Never would we have imagined to be celebrating Easter online and not together face to face. It is not what we would want nor choose. And, yet, the COVID-19 pandemic neither minimizes nor takes away in the least from what Easter means. It steals nothing. In fact, it heightens and brightens all the more the good news that Easter proclaims.

Easter proclaims that Christ is risen and alive. That He rules and reigns over heaven and earth. That all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Him. That He is making all things new. That His kingdom has no end. That His name has no equal. That His love knows no bounds. That His mercy and grace triumph every single day.

Easter, the resurrection of Jesus, changed and changes our world. It changed and changes our destiny. It changed and changes our lives.

In the face of tribulation and suffering, Easter gives us hope, a rock solid hope, and joy, inexpressible and full of glory. This Easter we celebrate what we celebrate every Easter: Christ has conquered sin and death. He has made a way from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven. The kingdom of God has come. The Life of the kingdom has come: God Himself. And His life can become our life, both here and now, by His grace and by His Spirit. 

No, this earth is not heaven. And neither is it all good. Still, James encourages us to “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kind, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” (James 1:2-3) James is not saying all of life is joy, but that all of life can be received with joy. Why? How? Because Christ is at work in us and in the world even through our various trials. Maybe especially through our trials.

James says we “meet trials”. We “meet” along the way. Our “trials” are passing travelers along the path and journey of our life. We cross paths, but we each are headed in different directions. Christ is leading us home where “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:4)

But, yes, for the time being we “meet” trials and tribulations. Like COVID-19. So this Easter we feel Easter more deeply in our bones and soul than perhaps ever before. This Easter the reality of what Christ has accomplished by His death and resurrection hits closer to home. This Easter we taste and see of the goodness of God in a more tangible and powerful way.

This Easter, then, I want us to celebrate, truly celebrate, JESUS. When faced with the imminent brutal facts of the cross, his suffering, his death, and his full separation from the Father, He said, “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” (John 12:27-28) 

Let these words sink in: “And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’?”

I know we have all prayed that prayer in one way or another over these last few weeks. “Save me from this hour.” I want us to reflect on the fact that the matchless glory of Christ shined all the brighter because of His sufferings and trials. 

And, yet, Easter means not that we celebrate suffering, but that we celebrate the One who suffered and died for us—who rose and lives again. We rejoice in the glory and we boast in the name of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He is our living hope! In His glory we “see” and “meet” the face of God in our humanity. We see He is worthy to be praised and proclaimed whether from “the rooftops” of our mass gatherings or from the “shelter-in-place” of our homes.

Yes, COVID-19 has made Christ more precious to us this Easter than ever before.