Easter!

 Easter

             After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb.  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. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But 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, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.’ This is my message for you.” So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Greetings!” And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

Matthew 28:1-10

             The two Marys were trying to move on with their lives.  It had all happened so fast.  Just a week ago, Jesus had been entering Jerusalem for the Passover.  There were parades and spectacle, the sense that they were standing on the edge of history.  And then it was over.  In the blink of an eye, their world came crashing down.  One night they went to sleep and by the time that they woke up, Jesus had been arrested, beaten and sentenced to death.  By the time they were able to make it to the city, he was already hanging on the cross, barely recognizable through the cuts and bruises.  And then, faster than anyone expected, he was dead and put into a stone cold tomb.

            They went through the darkest sabbath of their lives in shock and dismay.  What had just happened?  Why?  How evil and broken was this world that it could take away someone so pure…someone who brought such life and light to everyone that he encountered?  They barely slept as they endured the longest, bleakest night of their lives.

            The next morning the braced themselves emotionally as they went to anoint the body and say goodbye.  Their brains still expected to see Him around the corner or hear His voice calling them from down the street but the ache in their soul reminded them that He was gone.  It was only the presence of the other Mary that kept her from completely breaking down in tears.  They took a deep breath and prepared to approach the tomb.

            Then the world erupted.

            An earthquake shook the ground.  An angel appeared…the power, the authority, the brilliance of this being could have been nothing else.  The Roman guards were on the ground, overwhelmed by the power of God.  The angel spoke to the women of the empty tomb, of Jesus’ resurrection.  In shock, the Marys turned to find the disciples and found Jesus himself instead!  He was not shock; he was not a hallucination.  This was Jesus, in the flesh…yet more.  He had the same face, the same voice, but his eyes held more power and passion and wisdom than they had before.  He was more…more of himself than they had ever seen before.

            Questions flooded their minds but were overwhelmed by the sea of emotions: surprise, relief, gratitude, love, awe…they all swirled and mixed together like a tide pool.  Dominating everything was joy.  Pure, raw, unadulterated joy.  Where they had begun the day preparing for sorrow, they were now surprised and saturated with Joy.  There was laughter.  There were tears.  There were questions and instructions and a charge to go and inform the disciples.  And all of it lay on a foundation of joy.  Deep, unshakeable, permanent joy.  Everything He had said, everything He had done, everything that God had promised was true.  Death was defeated.  Sin was broken.  Jesus was back and history, eternity even, would never be the same.

            This is Easter.  Not egg hunts or fancy dresses or even the celebration of spring.  Easter is Joy.  Celebration.  Victory.  Promises fulfilled.  Easter is a day of laughter and tears because it is all so good.  There will be complications today with getting everyone dressed and fed and in the car.  We will probably be late to church and not be able to sit in our normal seats because the church is too full and that will lead to some anxiety and we’ll have to use some de-escalation techniques…and all that will be okay because it is built on a foundation of Joy.

            This?  All of this that we are looking at and going through and dreading…all of it is but a brief and momentary spark…a flash of light that leads into eternity.  And that eternity has been built on brick after brick after brick of Joy.  Jesus did it!  He won!  He found a way Home and He has made a way that we can come with Him!  He endured the worst that the world could throw at Him.  He endured the worst that Sin and Death could throw at Him.  He did all that so that you and I and our children could live just as we were intended to live: whole and freed and together.

            Enjoy Easter today.  Absorb Easter.  Allow yourself to be surprised by Joy and allow Joy to become your foundation moving forward.

A moment to reflect:

Laugh today.  That’s your assignment.  Laugh at least 3 times throughout today.