Easter is a fun holiday. We dye eggs, we find eggs, we do Easter baskets, we eat chocolate for breakfast and sometimes we get to wear new Easter clothes. We go to church and think about the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the greatest story on earth, before we go home and eat ham and deviled eggs. Yep, it truly is a fun and joyous holiday! But that’s because we know the end of the story.

On the first Easter, things were different. They didn’t know what was going to happen. For three years, they had watched this man heal every sort of disease, cast out demons and even raise people from the dead. They were convinced that he was the Son of God. They were positive that if he could command and control the weather, he could do anything. But then he got arrested. He was tried in a kangaroo court, was condemned, tortured and crucified. 

Probably, even while he was hanging on that cross, his people held out hope that he would come down. They watched desperately, thinking every moment that somehow, he was going to escape. 

How could he let this happen? He has immense power, why doesn’t he do something? Don’t worry, he’s not dead yet. God won’t let his son die. 

And then he died.

But the world went on. People had to find food and shelter for the night. Cooking had to be done, animals tended, children put to bed. The next day stretched on forever. It was the Sabbath, so very little work could be done to help distract them from their shock and grief. They had given this man three years of their lives. They had given up jobs and friends and families to follow him. Now he was dead. 

What do we do now?

The women found out first. At daylight, they went to the tomb. Suddenly, there was a huge earthquake! They saw the immense stone rolled away from the mouth of the tomb and an angel sitting on it. They knew it was an angel because his face was bright as lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. In fact, when the hardened Roman soldiers saw him, they were so terrified they fainted.

And then, that powerful, terrifying being told those women not to be afraid. He knew they were looking for Jesus, but he was not there. He has risen from the dead, just as he said he would!

The women ran and told people. The guards woke up and told people. Some people believed their story, some didn’t. Some were thrilled to hear it and told everyone what they saw. Some were furious and covered it up.

And then he appeared to them, in the middle of a locked room. Some thought he was a ghost until they touched his hands with the holes in them and watched him eat food. But he wasn’t a ghost. He was alive. 

It was only after all this that his people knew the ending of the story. And once they knew it, they went out and turned the world upside down. Their message was simple, but powerful. He died, but he is alive. Jesus conquered death and its power to separate us from God. 

Happy Easter.