Easter is going to be very different this year. If we are honest, life in Australia has been pretty comfortable. We live in a safe society where we have freedom to meet, to worship. We can do pretty much as please. We have access to shops with plenty of stock and we know there is an advanced healthcare system ready to cure us of any ailment. Yet now, for many of us, this is an unprecedented time. We’ve gone from our usual lives into this period of uncertainty and anxiety. All we know about life has suddenly been challenged and we are having to adapt to a new way of living. We’re confused, we’re anxious, we’re afraid and we’re uncertain. Yet at its heart, Easter is actually about this sort of thing.
On Thursday, the disciples witness Jesus being betrayed by one of their own and handed over to the religious leaders who abuse and ridicule Him. On Friday they see Him handed over to the Romans who torture and execute Him. Can we begin to imagine how they felt? This man has captivated them to the extent that they’ve left their homes and families to follow Him around and listen to Him teach, encourage, support and heal. They have come to believe He is the Messiah, the one promised by God to bring about the Kingdom of God. And having placed all their hopes and dreams in Him, He is taken from them and killed. Now they have to self-isolate from the Jewish authorities for their own protection. They are upset, angry, afraid and despairing.
On Sunday, everything changes. Jesus fulfils His promises and rises from the grave. Instead of grief, the disciples feel joy. Instead of fear, the disciples feel comfort. Instead of despair, the disciples feel hope. Easter is the promise that evil, illness and death do not have the last word and have no place in the Kingdom of God. Easter is the reassurance that this world and all its problems, poverty, injustice, hunger, disease and death will not endure. Easter reminds us that whatever happens, God is working towards the promised end. We glimpse what this looks like in the life, ministry and witness of Jesus, we see it more fully realised in the resurrected Christ. We may think that life today is more like Good Friday. God points us towards Easter Sunday. May we have the hope of Easter in our hearts, this year more than ever. May we rely on God’s strength to carry us through to Sunday.