This year’s Easter felt much more moving than normal.
Did you feel the same?
For the past two years, the Covid pandemic has meant I’ve spent Easter at home, in lockdown, only connecting with other Christians online. (And while virtual church has been brilliant for navigating crazy Covid restrictions, it just isn’t the same as in-person church, is it?)
So it felt significant to be able to gather together, this Easter, as a church family, all of us packed into the same space to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection – for the first time in three years!
It’s also how my ‘thought for the month’ for April, emerged …
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It’s been said for centuries that, if Jesus’ body could ever be found, then the resurrection would be disproved, Jesus would be revealed to have been a liar, and Christianity would be shown to be a sham.
But the reality is that Jesus claimed to be God, claimed that he would die for the sins of the world, and claimed that he would be raised to life on the third day. According to the Scriptures, all these things happened.
Jesus also appeared to many eyewitnesses – some who testified that the tomb was found empty, others who saw him resurrected. In 1 Corinthians 15: 5-8, for example, Paul tells us that Jesus appeared after his death and resurrection to Peter, the rest of the disciples, 500 people at one time, James, the apostles again, and then finally Paul himself.
When a case is being tried in a court of law, even a handful of eye witnesses can be enough to verify that a certain event took place in the way described. In the case of Jesus’ resurrection, there were more than enough eye witnesses to provide the verification required.
So, why does this matter?
In 1 Corinthians 15:17, the apostle Paul writes that, “if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins”.
Jesus’ resurrection is the foundation stone of Christianity. If you remove the foundation stone from a building, the whole building crumbles and falls; the same principle applies if you remove Jesus’ resurrection from the Christian faith. If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, the Christian faith is futile.
But the historical facts stack up. They tell us that Jesus really was raised from the dead; that sin, sickness and death were defeated; that he made a way for us to be reconciled to God.
More than that, he will one day return.
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One of the details in the Biblical narrative of the Easter story, which tends to bypass most modern-day readers, was once explained to me by a Messianic Jew. It’s the fact that Jesus’ burial face cloth was found “folded”.
In Jewish tradition, dinner hosts and guests were given a face cloth to use at the end of a meal. When they got up from the table, if any of them left their face cloth folded, it meant they hadn’t finished and were planning to return. If it was left in a crumpled heap, they were done.
Jesus’ burial face cloth was left “folded”. (See John 20:7)
The women who found the tomb empty would immediately have known what this meant. Ditto the Jewish disciples.
Jesus has risen. He is also planning to return.
It gives us every reason to celebrate Easter and I, for one, am grateful.
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What does Jesus’ resurrection mean to you? How does it make a difference in your life? How did it impact how you marked this year’s Easter?
Constructive thoughts and reflections are welcome, as ever, in the comments below.
Some of you may also appreciate listening to this short reflective Easter poem, by Gideon Heugh, called “It Began With Darkness”.
Finally, if you’re new around here, and you like this ‘thought for the month’ for April, you may also be interested in all my ‘thought for the month’ reflections, which you will find here.
Photo from dozemode via Pixabay
