How Easter Sunday 2020 Feels like the Very First One | Reflections

Matthew 28: 1-10

John 20:  1-18 

The first “Easter Sunday” was nothing like the Easter Sundays we expect today.  There were no pastels, no white patent leather shoes, no frilly socks or baskets full of stuffed animals and chocolate.  

That first Easter Sunday began more like today: a feeling of absence, a void where there was once a great light, uncertainty and a lack of understanding. 

Mary Magdalene says “I do not understand”.  She doesn’t recognize Jesus.  Everything is so contrary to what she thought she would find.

Even the disciples, who lived with Jesus, had “still not understood the scripture.”

We do not fully understand this pandemic that we are a part of.  We thought we knew what our lives were about and now we are not so sure.  The expected is no longer present.

However, as Christians we know that the story of Jesus ends with great joy and awe.  The impossible happened, Jesus was not dead, but was transformed into a being that will live forever.  

And Jesus said, “Do not be afraid.”  He knows us so well; he knows that along with joy and awe this Easter, we need comfort and courage as well.