When Easter Is Late and Not in the Spring

We will be celebrating Easter in late April a little later than usual this year. My first thought was to say "Easter will be late this year," until I thought about what that might imply.

How, after all, can we ever think that Easter is "late?" From the beginning of his ministry, Jesus was "on time." John the Baptist knew this. "'The time has come,' he said. 'The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!'" (Mark 1:15) The gospel writers all speak of many incidents throughout Jesus' life when threats against him failed because "his time had not yet come," but his ministry was working always toward a resolute conclusion: "as the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem." (Luke 9:51) "It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. "(John 13:1)

• John 17:1 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed: “Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.

And then we are reminded that Christ's suffering, death and resurrection were all at the perfect time, appointed by God from before time began:

• Romans 5:6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
• Galatians 4:4 But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5 to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.
• 1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a ransom for all men — the testimony given in its proper time.

So Easter is never "late." That first Easter was, and is, and always will be, the pivotal point in eternity for each of us.

As I considered all of these passages, I was reminded of how much Easter and spring's arrival have been conflated in so much of the celebration of this "holiday" in our culture. How northern hemisphere-centered is that! After all, late March and April mark the imminent arrival of autumn in the south, a season often signifying coming death and decay. How does that fit in with all our messages of renewal and new growth and all the rest? Could it be, could it be, that we have lost sight of the other-worldliness, the beyond time nature of this earth-shattering event?

As we enter this season of Lent, still surrounded here in the upper Midwest with mountains of snow and ice, this may especially be the year when we need to remember that the miracle of grace, redemption, and new life that Easter brought, all of that has nothing to do with our physical surroundings and everything to do with the gift of God's Son for our salvation and release from the winter of all our discontent.

He is risen! He is risen indeed--even among the snowbanks of this world.