“Rejoice, let Mother Church also rejoice, arrayed with the lightning of his glory, let this holy building shake with joy, filled with the mighty voices of the peoples…” These lines from the ancient Easter proclamation, the Exsultet, speak powerfully to the hope and joy that every Christian is called to as we celebrate the historic event of Christ’s Resurrection. It might seem odd to have a joy and hope that banishes fear and worry as Darkness rears its head in our times… yet, we proclaim that Christ literally rose from the dead! He did just as He said He would! And if He rose from the dead then we know Jesus Christ is Lord of all. He is Lord of life and death, history and nations, our own lives and our time. Fear is cast out in the light of Easter morning for those who live their lives in Him because indeed eternal heaven has been opened to us! There is no earthly power who can hinder us or take it away. And so I say to you, “Rejoice!” Know of my prayers for you and your families on this holiest and highest of feasts, of our blessed Lord’s Resurrection; may it bring you freedom and peace in our days. Please pray for me and have the happiest of Easters!

There was this little song that we often sang several years ago. Part of the song lyrics went like this: He paid a debt He did not owe; I owed a debt I could not pay; I needed someone to wash my sins away; And now I sing a brand new song “Amazing Grace” all day long, Christ Jesus paid a debt that I could never pay.

That first Easter morning when some women came running to the disciples with some wild claims. Like that the huge stone had been rolled away from the tomb, and the body of Jesus was not there; two men had to go see for themselves.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him (John 3:16-17). Jesus came into the world as the fulfilment of all of God’s promises. He was the seed of the woman who would crush the serpent’s head (Gen. 3:15), and the offspring of Abraham in whom all the nations of the world would be blessed (Gen. 22:18). He was the son of David whose throne and kingdom would be established forever (2 Sam. 7:13).

“Holiday” is simply short for “holy day.” Throughout the course of a year, there are certain days we set apart as special. While there are many holy days, there is but one holy week. The final week of Lent marks the most pivotal week in human history. In the four gospels - biographies of Jesus Christ’s thirty-three-year life - this single week consumes nearly a third of the ink. The Holy Spirit considered the events of this week that important. On a holy day, the relentless march of time slows down. We set aside our usual routines to call attention to whatever or whoever makes that day special. Likewise, believers slow down this entire week to ponder all that Christ did for them, from his humble entrance into Jerusalem... to his sacrificial death on the cross... to the victory of Easter morning.

This is the corner stone, the foundation of the Christian faith. Without Jesus’ life, death and resurrection we would have no home. Jesus’ sinless life, His death and resurrection are our hope. I am reminded of Websters 1828 definition of hope (Confidence is a future event it differs from wishful thinking or a desire in this, that it implies some expectation.) In John 14:6 Jesus answered, “I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”