Being in the midst of the Easter season, celebrating Jesus’ last journey from Palm Sunday to his crucifixion in Jerusalem on Good Friday, to rising from the dead on Easter Sunday, we might find ourselves pondering over what all of this means.

Here is my effort at trying to come to grips with a (hopefully) realistic view of the meaning of the Resurrection Story, which to my mind, and many would agree, stands right at the core of our Christian faith.

Easter also ties into the Hebrew tradition of Passover, which is mainly about God miraculously saving the Jews from certain death while they were fleeing from oppression and bondage in Egypt, and then heading into a new life in the Promised Land in what would be Israel, their homeland.

These two angles point us toward the new life that Jesus indeed made possible. The “new life” could have many meanings. It could mean freedom from oppression, freedom from addictions, a place where we could live with less guilt, or an “eternal life in paradise”, as Jesus promised the one criminal being crucified beside Him on Golgotha.

We could be very literal about the meaning of the Resurrection, or we could downplay it as impossible. Wherever we are on the spectrum of such two extremes, I tend to see how explanations don’t serve us well. Acknowledging the mystery that lies in what Jesus did, gives us insight into the multiple applications in our lives here on earth. What we do know, is that Jesus suffered for us, so that we as humans can have part in the new life that Jesus brings to the world.

Let us take hope from the wonder that is portrayed in the song “In the bulb there is a flower” by Natalie Sleeth, (Hymn #674 in the Book of Praise of the Presbyterian Church in Canada),

“In the bulb there a flower, in the seed, an apple tree,
in cocoons, a hidden promise:
butterflies will soon be free!
In the cold and snow of winter
there’s a spring that waits to be,
unrevealed until its season,
something God alone can see.”

Happy Easter, and take heart, be hopeful, in a world that has countless grim sides to it.

Heinrich Grosskopf, Dayspring Presbyterian Church, Edmonton