Many Christians have written of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The number of words devoted to this event is likely only surpassed by the many accounts of His death. In a sense this seems unfortunate. It is not that his Passion is to be trivialized. The story of the cross is the story of the ages and it is certainly true that without Good Friday there would be no Easter. But for all its meaning the physical death of Christ was not as singular an event as His triumph over that death. All men die. Only one has returned to life…so far

In some sense it is futile to try to capture the full meaning of the Resurrection in words. No matter how much is written on the subject human beings will always fall short in trying to adequately communicate its implications. What happened outside of Jerusalem in a rich man’s tomb on that long ago morning in some sense defies description. Yet we who find our best expression of devotion in writing continue to try.

So many words come to mind when a believing heart considers Easter morning; strong words like victory, triumph and glory; softer ones like hope, joy and restoration. We find ourselves thinking about a frightened, deeply depressed band of disciples suddenly being delivered from despair by the One who was delivered from death. Their experience reminds us of the moments when we, too, have been rescued from the same kind of hopelessness by the Spirit given us by Jesus after He went to be with His Father…and ours.

We are also reminded of the hope of our own resurrection some day. The Easter story is one that tells us not only of a happening from the past but also one yet to come. The raising of Christ guarantees the raising of His followers when God brings down the curtain on the history of the world as we now know it. Easter is, in this sense, the ultimate prophetic event. For those who dwell in a world still fallen it generates a hope so blessed that it, too, is beyond the expressive power of words. This is the hope that flows with the contemplation of the stone being rolled away someday from our own empty tombs. It is what enables the Christian to go through the deepest of waters and come out on the other shore.

Perhaps it is in starting with the word "hope" that we best find a place to honor Easter to the extent it can be done so in writing. Christians are people of hope. Our Savior has been called "The Blessed Hope" and we who know Him rejoice in the ultimate reality of the phrase. It is at this time of year we are reminded of its meaning. Resurrection Day, and all it implies, speaks to us of why we are who we are and why we follow the One we follow.

The truth is that, whether it is in one word or ten thousand, we are always just scratching the surface when we write about the events of that morning. It was too great to be captured by our faculties, too wonderful to be grasped by the finite efforts of men. What happened was for us, but fully describing it remains beyond us.