As a child, Easter morning always meant an Easter basket beside my bed. There were fuzzy chenille chicks, chocolate eggs, and marshmallow bunnies. I never cared for marshmallow, but the big chocolate egg in the middle (dark chocolate!) was always a hit. It wasn’t until later than I began asking what chicks, eggs and bunnies had to do with Easter. It took me several years to understand that bunnies did not lay eggs. And why, when we go to church on Easter, are there no chicks, bunnies and chocolate eggs?

Two children were talking about what they had gotten in their Easter baskets. One asked the other: “Why do we have chocolate on Easter, anyway?” After a significant pause, the other offered: “Chocolate was Jesus’ favorite?”

The connection was a mystery. And it wasn’t until I was older, and back in church as a young adult, that I began to sort it all out. So, while I still enjoy chocolate eggs, as a 30- something I began to teach my children that Jesus’ resurrection was the reason we celebrated Easter.

Every Sunday in the Communion liturgy we proclaim the “mystery of faith”: “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.” Have you ever wondered why the “mystery of faith” is Jesus’ death, resurrection and coming again? Why not include his birth? Or his healings and miracles? Or his teachings?

Certainly some of the things Jesus did and said were a “mystery” or hidden to his disciples and others.

While the birth of Jesus may have established the way we organize our calendar—BC for Before Christ and AD for Anno Domini, or Year of the Lord*—the death and resurrection of Jesus secure and signify God’s victory over sin, death and evil. The mystery of God’s purpose is revealed for all to see.

• Without the resurrection, there would have been no confirmation that Jesus is the Son of God, Christ and Lord.
• Without the resurrection, Jesus’ teachings would not be validated.
• Without the resurrection, we would have no confirmation of the effectiveness of the cross in bringing us God’s salvation.
• Without the resurrection, we would have no assurance of forgiveness of sins.
• Without the resurrection, we would have no hope in eternal life.
• Without the resurrection, we would have no promise of the resurrection of our bodies.
• Without the resurrection, we would not have the presence of the Holy Spirit as the power of God in our lives.

As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:13-19, “If Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation has been in vain and your faith has been in vain. . . . If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. . . . If for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.”

Without the resurrection, we might as well “eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

This is why Easter is the high holy day of the Christian year, as we celebrate God’s love and power in providing our deliverance. The resurrection of Jesus is the central message of Christianity.

The “mystery of faith” is what God has revealed through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ: that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. This is proof of God’s love toward us. This affirmation shapes our life together, as we place our hope in Jesus Christ, God’s gift for our salvation. So it is with great joy, anticipation, loud singing, praise and proclamation, that we again– this year (on April 24th)–affirm that just as Jesus passed over from death to life in the resurrection, so we, by the power of God through our baptism and faith in Jesus Christ, have passed over from death to new life. Thanks be to God!

In Christ,



Pastor Stephanie

*Also referred to as BCE (Before Common Era) and CE (Common Era).