Finding that Easter Feeling

I know I’m not the only one feeling as though this Easter just doesn’t feel very… Easter-y. Ken and I will try to do our regular Easter traditions… roast lamb for dinner, FaceTime our greetings to far away family members… but, like you, we cannot pull out our crisp Easter clothes and meet up with our church family down the road. Instead, Ken and I will sit in our living room and watch via livestream as Pastor Bob preaches a soul-stirring message from the front of the empty church building.

But even in years where we aren’t sheltering-in-place and social distancing, people just don’t talk about getting into the spirit of Easter. Yes, we get into the “Christmas spirit,” but there’s no such thing as getting into “the Easter spirit.” And there’s a good reason why…

Never in the history of the church have Christians associated good feelings and happiness with the crucifixion of Christ. We call that Friday “good” because of the eternal good it brought, but you cannot sentimentalize the gruesome carnage that happened at Calvary. The days, and yes weeks, leading up to Easter ought to be filled with self-examination and somber reflection over the pain our sins gave Christ.

If the Easter season is to have a spirit about it, it’s the spirit of repentance.

Only when we contemplate the full weight of our transgressions can we genuinely celebrate Resurrection Sunday. When we consider the depth of our depravity, then we are able to fully enjoy the height of our happiness over Christ’s victory from the grave. Our joy is only as real, deep and sincere as our grief over our sin — otherwise, we have no idea what he’s saved us from.

The Easter spirit can’t be mustered up with baskets of eggs, chocolate rabbits, hot-cross buns, honey-baked hams or even churches filled with people wearing their new Sunday best. This stuff has about as much connection to the real meaning of Easter as Santa Claus has to Christmas.

To get into the spirit of today, ask yourself, “What thing, habit, person or fantasy… what is it I can bring to the cross?” And then praise God! Christ conquered the grave, broke the chains of sin, and gained heaven and so much more!

May the afterglow of that incredible thought—the promise of being wholly forgiven—light your path this week.

–Joni Eareckson Tada