The Reason for the Season of Easter

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday. That should say it all right there. We know what Easter is all about, right? Depending on who tells it, Easter is one or more of the following:

1. The real start of Spring.
2. The only day of the year that bunnies lay eggs.
3. An occasion to dress up and be seen in your finest.
4. A day to break your Lenten fast.
5. An excuse to gorge oneself on ham, green bean casserole, and chocolate bunnies (see #4 above).
6. A chance to gather your family together, so everyone can look at their phones in the same room.
7. One half of one’s annual commitment to attend church; the other one being Christmas.
8. A day just like any other day.
9. A day to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

As I look at the above list, I am reminded of the Sesame Street song, “Which of these is not like the others?” Take a guess! The only reason for even having Easter is the last one given: we celebrate the Lord’s resurrection. All the other reasons can disappear with no real effect on our lives, but the one and only essential reason is the one that gives us strength in this life, and hope for the life to come. Only it can calm our fears in the midst of pain, suffering, and death around us. Only our sure trust in Christ’s resurrection can sustain us amidst the trials of this life and allow us to face our own death and the deaths of loved ones with peace.

This year of 2022 has not been a good one for Karen’s and my family. Her mother passed away at age 91 just the day after Karen’s birthday. We also lost a brother-in-law to a sudden heart attack. A cousin of mine lost her daughter and then her son-in-law who killed himself over his grief. Recently I have have had two hospitalizations, losing both little toes in the process (I guess doctors have something against gangrene). I have been forced to confront my own mortality, and that of people I know and care about. Add to that all the current world troubles. Without faith in Christ’s resurrection, all these things would be meaningless and hopeless. But as the song puts it,

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,
Because He lives, all fear is gone;
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living,
Just because He lives!*

The story is told of an event that took place in Soviet Russia. A team of Soviet commissars and their guards traveled to a small, remote village. Their goal: to indoctrinate the local populace with the joys of communism, beginning with the official doctrine of atheism. When they arrived, they called the whole village together, priest and peasant, and began to harangue them. The head commissar spoke loudly and forcefully for over an hour, pointing out why belief in God was wrong. He used his best logic and examples of Christianity’s failures to show that there is no God. When he finished,he looked triumphantly at the crowd, sure that he had won them over. Then the local priest walked forward, turned to the crowd, and cried out, “Christ is risen!” and the people replied joyously, “He is risen indeed!”

Whatever the sins and failures of any individual Christian, no matter the opposition, no matter the many horrors and heartbreaks of the world, there is one fact that remains: Christ did rise from the dead. He who was laid in the tomb after dying a horrible death on a cross, rose triumphantly alive to show victory over sin and death.

That victory was much more than just one person miraculously overcoming death. The Bible teaches us that Christ was raised as the firstborn of many to come. Colossians 1:18 says, “And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.” In John 14:19, Jesus promised, “Because I live, you also will live.” The significance of Christ’s resurrection is that he defeated death and opened the way to eternal life for all who believe. By faith in him and his resurrection, we are joined with him in eternal life. Paul wrote, “For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his” (Romans 6:5).

Belief in Christ’s resurrection is the fundamental and inescapable basis for there being a Christian Church. As good as many of the aspects of a church may be: socialization of its members, charitable works, personal growth, moral instruction, or tasty potlucks, without belief in the resurrection, a church is not a church; it is just a club or fraternal society. Whatever else Christians believe, however a group of Christians worships, no matter the language or culture they have, there are two essential beliefs. Paul put it this way in Romans 10:9, “because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Where two or more gather in Christ’s name, he is there with them. Where the true Gospel is preached and the sacraments of God’s grace and forgiveness are celebrated, there is the Church. By faith in Christ’s resurrection, we too receive forgiveness and the promise of eternal life, and are joined to Christ’s Church. With that Church in all places and times,we proclaim loudly and confidently,

Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed!

Now may the RISEN Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen

Read the Easter story: Matthew 28; Mark 16:1-8; Luke 24; John 20:1-23.

*”Because He Lives,” By Gloria and William J. Gaither, (c) Hanna Street Music, 1983.