The details and differences of the Easter stories matter, but they matter most in the truth they all proclaim: The story of Easter is real, not rehearsed. It really happened – and it happened to real people, who were overwhelmed and overjoyed by the experience and only later were able to recollect and record something like an orderly account of an extraordinary day. We glimpse the power and mystery of Easter precisely where the stories seem weakest and most foolish – in the overlapping, colliding human testimonies of racing to and from the tomb, of silence and speech, of awe and terror, and finally, of a joy so new and raw that it came hand-in-hand with doubt. Could it be true? But it was – oh, it was.
And it’s still true. In every part of the Easter story, we find our own diverse lives and different stories. We find a risen Savior who confounds our assumptions and overturns our expectations. We are met by the God whose power is made perfect in weakness and whose foolishness is wiser than human wisdom.
This message is excepted from “Alleluia! Hallelujah!” by Meghan Johnston Aelabouni in the April 2018 Gather magazine.
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