One of the most wondrous things about Easter — the Christian faith’s most sacred holiday — is the sheer miracle of it all.
Jesus strode the earth among mere mortals, who either looked to Him hungrily for life’s meaning or eyed Him with suspicion and fear. The fact that a baby born in a lowly manger to parents of modest means grew to be a man whose every word, to this day, cannot be disproved, is a miracle in and of itself.
Jesus met His earthly end on a wooden cross, absorbing man’s sin as He agonized, hanging above those who jeered Him as well as those who grieved His slow, painful death.
As He hung there, He promised a common thief hanging next to Him a place in paradise, even when He could have given up on all of humanity. He didn’t ask the thief to prove his worthiness, He offered him a new life — a chance to begin again in eternity.
After Jesus died some must have thought, “There it is. He’s dead now, and we will never know if He truly was God’s son.”
They hadn’t yet bought into the miracle, even though Jesus had preached during His brief life about the supernatural love of the Father, and performed many miracles that increased His legend throughout the land. Doubt sometimes seems to be humanity’s default position.
Then, He rose. He literally rose from the dead. He defied the laws of both nature and death itself to appear in front of the women who loved and grieved Him, and then the apostles.
Jesus still loved mankind — He was just beginning again, in a different heavenly form. The apostles began again, too — tasked with spreading Jesus’ words and deeds to the masses and bringing souls to salvation.
Related: Easter: The Light of Forgiveness Has Risen from the Tomb
We, too, can start again this Easter. Dealing with addiction? It’s not too heavy for the Christ who rose from the dead. Begin again.
Struggling with loss or despair? Begin again this Easter, asking God to relieve your burdens of grief and hopelessness.
Begin again, in the timeless joy and faith that Easter brings.
Plagued by secret insecurities that are so powerful you can’t speak to a soul about them? Begin again.
God believes in you. Believe in yourself.
Related: Easter Is About the Cross, First and Foremost
Look to the cross with your worries and problems and sadness. If Jesus could rise again and appear in front of the humans who loved Him so, God can work a miracle for you. He loves you just that much.
Take a deep breath, and just do it. Begin again, in the timeless joy and faith that Easter brings.
Deirdre Reilly is a writer and editor based in the Boston area, and a former parenting and family editor at LifeZette.
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