it, and they stood there dumbfounded; so he said to them ‘Have you anything here to eat?’ And they offered him a piece of grilled fish, which he took and ate before their eyes.
Then he said to them, ‘This is what I meant when l said, while I was still with you, that everything written about me. in the Law of Moses, in the Prophets and in the Psalms, has to be fulfilled.’ He then opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and said to them, ‘So you see how it is written, that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be preached to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses to this.’
Reflection on the coloured print
Today's Gospel account of the risen Lord appearing to his disciples makes clear how hard they found it to accept what they were seeing. When Jesus stood among them, they were startled and afraid, unsure whether it could truly be him, almost as if they were looking at a spirit. The resurrection was so overwhelming that they struggled to grasp it, standing there in a mixture of wonder and disbelief. The events of the Passion which took place only a few days before today's episode, had shaken them so deeply that the reality of his risen life took a long time to sink in.
There is something of that same hesitation in us. The message of Easter is so extraordinary that we, too, can find it difficult to fully take it in. It is often much easier to relate to the suffering of Christ than to the mystery of his resurrection. Perhaps this is because suffering is something we know so well in our own lives. That is why images of the Cross are so familiar to us, while the Resurrection can feel more elusive. Artists have always depicted more image of the cross, than of the resurrection. Like the disciples, we struggle to comprehend it. And perhaps this is why the Church gives us Eastertide, a season giving us time to grow into this reality. Seven weeks to the Ascension to try and take in the resurrection.
Our artwork today by William Blake, Christ Appearing to His Disciples After the Resurrection, feels strikingly modern, even through it was painted around 1795. Blake abandons naturalism and instead gives us something visionary, almost dreamlike. Forms are simplified, colours radiant, the whole scene charged with dreamlike, spiritual intensity. At the centre stands Christ, upright and majestic, his presence both commanding and luminous, while around him the disciples can only kneel. It is all they are capable of in that moment: not yet understanding, not yet ready to move, but overwhelmed by what they see. Soon the disciples will rise, find their voice, and go out into the world. For now, however, they remain on their knees, caught between disbelief and adoration, before the mystery of the risen Lord.
Christ Appearing to His Disciples After the Resurrection,
Painting by William Blake (1757-1827),
Painted circa 1795,
Colour print (monotype), hand-coloured with watercolour and tempera on paper
© National Gallery of Art, Washington.