Easter

THIS weekend, children up and down the land will be tucking into chocolate Easter eggs. I remember being about six or seven years old and smashing into an egg (the brand of which shall remain nameless) which I expected to contain a toy but which I was kind-of-surprised to find was empty. You can imagine my dismay and disappointment.

While Easter is generally hailed as a day of celebration, the first Easter Day morning actually began with disappointment. In Luke’s Gospel we find the story of two long-faced men who are on a journey away from Jerusalem. Luke tells us that these men had been followers of Jesus and were completely devastated when he was crucified and buried in a tomb.

Jesus can turn our lives around

The story continues that, on their journey of disappointment, they are joined by a stranger who walks with them part of the way, listens to their sorrows and then shares a meal with them. As they eat together, the two men realise that the stranger who is with them is, in fact, Jesus. He isn’t dead after all, but had been raised to life again. They then run back to Jerusalem to tell everyone else about it. The Easter story has turned their disappointment into pure joy and a new journey begins for these two men.

That is the message that is at the heart of the Easter story. Death turns into life. Sorrow turns into celebration. Disappointment turns into joy. If you have ever found yourself wondering where you are going in life, the great news that Christians observe on Easter Day is that Jesus really is risen from the dead and will meet us wherever we are on life’s road.

Jesus can turn our lives around too: anxiety into peace, sadness into joy, the mundane into meaningful. Believing in the power of the Easter story and following Jesus for ourselves can set us on a whole new journey in our lives. Why not try it this Easter – you won’t be disappointed.