Easter Thoughts

Today is Easter, the most holiest of days in the Christian faith.  It is the day that we believe Jesus rose from the dead.  Lent, the 40 days preceding Easter, is a time of reflection.  The last week, known as Holy Week, can be emotionally intense if one is tuned in to the series of events.  On Palm Sunday, Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey to the cheers of a crowd.  Adding to the drama, Pontius Pilate, a Roman governor, rode into the city through another gate at the same time.  On Maundy Thursday, Jesus ate a Seder meal with his disciples.  Depending on which Gospel you read, he either shared bread and wine with them, the first Communion, or he washed their feet.  That night, betrayed by his disciple, Judas, he was arrested as he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Jesus was sentenced to death, tortured, and was nailed to a cross to die the most horrible of deaths.  This is where we are left until Easter morning.  It is a dark time.

I grew up with these stories, but never gave much thought to them.  Now I have questions.  What does this mean to me personally?  How does this affect how I live my life?  After more careful study of the Gospels, I have learned that they don’t agree on details.  We don’t really know what happened or how Jesus was resurrected.  It’s a mystery.  Clearly, whatever the details, something fantastic occurred.

How does this help me today?  The resurrection is a story of love, a story of hope.  Can I look at it with fresh eyes?  To be honest, I needed a little hope this past week.  We all have our dark days and I was there.  I know I can always find people worse off than me, but truly when you step into a dark hole, even for a short time, it blots out all the light.  I was in pain—physical and emotional.  How does the resurrection give me hope?  I do know that God turned a horrible death, Jesus’ death, into something amazing and wonderful.  God took the worst, most evil thing that humans could do and turned it upside down.  How does this help me?

I don’t really think God will rescue me or my loved ones—although that doesn't stop me from wishing it so.  But God does love us.  We are the body of Christ—his hands and feet in this world.  He is our example to follow.  I get so discouraged with what I see around me—hunger, corruption, poverty, greed, injustice, hate, ignorance, intolerance. . . and the list goes on.  It is overwhelming.  It affects us all.  Jesus was a radical who was killed for standing up to authorities.  Do I have even a fraction of his courage to stand up for what is right?  When I am dealing with physical or emotional pain, can I endure it and be able to still live my life as a follower of Jesus?  Can I be useful?

God showed us the power of love in the resurrection of Jesus.  We learned that death is not the end.  Love can conquer all.  Spreading that love is our job.  That’s what the Kingdom of God is all about—here and now. . . but not quite yet.  We get glimpses of what it might be. . . and we can feel it at times.

I know I could spend the rest of my life asking questions but never learn all the answers.  One answer leads to another question.  However, there is one thing of which I am certain, even on my dark days—there exists great love even among all the bad things, love that overwhelms and flows through all.

4/20/2014