easter aftermath

Stupid question #37: “So, post-Easter, when all the excitement is over, what happens to the Easter Bunny?”

Sitting around the table, we started to imagine.

“I bet different Easter Bunnies would handle it differently,” someone said.

“Yeah, yeah. You’re right.” Everyone chimed in.

(You’ll have to forgive us. The whole conversation was probably induced by too much caffeine.)

“Yeah, in the aftermath of Easter, some bunnies might get real depressed. Overcome by a sense of purposelessness, feelings of hopelessness.”

“Other bunnies probably try to face reality and get on with life. You know, get a real job. Gotta feed the family. They have a lot of kids don’t they?”

“I imagine that there could be militant bunnies. Eat, sleep and hop Easter all year long. Always preparing for the next year. Finding new recruits. Bigger and better. Striving to make Easter the ‘New Christmas.’”

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But really. Who cares what happens to the Easter Bunny.

Have you ever stop to consider what happened in the aftermath of the first Easter? First, there was the chaos surrounding Jesus’ death and then, just days later, rumors, then firsthand testimony, of his coming back to life. On the Friday before, in the confusion of Jesus’ arrest, mock trial, public humiliation and cruel, tragic execution, his followers panicked. Most of them ran and hid, thinking they might be next. All of them lost hope. They were overcome with feelings of guilt, doubt and uncertainty.

Today, when we think back to the first Easter, when we are honest with ourselves, maybe we struggle with some of those same feelings. Do we doubt Jesus? The Resurrection? Asking ourselves, “Did it all really take place or is it just something we want to believe happened?” Do we echo the confusion and uncertainty of some of those first followers, when they said, “We really had hoped that Jesus was the one.” Or maybe, like Peter, when it comes to Jesus, we’ve really disappointed ourselves most of all. We have unresolved guilt. We feel it like a weight around our necks. Feeling like there is no where we can find the release of forgiveness.

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Beginning Easter Sunday, that’s where we’re going. We will spend three weeks looking at the chaotic aftermath of the first Easter. We will journey with the first followers as they faced doubt, uncertainty and guilt in the midst of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Will you join us on that journey?

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