Easter opens the door to Spring. Flowers are blooming, leaves are green, and pollen wakes up our slumbering allergies. Nature is coming alive again.
For Christians, it’s a time of reflection and renewal in the vicarious reliving of the final days of Jesus’ life.
The Jewish Festival of Passover was a time of high religious enthusiasm. Perhaps a spectacle resembling a religious Mardi Gras. We can only speculate.
In the Biblical accounts we’re struck by the cast of characters in the scene. What were they thinking? It brings to question the foundation of their faith. Here’s the short list:
The multitude mingled
Jesus prayed
Disciples slept
Judas betrayed
Peter denied
Pilate plotted
The soldiers tortured
A thief repented
The disciples hid
The spectators mocked
The women wailed
Jesus crucified
If we had been there, what role would we have played?
Emotional fervor intensified during Passover. The multitudes expected miracles. Euphoria energized everyone. But here comes Jesus, the Son of God, the Redeemer of Israel riding in on a donkey. They’re perplexed, confused. Their faith falters.
Emotional faith comes easy, but it lacks solid foundations. Its zeal is short-lived. It’s a single raindrop that evaporates in the desert heat. It’s a faith that leans on a weak reed. It has the handgrip-strength of a newborn baby.
Life’s events define us by our responses:
When Life kicks down the door
And assails us like a beast,
When its teeth rip raw our flesh
And tears drip down our cheeks,
When all of life seems hopeless,
Where do we go for faith?
This was the life Jesus found in Jerusalem. Where did he go? To the Garden of Gethsemane. What did he do? He prayed. Where do we go, and what do we do?
Our faith is strong when we’re healthy, prosperous, satisfied, trouble free. But in life’s crises faith seems to flee, to forsake us. Take heart, we’re not alone. Scripture says all forsook Jesus and fled. Even on the cross Jesus cried, “My God, why hast you forsaken me?”
Crucifixion is barbarism on display. Can any faith withstand this?
We’re vicarious spectators at a distance when Jesus is betrayed, arrested, arraigned, condemned, beaten, crucified, dead and buried. We’re cowards behind closed doors along with the disciples. Like them all, we’re often confused, conflicted, perplexed. Where do we go from here?
Maybe we can relate to Peter. He said, “I go fishing.” His faith faltered, like ours does. Others joined him, returning to what they knew, to the place where Jesus first found them. But Jesus found them again. That’s when the subject of “fishers of men” came up.
The good news is that God will find us again in spite of our faltering faith. He will again whisper, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Faith can always be found in God’s promises.
Soon Easter egg hunts will end, the Easter bunny will return to its burrow and the Easter lilies will wither. We’ll be left to ourselves. Where will God find us? Think about it.
This Easter may the resurrection life of Jesus find us again, revitalize our faith and empower us for greater service to Him and our neighbors.
Bud Hearn
April 14, 2022