Spring is here, and with it comes the blessed season of Easter … or more appropriately, Resurrection Day.
Awash in pretty pastels, smelling of blooms, and draped in crisp cotton trimmed in lace, this joyous celebration of LIFE arrives every year—floating and landing somewhere between March 22 and April 25. The sun and the moon collaborate on the exact date—but it’ll always be the first Sunday after the first full moon after the first day of spring. Easter arrives like a sweet breath of fresh air, singing: “For, lo, the winter is past, the [storms are] over and gone; The flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come.” (Song of Solomon 2:11-12 KJV)
There IS a sweetness in the celebration of THIS day … Resurrection Day … but it was not always so, for the roots of it are unmistakably bittersweet.
In the beginning, the very first observance of this holy day was the day that God set apart as Passover. After four centuries of bitter slavery in Egypt, Israel’s cries were heard. God called Moses to be the one to give them their first sweet taste of hope. Deliverance, at long last!
But, freedom is never free. The prescribed order of that first Passover was for each Jewish family to take into their home a perfect, innocent, lamb. They were to nurture it like a pet, for three days and three nights, and then to slaughter it—and the blood of that lamb was to be the bitter price paid for their freedom. And so it was. That night, the LORD did pass over the lamb’s blood, smeared on the doorposts of their prison—and their iron shackles fell off. They were free!
Running for their lives, though, they quickly discovered that “being free” was not all sweetness and light. Very soon, their only escape route became a dead end, blocked by the impassable Red Sea before them and the mighty Egyptian hordes behind. So, this was IT. Their last hope dangled at the bitter end, until … God breathed a huge sigh of relief, and the sea rolled back, revealing a WAY, where there was no way. This meant life—sweet deliverance—for Israel, and death for the Egyptians. Redemption, though sweet, came at a bitter price.
Fast forward to another Passover—fifteen centuries later—and another mix of tender emotions. The disciples of Jesus had experienced firsthand the sweetness of having Emmanuel, GOD with them, every day. They had walked with Jesus, who went everywhere doing good, healing the sick, raising the dead, restoring sight to the blind, sound to the deaf, and wholeness to the leper. Yet they knew too well the acrid bitterness of those who opposed Him, who accused Him falsely, plotting evil against Him daily.
“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20 KJV)
In that last week, there were sweet moments for the disciples to remember: the victory of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem—as well as (what was to be) their last fellowship supper together. How He washed their feet, speaking words of reassurance and promise that, though He had to leave, He’d soon return as their Comforter. Even then, knowing His time was short, Jesus paused … to take a few of those last moments to sing with them.
All too soon came the bitter tears in the Garden of Gethsemane as Jesus prayed while His friends slept, “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me …” Then, the bitter arrest, the mock trial, the betrayal, the abandonment. On the very day of Passover, the bitter death march to Calvary, the bitter pain of the thorns and the nails—the innocent blood smeared once again, the bitter taunts of the faithless … and the bitter tears of those who watched their hope slowly die on a cross. The bitterness of death.
Then … the bitterness of waiting.
One day … waiting for this nightmare to be over. Two days … weeping women prepared sweet spices for His body. Three days … waiting for the end of the Sabbath. Three days and three nights …
But then, suddenly … as the herald of hope, the sun rose! Its light was as glorious as that FIRST light that shined on that FIRST day of the FIRST week of Creation! When new LIGHT, in its full strength, caused the darkness to flee forever. Yes, THIS day’s dawning had been anticipated since the beginning of time—the day when all things would be made NEW!
Resurrection Day!
The Lamb that was slain … had conquered His own death! By His own bitter blood, the ultimate work of sweet redemption was finished!
Just as a tree turned the bitter water of Marah into sweet (Exodus 15), so the cross transformed the bitter suffering of Jesus into sweet salvation for all who put their trust in Him. Death was no more a finality! Hell’s door was unlocked—and the grave, which had been but a bitter dead end, became a passageway of hope to life eternal!
Oh, the wonder of the Resurrection! The very word “resurrection” is bittersweet, because it signifies death. There’s no resurrection without a death—yes, but resurrection also means LIFE! HE LIVES! And because He lives, “even the bitter seems sweet.” (Proverbs 27:7) Jesus purchased eternal life for us by His own bitter sacrifice—and sweet grace—and thus He declared: “Because I live, ye shall live also.” (John 14:19 KJV)
Prayer: Dear Jesus, I can bring to You every impossibility, and You have the power to reverse it. You make darkness, light—You turn sorrow into joy, and You make the bitter, sweet. Every time. All honor and blessing and praise to our Risen KING!
