Easter 2022

It either happened, or it didn’t. It’s as simple as that.

As tempting as it may be to look at Easter and dilute its significance with metaphor, or speak generally about how God turns bad things into good, this year I feel called to look squarely at the reality of what happened years ago. I need to get up early and approach the place where his disciples laid him. In the early morning light, I need to rub my hands on the stone rolled off to the side. I need to take my seat at the threshold and peer into the dark tomb. I’m not ready, or not brave enough, to go inside. For now, sitting close must be enough. 

Everything that happened before was easier to understand than this empty tomb. The shepherds and wise men, the fishermen and nets, the lessons and the healings, the conversations and the sermons, the storm on the lake and the lilies of the field . . . all of it is easier to hold. 

Even the events in Jerusalem make more sense than an empty tomb. The triumphant entrance, the crowd’s cheers, the crowd’s jeers, the Passover table, the tables turned upside down, the love and the fear, the hate and the forgiveness. Even the cross itself, with all its brutality, fits into a world I know well. 

But an empty tomb? It’s surpasses all my understanding. No wonder I keep it at a distance. It’s easier to focus on family gatherings, Easter egg hunts and pretty outfits than look at that morning long ago.

Sitting there, I can see the tomb is more than wishful thinking, more than a nice made-up story to bring things to a happy ending. There’s dried blood on the cloths on the floor. There’s an undeniable stench in the darkness. Rubbing my hands in the dirt beside me, taking a pebble between my fingers, I think about how the disciples handled this empty tomb. Like me, they found it hard to believe. They needed to see it, and him, for themselves. 

In whatever way that happened, they were transformed by what they saw. They stood up regardless of the consequences, spoke in ways they never had before, and even died because of what they saw. Never would they have done so unless the knew something, unless they had seen things with their own eyes. From that moment on, they pointed to the empty tomb and lived the rest of their lives in its good news.

Perhaps, we should do the same.