With Fear and Great Joy

Easter Sunday

The world hasn’t been the same since that first Easter dawn.

In fact, I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that the resurrection of Jesus on Easter is the most important event in the history of the world. Nothing has been the same since.

If Jesus had not been raised from the dead, then nothing would have changed for us. If Jesus had not been raised from the dead he might be remembered as a wise rabbi who did some good things, if he was remembered at all. If Jesus had not been raised from the dead, we would still be laboring in our sin.

But Jesus was raised from the dead, opening the door not only to everlasting life, but also to a new way of life right now.

The gospel accounts of that first Easter differ in a few details, but the message is the same: Jesus is alive! This year we hear the story from Matthew’s gospel:

After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.

You can only imagine what was going through their minds that morning as they went to prepare Jesus lifeless body for burial. 2,000 years ago, Sunday was like our Monday – it was the first day of the work week. And what a bleak week it looked to be. And then, in an instant, everything changed! This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible:

And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.

I love that image! Not only did the angel roll the stone aside, he sat on it for good measure! It is not only a gesture of contempt for the efforts of death (and the authorities) to keep Jesus confined, but also a sign of the finality of Jesus’ victory. Then:

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised… go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead.’ So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.

The takeaway for us is that the women didn’t keep the good news to themselves. They ran to tell others. This morning we experience the same good news. It is too important to keep to ourselves. We should share it. We should live it. We should be joyful, knowing that the victory has been won.

For many though, that joy is muted because Covid-19 has made this Easter a different sort of day from the ones we have known. We are not able to gather in large groups to celebrate. But, in this respect it has something in common with the first Easter. There were only a handful of people to celebrate that morning 2,000 years ago. And yet look how the faith grew. The church is the church even if we are forced to celebrate in our individual homes this year. We may be apart, but we are connected by the risen Christ.

I pray that you all have a blessed Easter and that the crisis that we face will soon resolve. In the meantime, God bless you and stay well.

A New Day

An Easter poem

One by one guardian stars
Extinguish their beacons
And yield to the exuberant
Brightness of the waking Sun.

A newborn world basks in
Reconciling light – opening,
Blooming, exulting in the
Victorious dawn.

The air awakens and comes alive,
Shaking off stagnant sleep
Stirring the trees to sing
Once again.

Night lies in ruins: death-dark
Grip broken, its shortening
Shadows vainly seek refuge
In an empty tomb.