GOOD NEWS

      It’s Easter, I know .. a day with it’s legends of fluffy bunnies with pastel ribboned baskets and colored eggs .. children laughing and running on hunts for sweet candies, with baskets never filled as much as their hearts are with hopes for finding more than the ‘other’ kid, bending to their left and their right.  Then, there’s the ones in front of them! The ones that are stooping and searching, retrieving .. relieving a hidden spot of its precious prize, again and again!   Hurry!!

      I think more than these pegan traditions, this day is incredibly sexy. If you’re a Christian, you know the story of rebirth and the excitement of finding an empty tomb.  A solemn sacred sanctuary plundered.  You know the depth of the mystery that ensued .. the fears .. the conclusions that were questioned .. the miracles that were proposed and the doubt.  The overwhelming doubt of what MUST have occurred.

      A spring morning .. a dutiful stroll, walked with purpose .. to tend to the quiet place that was now the final home of one that you loved beyond reason .. beyond expectations. As you tread forward, your mind relives the moments, the words .. the unexplainable acts of divine intervension .. HIS laugh.  HE IS ALIVE, in your mind, reaching out, bending down .. lifting children, curing maladies, sharing great knowledge.  Then, you think of the end .. in fleeting thoughts .. and march on. Your heart leaves your chest and your belly sours, replaced by a vast emptiness that weakens your stride and nearly renders you to the earth beneath your hollow steps.

      You fight the pain, the sorrow of the passed two days .. the agony in HIS face .. the blood, HIS blood! smeared about HIM, dripping from HIM .. a crown of thorns .. the open gashes that bled like rivers from HIM. You stop .. and clasp your palms to your nose and mouth, gasping to catch your breath with the memory of how your heart broke for HIM in one moment after another.  You move again, more slowly .. thinking of the trial, the jeers, the verdict .. HIS mother .. and John.  Again you come back to where you now stand frozen in thought and see HIM there .. hanging, drooping .. from the cross they made him carry .. the cross they drove nails into HIM on .. the cross that rose from the crowd and held him aloft for all to see.  You reverse the arch of your worn out back and straighten yourself to continue your mission. HE would want this, you reason. HE would do no less for you. The sun warms you, making you sweat, but a new sense of purpose  fills you again. A strength grabs you, still you wish that you’d eaten better before you began this journey, but it’s too late now .. HE’S waiting .. HIS tomb is waiting.

      You stop for only a brief pause .. to adjust your clothing .. clear your head .. then, step once more .. closer to the task.  You know you’ll be humbled by the guards .. taunted.  They’ll ridicule you for coming so far, so early. They’ll say horrible things, knowing you haven’t more than a memory of HIM to keep you company, while they mumble obscenties of you. They may even spit on you!  But, you breathe a deep sigh and resolve that your reason for being there is righteous .. and THAT will keep you stronger!  You begin to weep.

      Through the blur of cleansing tears, your path becomes uncertain.  You stumble, time and again, growing angry with each minor setback, but you walk on.

      Incredibly sexy .. the beauty of devotion .. the love for someone so much greater than you. The emotional turbulance that racks your soul and undermines your motive. The fear that you won’t be strong enough, good enough to experience your inner desire to sacrifice ALL .. surrender ALL .. for HIM.    HE was everything!  HE IS everything!  Now WHAT?

      The path becomes more familiar. The landmarks that were etched in your mind a short time ago, earmark that your arrival is at hand. You feel a welling up of expectations .. a joy .. HE is near .. encased in solid rock .. hidden behind the great stone, but with you .. as much as HE can be.  If HE could hear your voice call HIS name, HE would answer you from inside the chilly tomb.  THAT will do! .. that will be good enough!

      The outer wall of the tomb is but a few yards away from you now.  Your heart is pounding in your throat, throbbing in your head, as you quickly close the gap.  You scan for what needs your attention and your eyes dart about the area, looking for the guards that chased you and the others away last night, as you come into view.  Relief frees you .. they are gone! ..They’re GONE!  The thought grips you!   

      Your arms drop their load and you pause in shock at what is before you .. the entrance to the tomb stands open and deserted.  The huge boulder is rolled to one side.  Your breath escapes you in short gasps, as you step closer, cautiously to see if your great teacher and friend is undisturbed. Your surprise has filled you with fear .. and haunting questions.

      Inside you stand in the darkness, lit only by the light that your body filters passed you. Your body tingles with awe and your hair feels like it’s standing on end. You peer in search of HIM and see nothing. Through the deep darkness a light slowly begins to glow until it shines as bright as the sun.  Standing in its brilliance, your knees weaken and you drop to the stone covered dusty floor of the tomb.  You are lost to it helplessly kneeling before it. ‘Why do you seek HIM here? HE is gone’ your ears hear in the white silence of your surroundings .. and the tomb is again dank and dark.  You are alone. You can smell the scents of earth and funeral oils and herbs, but you can’t find your Master’s body. Only HIS funeral wraps and the tethers that bound HIM lie discarded by the flat earthened bed that held HIM at peace only yesterday. You scramble to your feet and run at full speed from this place, to be outside of it .. to breathe fresh air .. to sort all this out .. to comprehend!

      There you collapse in convulsions of tears and wailings. As you rock back and forth, your head renders the truth of HIS teachings. HE said HE would not die, but live forever. HE said HE would be with each of us for eternity.  HE said they would kill HIM and bury HIM, but after two days HE would rise again.
None of us understood, you recall.~ A man on the bluff .. a shepard .. gains your a

ttention and asks you why you weep. In your great confusion and disbelief, he tells you to go and find your friends, HIS disciples and spread the good news that HE is coming and will sup with them soon. 

      The words this man speaks, gives you a will of iron . . a rejuvenating strength .. a knowledge that ALL that you’ve witnessed is TRUTH. They bloom in your heart with the greatest urgentcy you’ve ever contained.  You leap to your feet and race away, screaming as though mad, "HE IS RISEN! .. HE IS RISEN!! .. OUR MASTER IS AMONG US!!

     
      THIS is the GOOD NEWS of Easter.  The new covenent of God and mankind was sealed on that spring day in a faraway Holy Land.  Many of the debates among religious authorities have hinged on this one belief .. that our religious leader, our Master and Savior overcame what no one has EVER overcome .. death.  Praise God!