Easter is so often filled with fun. The days are longer; spring flowers abound; the weather is warming (usually) and come Easter Day there tends to be lots of chocolate around, along with families getting together and celebratory meals. It is a season of delight.
I love family get togethers. Being part of a family is meant to be good for us all. It should bring us love, friendship, support, laughter and care. So I am glad that Easter is a time when family is seen as important.
For Mary and her family Friday had been a bleak, sad day. Her eldest son, their eldest brother, had been brutally and unjustly killed by the authorities. They had nailed him to a wooden cross and left him hanging to die. Yet we have come to call this Good Friday; originally probably God’s Friday. God’s because God was there, involved. This was God dealing with all our wrong and putting it right. So Good because Jesus’ death offers us hope of forgiveness. The Sunday became a joyous day for Mary because against all hope and sense Jesus tomb was empty, the body gone and in various ways to different people, including Mary, Jesus showed himself to be alive, risen from the dead.
This is why Easter really is a time to celebrate. Jesus is alive. One effect was to put the family back together; Jesus’ own family found new hope and love that first Easter Day.
May our families find fresh hope and love this Easter. At the heart of this hope is Jesus still alive and active today.
I wish you a very happy Easter.
+Paul