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The person, who knows Easter, will never despair.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Easter - resurrection – life and death

What do you think of when you hear the word „Easter“?

An Easter egg hunt, the Easter Sunday roast, a celebration, Easter holidays or a vacation, springtime and nature which is awakened after the long winter…oh, yes, there was something else – the thing about Jesus.

That’s what it’s all about!

At Christmas time we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ – that’s obvious. What do we actually celebrate at Easter? The crucifixion? Or the resurrection? Do we understand it at all?

Dorothee Sölle once said the following:
„To say that he rose, only makes sense if we know that we will also rise from the dead, when we are there. Resurrection seen as something purely objective, as a mere fact which would also be true without us, does not make sense. “

You will have a problem with the real meaning of Easter if you cannot develop a relationship to Easter, if it is only a celebration for you, a couple of day’s holiday but nothing more. However life and death, being buried and rising are closely linked at Easter. That is still valid today and everyone can experience it. Easter can be a new start – out of the desolation, out of desperation, out of guilt and into a new life.

Eberhard Jüngel once made the following comment about Easter:
„The difference between Easter and an Easter stroll is that strolls do not change anything. They generally end in the same place where they started. Easter, however, is a start without an end. “

He meant: stop your Easter stroll and start something new. Allow yourself to be inspired by Easter. Do not let Easter be a celebration of the resurrection which happened over 2000 years ago, but a celebration of a resurrection today – for you personally. Bury your jealousy, your hatred, your disputes with friends, hang your guilt on a cross (as Jesus died for this), allow yourself to be forgiven and start a new life. You should give it a try and find someone who can help you on your new path.

I would like to leave you with two verses from the bible:
I am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me.
(John 14 verse 6)

You must be born again.
(John 3 verse 7)

Both verses have a lot to do with Easter, Easter is the key to understanding these two sentences. Have you understood?