Easter 2020: A Retrospective

Yesterday was the first time since sometime in college - so perhaps 30 years ago - that I have not been in church on Easter Sunday. 

No fancy clothes, no well thought out Easter Dinner with family and friends, no choir extravaganza, no gaily bedecked church sanctuary.  Just the sound of the aquarium pump bubbling away, the wind blowing through the trees outside, the occasional sound of the rabbits eating hay.

In other words, a very unremarkable Easter.  Which, if you think about it, makes it a great deal like the first Easter.

We forget that I think, lost 2000 years in the past of (understandable) pomp and celebration of the great High Day of Christianity.  Our Easter is now filled with light and song and joy and excitement.

But on that first Easter Day, it was undoubtedly a day like any other.

To the disciples and the women that found the tomb empty, of course, it was different:  confusion, joy, uncertainty, disbelief but wanting to believe.  But to all of those living at the time - even those who would eventually become His followers - there was nothing to signify this day was different from any other.

The High Priest arose from his Sabbath rest to begin his assigned tasks.  The Roman Governor undoubtedly had a day full of meeting and letters and decisions.  The masses that three days earlier had shouted "Crucify Him!" went back to their lives, perhaps the eclipse of Good Friday lingering on their minds but probably now more concerned about the celebration of the Passover.

The Centurion at the Cross, perhaps, still reeled from all that he had seen and heard.  But he was only one man.

Happy Easter.