Behold! I am making all things new. – Revelation 21:5
This is what Easter is about. This is why Jesus came to earth in the first place – why he walked closely with 12 disciples, why he taught the masses, why he healed the sick, why he proclaimed freedom for the captives, why he endured torture and death, and why he rose from the grave. He didn’t come to provide an escape. He didn’t come to make sure that we are comfortable. He didn’t come to give us all the things of the world. He didn’t come so that we could build an empire. He came to offer us a new way to live.
The things that this world had pursued could not satisfy. The way of religion that sought to separate from the world and save only itself were not what God had in mind. So he sent his Son to show us a new way, or maybe more accurately, the way that he had intended for us to live when the earth was new.
Right now, it feels more clear than ever that the world is not as it should be. As we long for an end to this crisis and we look forward to the promises of Easter, let’s not desire for life to go back to normal. Let’s desire that new life that our risen Christ offers us.
This new way is not about living life for our own benefit. It’s about laying down our lives for others. This new way is not about gaining power or bolstering our image. It’s about considering others better than ourselves. This new way is not about protecting our own. It’s about seeing God’s image in every single person. This new way is not about being right or even being good. It’s about being love.
This Easter is unique. We sit in the midst of a period of time when so much of our normal has been stripped away. When this is all over, I hope we don’t just go back to that normal. Rather, I hope we take a hard look at what needs to change. Which parts of our normal lives need to die so that we can live more fully into the new life that God offers us? What does true resurrection look like in the face of this pandemic?
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