Easter isn't over!

I saw something on Facebook this morning that made me pause. The statement on the post was "Now that Easter is over..."

I tend to bristle at how significant events in the church, particularly Christmas and Easter, have become so commercialized. It never really bothered me much before. But as I have journeyed and grown as a follower of Christ involved in a Lutheran tradition, I have become sensitive to, and appreciative of, the liturgical calendar. For example, Advent is the time leading up to Christmas Day, then Christmas STARTS on that day, and finishes on Epiphany. Lent is the time leading up to Easter, and then the Easter season STARTS on Easter Sunday, and continues until Pentecost, 40 days later. So, seeing such a statement that Easter is over bothers me. Why?

For those very first Christians, those frightening and uncertain days following Jesus' death, and even to the extent, His Resurrection, were part of their Easter narrative. I have read and seen a few comments on how those early Christians, when referring to the Resurrection, didn't mean the event that took place that early Sunday morning: they referred to the following weeks, when they saw and experienced the Risen Lord in His fullness. Think of it: a man you thought had been dead, and WAS dead, now walking among you. His wrists and feet marked with the wounds caused by the nails. His side and its scar from where He'd been pierced to confirm He was dead. And even the marks on His forehead where the crown of thorns had been placed and pushed down. And this same Jesus was alive, fully, eating, drinking, laughing, hugging, loving....to those people, THAT was the Resurrection!

So, let's not say Easter is over yet. Let's CLAIM it, embrace it, and say to our Christian brothers and sisters "He Is Risen! He Is Risen, Indeed! Alleluia!"

Soli deo Gloria