A day of festive celebration, of flowers, and family and friends and food.
Or is it a day of fear, of terror, of being seized, of running away, of being so afraid that throats
are clamped shut unable to speak about what has happened?
This is Easter according to the Gospel of Mark.
The resurrection of Jesus before anything else is very upsetting, heart stopping, terrifying.
We speak of resurrection and Easter too lightly, like we know what it means.
A mystery, a strangeness. Much more than a mere curiosity. A mystery that seizes us, leaving us
wordless. The resurrection of Jesus.
It is into this fearful mystery that we are baptized.
Love wins.
Love is unrelenting.
Death and the grave were inevitable, now it is something else- love.
Love is inevitable. Unrelenting. There is no escape.
We are pursued.
There is nowhere to run or hide.
Captivity has been taken captive by love.
Hell is in an uproar because it has been emptied by love.
Death is in a fury because it is done away with by love.
This is the resurrection of Jesus, the inevitable unrelenting stubborn as hell love of God filling
and claiming all things.
The grave is empty. It has become the font of the water of life.
Words are washed away. Plans, hopes expectations all fail before the rising tide.
Our resentments, our clinging hatred and rage, our addicting distractions are all overcome.
No wonder they ran in terror!
What is a life defined by love?
I’m all cozy with how life works. I like my defenses. My protection. My power. My comfort.
Me and mine. All those people I love to hate.
Love takes all that away. What does that leave me with?
All that effort trying to fend off death and pain and discomfort and inconvenience.
None of that means anything anymore.
Now it is love that we have to wrestle with, and it just never quits, as unrelenting and inevitable
as death and the grave. Surrender.
Christ is Risen. Surrender.
He is Lord. Surrender.
Love wins.
That is something to celebrate. Keep the feast.