Resurrection Was Just The Beginning
My Dad has a catchphrase. I heard it throughout my childhood and still on phone calls home I hear him say “soon be spring”. He said it in the depth of winter, when all sign of life was gone and the earth was as gray as the sky, “soon be spring”. As a boy who grew up on a farm in the Yorkshire Dales, he was perhaps more acutely aware of the seasons, and the importance of the rhythms of the earth. Spring brought life, new beginnings, and a busy farm. Spring is his favorite. And after years of hearing that famous catchphrase, despite the eye rolls of my adolescent years, I repeat the same sentiment. Spring is my favorite too.
When I lost my mom, a little over a decade ago, I remember my dad sharing the struggle of his grief journey. She died just before Christmas and what followed were dark days of grieving, both figuratively and literally. Being further north, the UK’s daylight hours are much shorter during the winter and the sun would set around 4pm. The nights were the hardest for him, the hours without sun light were somehow heavier. Those first months in the depth of grief were dark, long, and lonely. My Dad’s signature phrase “soon be spring” took on a new tone, a yearning for a spring that would bring comfort, and healing from pain.
Spring: a defiance of hope
Loss reveals the dark places and leads to yearning for light. As many of us walk the same footsteps of grief, loss, and brokenness, we understand that desire. I find myself appreciating spring more and more each year. Perhaps it comes with age, and my kids will soon be rolling their eyes, as they react to my enthusiasm for the season. But as I enter the middle years of life, I recognize a world which once seemed so shiny in young adulthood, has revealed it’s tarnish. But spring encapsulates that much needed defiance of hope despite the brokenness. In what feels like the endless, frozen, winter of Illinois, I find myself desperate to see those first sprouts peeking out the ground, amazed at their faithfulness and resiliency after so many long days of cold.
There is something about those first spring flowers, their bold colors, their audacity in the still barren landscape. They declare new life when all seems dead, a beautiful picture and example of creation mirroring eternal truths.
For those of us who know Jesus, we have a hope that is brighter than the dark places. A hope for the present that draws close and comforts through grief, and a hope for the future when darkness will be gone. A hope like those first spring flowers that can grow in desolate places.
Resurrection: the beginning of something new
We are on the heels of celebrating Easter, a celebration of Christ’s resurrection that falls so perfectly in spring. As nature, reenacts the same renewal against all odds, the resurrection is a beacon of light in this sinful and broken world. Though Christ’s resurrection was a monumental event, it is also the beginning of something new. Like those first shoots of spring begin the roll out of new life, each flower and blossom takes its turn to bloom and reveal a world waking up. Christ’s resurrection was a catalyst, the birthing point for a new hope. The end of one thing and the beginning of another.
A living hope: past, present, and future
Peter describes this “living hope” that comes with resurrection, and it’s place in the past, present and future.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.
1 Peter 1:3-4 CSB
This resurrection hope is anchored in the past, in what has been achieved through Christ’s death and resurrection. Fueled by his “great mercy”, Christ’s defeat of death meant his sacrifice was sufficient and final. Death no longer has a hold over us. This victory over death leads to new life in the present, Christ’s resurrection “has given us new birth”. The new thing has already begun. We are regenerated at the moment of salvation, and then continue to grow to be like Christ. The life we have been birthed into is a “living hope”. The New Living Translation states “we live with great expectation”. It is an active hope that carries us through our present days on earth, in seasons of joy and seasons of sorrow. As the old hymn Great Is Thy Faithfulness by Thomas Chisholm describes, it is “strength for today, and bright hope for tomorrow”. It is also a hope found in the future, we look forward to what is to come, a hope for our future inheritance. When Jesus returns and we are fully restored and with him forever in a new heaven and new earth, no longer marred by pain, suffering and loss. As Revelation so beautifully depicts:
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
Revelation 21:3-5a NIV
He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!”
This living hope has been revealed, and is being revealed. Notice the final declaration in the last line is spoken in present tense. Jesus is making everything new, the process is rolling out and continuing each day. And so, we live in this tension of the “already and not yet”. We see evidence of the new in backdrop of the old, light that pierces a dark world, but the restoration is not yet complete. Like waiting for spring to arrive, the resurrection reminds us of the final victory to come at consummation, but until then, we wait in the shadows of the dawn.
Eastertide: an invitation to linger
The impact of the resurrection is a treasure to behold, a truth we can take beyond Resurrection Sunday. I was recently introduced to Eastertide, a 50-day season of feasting celebrated in the liturgical church that kicks off on Easter Sunday. Eastertide is a joyful remembrance of the 40 days after Easter, when a resurrected Jesus appears to his disciples, several times before ascending to heaven. The season ends with Pentecost, 10 days later, when the disciples witness the Holy Spirit descending and indwelling believers, the birth of the Early Church. Eastertide is an invitation to linger a little longer on Easter. Taking the time to reflect and truly grasp the impact of the resurrection. Andrew Peterson, singer, song writer, and author reflects on this season:
Then, you see, it’s Easter Monday. It’s just beginning. Now we get a glimpse of the New Creation, because now we discover the “now what?” We go back to work, life resumes its usual routine, yes, but with the massive difference that now we live in that Great Day of the Lord for fifty days, a fitting foretaste of what’s coming to us after Christ’s return.
– Andrew Peterson https://rabbitroom.com/2021/04/easter-is-just-getting-started/
Perhaps like me your Easter was good but busy. And despite making space to pause, the distractions of Easter traditions, the egg hunts, the coloring eggs, and the preparations for hosting, occupied much of your head space. But Easter does not have to be over, embracing Eastertide is a welcome invitation to look again. Spend some time reading the encounters with a resurrected Christ, his ascension, the incredible reality of God indwelling us through the Spirit, followed by the charge of the Great Commission. I was delighted to see my favorite bible reading resource, She Reads Truth, introduce a reading plan aptly named A Living Hope for after Easter which does just that. With the backdrop of spring emerging, I look forward to watching the living hope unfold on the pages of scripture. The resurrection was just the beginning, God was and is doing a new thing. May it shine light into the darkness of this world and remind us of the hope of the future. Spring is here, and He is making everything new.
Some resources to help you linger on the Resurrection during Eastertide: