As a child, I recognized Easter as the holiday of jelly beans, Peeps marshmallows and wearing matching dresses to church with my sisters. As I grew up, the meaning of Easter sunk into the depth of my bones. It became one of the most hope-filled holidays in my eyes. So what is Easter? It is definitely more than jelly beans, Peeps marshmallows and matching dresses it is the day that changed the course of humanity, the day God bridged the gap between Himself and His children once and for all. It is the day Jesus rose from the dead after being crucified on the Cross as a ransom for our sins. It is the hope for followers of Christ, hope for what was, what is and what is to come. The Cross is the remedy for all, it removes the stain of sin from our past and erases the condemnation of shame. The Cross gives us a reason to keep going and a moral standard to hold on to right now and it is what we hold onto as the world changes yet the Cross does not.

Since we know Jesus came back once, we can stand firm that He is coming back again. While in the in-between, there is freedom in the truth when we let it sanctify us through the Holy Spirit. Remember that Jesus said, I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh (John 6:51, ESV). May this living bread nourish our souls to be faithful until Jesus comes back, to resurrect hope in our hearts for what is to come, and propel our actions and minds to what is edifying.

This truth is often forgotten due to the pace of the world and its circumstances. It has officially been over a year since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic and Easter 2020 the first holiday we spent in quarantine. The entirety of this past year may have felt like the wait between Good Friday and Easter, where life felt as if it came to standstill. God was still moving in the wait.

As we approach this coming Easter where life transitions back to (somewhat) normalcy, may we remember the true meaning of what Easter is no matter the circumstances around us. To remember what the truth of the Cross means for us requires humility in accepting the gift that Jesus gave and the responsibility to reflect on how much we truly need Him. Jesus said, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free (John 8:32, ESV). Therefore, we are free from the curse of sin and death by the blood of the cross which gives us the opportunity to have fellowship with God now and allow Him to shape us into His likeness.

My pastor always ends his sermons with the question, Are you glad youre saved? I have been thinking of the significance of this small question that humbles me to remember what being saved is and how grateful I am for it. To be saved is to say I couldnt do it, I wasnt enough. But Jesus was and He still is today. So, there is hope in the cross that stands firm amidst our ever changing world.

Written by Katherine Faulkner (Communication Sciences & Disorders, '21), Peer Wellness Ambassador.