The Day after Easter

I’ve been engrossed in schoolwork all day and now have a little bit of time to reflect on the meaning of Easter Sunday.

That day called Easter, when Christians celebrate the resurrection of Christ, was originally a pagan sort of holiday that has been around quite some time. This does not subtract from the fact that Jesus did in fact die and rise from the dead. We celebrate the night Christ came into the world on December 25th, though the real time of year He was born is totally unknown. The exact date is unimportant – what’s important is that it happened. And what happened around 30 AD is that Jesus Christ died for our sins then rose from the dead three days later according to the prophecy of Scripture.

I wonder what His disciples were thinking on a Monday evening those centuries ago. In the past three days they had experienced the most astonishing events of their lives. First, Jesus, whom they were convinced was the Messiah who would drive the Romans from Israel and set up His kingdom was arrested, beaten, and nailed to a cross. The disciples deserted Him in fear. The week before those who saw Jesus entering Jerusalem were shouting with joy and praise at His entrance, but that day they shouted “Crucify Him!” and “Those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads” (Matt 27:40).

His followers were overcome with grief and shame, that the Rabbi they so dearly loved and thought to be the King was murdered, and they deserted Him, even though they swore they would never leave Him and were willing to die for Him.

Then that Sunday morning they had heard the report from women who had visited the tomb that Jesus had risen from the dead. Peter and John visited the tomb and confirmed that it was indeed empty, with the cloth they used to wrap Jesus neatly folded, showing the body was not stolen (thieves would never take the time to unwrap the body and neatly fold them). That evening the resurrected Jesus came to them and showed them from the Scriptures why the Messiah had to suffer and die, showing them the piercings in His hands.

By Monday, one might speculate what the disciples felt and what they talked about. The Bible doesn’t tell us every detail, but I can imagine the excitement, lingering disbelief, bewilderment, and joy they were experiencing. In three days their Messiah was killed, then arose, changing the world forever. They now had a message. That message was that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for the sins of humanity and resurrected from the tomb as witnessed by His followers, and anyone who trusts in Him receives eternal life with God as a free gift. With this message this small band of cowardly disciples became bold lions of courage - braving angry mobs, beatings, hate, insults, shipwrecks, arrests, beatings, torture, all manners of persecution and even a martyrs death - and turned the world upside down.

At that point in history, I wish I could have been there to see all this. But the message of Jesus Christ is still as true and important today as it was in the First Century: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).