Nothing Can Stop Easter

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Holy Week and Easter were a disappointment in many ways. Singing in the choir at Easter services and attending Easter breakfast at church have always been highlights of my year, and I missed them greatly. But we can still celebrate what Christ has done for us without all the trappings we have come to expect.

In some ways, Holy Week is the perfect time to suffer through a pandemic. Our suffering reminds us that we suffer because we are sinners. We deserve the effects of this fallen world—including the coronavirus and the current restrictions. But Christ was tempted like we are, yet without sin. [Hebrews 4:15] His suffering was undeserved but chosen. He died to save us from the consequences of our sin. Our suffering during Holy Week reminds us of His suffering and makes us grateful for His agonizing death on the cross and glorious resurrection.

This year I watched my son-in-law’s Easter Sunrise service and joined in with the liturgy and hymns. After that, I watched my own church’s service, again joining in with the liturgy and hymns. Then I had a breakfast somewhat similar to the Easter morning ones served at church in past years. I even dressed up in a new Easter outfit.

Was it the same as worshiping with and enjoying the fellowship of my fellow Christians in other years? Of course not. I miss the physical interaction with my friends and the entire congregation. But it was still a celebration of Christ’s victory over death, and that’s what Easter is all about.

Nothing can stop Easter. The Pharisees tried to kill Jesus, and so—reluctantly—did the Roman authorities. Satan probably danced for joy while Jesus hung on the cross. But none of them succeeded in the end. As it says in 1 Corinthians 15:54b-57 (ESV):

“Death is swallowed up in victory. ⁵⁵O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 

⁵⁶The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷But thanks be to God, who gives the us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

As we celebrate Easter this year, I am reminded of one of my favorite Bible passages. It’s always good to remember Romans 8:35-39, but it seems especially appropriate right now. So my Easter post will leave you with Paul’s words as taken from the English Standard Version.

³⁵Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger or sword? ³⁶As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long,

we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

³⁷No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

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The picture is a stone relief on the exterior of the Helsinki Cathedral in Helsinki, Finland. I took the photo during a trip there in 2019.