Easter in March.
If you’re like me, you’re going… why?
So here ya go!
Easter's date changes each year because the lunar calendar is used to determine when it lands. So it’s the first Sunday after the “Paschal Full Moon” that comes after the vernal equinox, a fixed date of March 21 that was established for ecclesiastical purposes.
This First Council of Nicaea in 325 AD did this to ensure Easter always comes after Passover and to secure its significance in the Christian tradition.
Who would have thought there’d be such complex interplay between astronomy, theology, politics, and history in determining what day we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord?
But here we are, at the end of March, and it’s time to reflect on the work of God through his Son, the Christ, our Savior and Lord, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The very reason why people like you and I can now receive the salvation we cherish and share that good news to a world in need.
And just like the details behind the date we’re given to celebrate this glorious day, there are details behind the event itself. Very specific reasons, complex narratives, historical happenstance, all contributing to the meaning of what we now call Good Friday, and Easter Sunday.
The resurrection is such an important event that Paul the Apostle would state in 1 Corinthians 15:17-19 that but for the resurrection, our faith is futile, and those who have died are just dead, and hope should be limited to our lifespan, and that we are in fact, pitiful.
If the coming of our Lord, the word who became flesh, had culminated and ended on Good Friday, had ended on the cross… everything would be different.
And although we know the atoning power of God through his work on the cross is what has made a way for us to have fellowship with God, if…
If it all ended on the cross, then according to Paul… again, our faith is futile, the dead are gone, hope should be bound to our mortality rates, and we should be pitied!
But Jesus is alive!!!
“But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep!” 1 Corinthians 15:20.
In that case, our faith is worthwhile!
The dead aren’t gone, they aren’t lost, they will be found! “What is sown perishable will be raised imperishable!” 1 Cor. 15:42.
Hope can extend beyond our lifetime and into the generations to come, what we are building now can be passed on to our great great great grandchildren!
And although we labor towards a Kingdom coming, which is not yet. And even though we are riddled with the mysteries of the present age, including war, disease, and death. And even though we suffer, and experience deep pain and sorrow, even while striving to serve God…
“Be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain!” 1 Cor. 15:58
Jesus is alive!
Get up!
Get up and move in faith! Live out this salvation remembering the tomb is empty and death has lost its sting!
Believe it, because Jesus is alive!
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