For Christians, Easter is undoubtedly the most important occasion in the religious calendar. In observing it, we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And by affirming this extraordinary claim, we renew our faith in God’s readiness to overcome death and bring new life to all of creation.
Yet it impossible to appreciate the full meaning of Easter without first engaging in the story of what Jesus experienced in his final days on earth. In the days prior to Easter, known as ‘Holy Week’, we recall the Last Supper, when Jesus shared bread and wine with his followers and instructed them to keep doing so as a sign of his presence among them.
We remember that he also washed their feet as an example of service and called upon them to love each other as he had loved all of them. Then, on Good Friday (‘good’ as in holy), we commemorate the death of Jesus on the cross. In marking this most solemn of occasions, we recognise Jesus’s determination to give up his life that we in turn might be fully reconciled to God.
It is against the backdrop of this larger narrative that Christians are invited to experience afresh the fullness of God’s power at Easter. In discovering an empty tomb on the Sunday after the crucifixion, Jesus’s followers were at once elated and confused. Amidst their uncertainty, they were offered a chance to recognise a God who is capable of infinitely more than they ever imagined.
Those of us who are about to celebrate Easter will be given the same opportunity, and not just once in the year, but each and every day.
Article by The Revd Dr Robert Tobin, Anglican Chaplain, Maritime Campus, University of Greenwich
