The Mystery of Easter Transforms
I love a good mystery. I grew up in a house where missing a day from school meant a Columbo marathon on the couch with mom.
From that came the obsession over the forensic sciences and “true-crime TV.” Mystery can also find its home in the fictional world as it does my latest obsession, Netflix’s “Stranger Things.” Regardless of the mystery itself, it seems as though there’s often a common theme woven throughout - life and death. I truly believe that the universal nature of life and death is what makes it such a fascinating topic for us to ruminate about.
This time of year we are entering into the Mystery of Easter. To borrow the language of Godly Play, “Jesus died on the cross, but somehow he is still with us. That is why Easter is not just sad. It is also happy.” This rings so very true as we continue to prepare ourselves to enter fully into the Mystery of Easter in this season of Lent – especially during Holy Week. The “Hosannas!” of our Palm processional will quickly fade into the background as the reality of the Passion takes over. We will go from the loving service of foot-washing and meal with close friends, to an arrest, trial and death. At the end of it all we will journey from the emptiness of the cross to the empty tomb itself. It is at the tomb that “sad seriousness and happiness join together to make joy.” It’s this mix of unexpected emotions that makes the Mystery of Easter so mysterious.
At the center of it all is the one who is the Mystery of Easter, Jesus. Jesus is the king who shares in our suffering. He is the king who reigns over death itself. He is the king who has come, and who’s second coming we still await. In order to understand the best part of Easter I’m going to borrow a quote from Police Chief Jim Hopper (of “Stranger Things”), “Nothing is gonna go back to the way that it is. Not really. But it’ll get better. In time.”
The Mystery of Easter transforms everything even as we await Jesus’ second coming in due time. Have a Spirit-filled Lent, a blessed Holy Week and a joy-filled Easter!