A Coronavirus Easter.
Yesterday on my Instagram livestream I talked about how this weird year could help us have an Easter like no other. I think we can appreciate the story in a totally new way.
Obviously I don't know what situation you're in, but I think we can all agree our world’s been a little chaotic and uprooted lately. There is a lot of fear and anxiety in the air, and really all those things we have felt so secure in suddenly seem... well, not.
I'm always kinda tempted to look ahead to Easter. It's such a joy filled holiday, and I think we all kind of seek the joy of the resurrection. However I think this year, more than ever, we can really appreciate and sit in these couple of days before Easter. The reality is that Jesus didn't rise right away. And actually the days leading to his resurrection were filllleeedd with anxiety and fear. The disciples put all their faith in this guy who is now crucified and dead. Their worlds, their "jobs", their homes, lifestyles…. suddenly so unknown and so different. Not only did the disciples feel the weight of this, but so did Jesus. He sat at dinner with one of his closest friends, knowing the whole time that that close friend would betray him. One of his other best friends denied even knowing him, not once but 3 times! And if that isn't enough... at his lowest moment when he needed them -his friends fell asleep. Talk about feeling alone and anxious. And finally greater than all of that, he was crucified on a cross. Holding all of the weight of our sins. He even sweat blood because of the stress and fear, and on the cross asked why God had forsaken him.
Now none of us can truly fathom how much weight Jesus held. The pain he was experience. However, in this age of Coronavirus and staying home, feeling alone, feeling fear and anxiety... we may resonate and have the same thoughts: "God, why have you forsaken me"? We are grieving. We feel a heaviness.
And so I say all of this to encourage you to sit in this weekend before Sunday. ‘
Easter is coming, but the death of Christ is as real as the resurrection. The reality is that there is pain on the Earth because of sin. But what is beautiful, and so comforting in this time, is knowing that Jesus is with us. He doesn't lead us anywhere that he won't go with us. God isn't phased by coronavirus. He knew it was coming. He is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. There is something so comforting in that to me (especially in a season where regulations are changing in less than 24 hrs!)
So I encourage you to take time to read the Easter story this weekend with new eyes. Coming to it with a fresh, beautiful appreciation and solidarity of all of the fear and unknown surrounding it:
The Death of Jesus
45 From noon on, darkness came over the whole land[d] until three in the afternoon. 46 And about three o’clock Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” 47 When some of the bystanders heard it, they said, “This man is calling for Elijah.” 48 At once one of them ran and got a sponge, filled it with sour wine, put it on a stick, and gave it to him to drink. 49 But the others said, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.”[e] 50 Then Jesus cried again with a loud voice and breathed his last.[f] 51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. The earth shook, and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised. 53 After his resurrection they came out of the tombs and entered the holy city and appeared to many. 54 Now when the centurion and those with him, who were keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were terrified and said, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”[g]
55 Many women were also there, looking on from a distance; they had followed Jesus from Galilee and had provided for him. 56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.
The good news is we have hope coming. As it says in 1 Peter 1:3: “Praise be to the God and Father of our LORD Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead”.
Sit in this weekend knowing that Jesus knows your fears. He feels your anxiety. And even if you aren’t anxious, he understands your uncertainty and confusion. God came to the world to know us and understand us. As the disciples had to have faith in these few dark days before Christ’s resurrection… we too need to pray earnestly for faith during this unknown season. When we can’t see the end of coronavirus right now and we don’t know what this story looks like, I hope we can relate in a more real way to the Easter story this year. Having faith that Jesus will rise. He will (and does) us hope. He never changes.
And that is something kind of beautiful.
