Easter 2025

 

I’ve been thinking about Easter all week, not just because this is Holy Week, but because of what the day means. I have a dear friend whose father is dying. He has told everyone he is not afraid; in fact he is excited to get to Heaven. He wants his family to celebrate. That is only possible because they believe in the meaning of Easter. Easter is the day Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, after his death on the cross. We believe he died as a substitute for us, paying our penalty for sin. God honored his sacrifice, accepted his for ours, and raised him from the dead on that first Easter. This is the hope of all Christians, that because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, they will be with him in heaven when they die.

Sounds pretty crazy to people who do not believe. Easter to most is about celebrating spring with cute bunnies, chicks, eggs and chocolate. Lots of people celebrate Easter, but most don’t know the true meaning of the day. I wrote before about the lady in the Hallmark aisle remarking how Christians have even taken this holiday. J Actually, Christians should own it.

A year ago I celebrated Easter with my entire family, my siblings and nephew. Our sister was very ill, but having a pretty good day. The sun was out, and we went about the day as if very little had changed, when in reality, everything had changed. In just a couple of months she would no longer be with us. It was a last celebration. But even sitting there, trying to be brave, all of us believed with everything we had, that she’d celebrate upcoming holidays at the very source, Heaven. Like my friend’s father, that is cause for celebration.

As a lover of most anything chocolate and also a collector rabbits (though not live ones), the secular Easter trappings mean a lot too. As kids we would boil and decorate eggs. Mom would put together elaborate Easter baskets to keep us happy through a long, seemingly endless, Easter day. We started with sunrise service, followed by Easter pancake breakfast in fellowship hall, followed by Sunday school and church service. To keep us going, we received those baskets between breakfast and Sunday school. In addition to the usual candy and stuffies, there were always what we called real presents. A toy or a book or something more. That tradition continued in our family long beyond mom’s journey to Heaven. We continued to exchange gifts on Easter. Last year my sister had her husband get us all succulent plants that I’m still mostly keeping alive in my window. I gave her a bag to use to carry things to chemotherapy, with family pictures on it.

This year those of us remaining are all spread apart. I realized for the first time in my life I will not be celebrating Easter with any family beyond my husband. Weird. It feels different, but it shouldn’t. Because all of the fun and sharing and eating isn’t really Easter, is it? Easter is just a day to mark an extraordinary event in history that for Christians is THE moment. That moment is part of our everyday lives not just one day in the year. For my sister and my friend’s father, and many other Christians approaching death, Easter is right there with them, the promise of new life in Heaven, because Jesus lives.

Years ago a friend of ours had some Japanese exchange students staying with her. As Easter approached, they asked her questions about the holiday’s significance. So she told them about Jesus, his crucifixion, burial and resurrection. As she told the story and came to the women who went to the tomb and first found it empty, she realized it probably sounded a lot like another story “They came to the grave, saw the stone rolled away from the entrance, and then the groundhog came out, saw his shadow and knew spring would arrive later than usual.”  No disrespect intended to Jesus or groundhogs, but as I’ve said many times, to those who have never heard, it does sound crazy. And yet, some of us not so crazy people believe it to be true. And what those women saw in the garden that morning wasn’t the groundhog, but Jesus, alive and well, resurrected.

Historically, a man named Jesus died in Jerusalem during Passover week 2000 years ago. Even skeptical historians believe there was a teacher named Jesus who was crucified, probably because he was suspected of leading a rebellion. That man was buried. We are told the rulers put a heavy stone in front of the grave and posted guards. But somehow, when the women arrived, the stone was rolled away, the guards were gone and the tomb was empty. Very few people have disputed that fact either. They give a variety of reasons for the emptiness – disciples stole the body and lied about the resurrection, even that he wasn’t really dead when buried; he only swooned. But people didn’t live to share their crucifixion experience. It was cruelly designed to kill. If, after a certain point, you were still alive, they ran a spear through you to hurry the business along. No, Jesus was dead. And as for the body being stolen, what purpose would that serve and how long could those disciples keep that a secret?  And what of all the people who saw Jesus alive after the fact? And why, if they did keep the conspiracy quiet, were they all so willing to die for their lie?  Historically, Jesus died. Historically the tomb is empty. Considering the other options, Christians choose to believe He rose from the dead.

 Paul wrote in I Corinthians 15 that if this event didn’t happen, if Jesus is still in that, or some, grave, then we (Christians) are to be pitied, because our faith is futile. But because He lives, those who believe can have hope for tomorrow, regardless what it brings. Romans 8 ends with an amazing statement about how nothing can separate us from the love of God – death, life, recessions, presidents, storms – nothing can separate us, because of what Jesus did that first Easter.

Happy Easter!  Jesus is risen! He is risen indeed!