[LENTEN DEVOTIONAL] Easter Sunday, April 12

EASTER SUNDAY,  APRIL 12

Mark 16:8  So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
 

Of all that we call gospel, the realization of the resurrection is by far the most miraculous and the most intangible.  The resurrection is held at arm’s length by most of us, even as we joyfully celebrate it.  In a world where we can experience almost anything, something as unrealistic as the resurrection must be at least partially dismissed as symbol, allegory, or superstition.  Unlike Thomas, we cannot touch the wounds of the resurrected Jesus.  Unlike the women, we cannot see the empty tomb.

So what are we to do with Easter?  Comedian Jim Gaffigan wonders at some of our Easter traditions:

      “Easter, the day Jesus rose from the dead.  What should we do?”
      “How ‘bout eggs!”
      “What does that have to do with Jesus?”
      “All right, we’ll hide ‘em!”
 

Is Easter really such a difficult event to comprehend that we’ve had to make it completely incomprehensible?  The miracle of Easter is actually more tangible than we think.  Easter is found not only in the empty tomb, the angels, the Jesus who was dead and now lives.  Easter is found in the terror and amazement of the women at the tomb.  In the face of the empty tomb, the women are not amazed and terrified because of the impossibility of the resurrection.  They’re fearful because they’ve just been hit with the reality of it.

We all have those moments when life suddenly becomes very real.  Perhaps it’s when you casually ask a friend how they’re doing only to see their eyes well with tears.  The death of a loved one might suddenly change our perspective on reality. We all have moments when our email and to-do lists, worries about work and bills, petty disagreements and silly complaints are overwhelmed by something that is much more real.  That sudden dose of reality is both amazing and frightening.

We can grasp the miracle of Easter in the realness of the unexpected.  In order to embrace and celebrate the surprise of Easter, we must let ourselves feel the fear and amazement that comes with knowing there is something much more real about the impossible than there is in our constructed realities.

Amy Morgan
 

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