If you’re not feeling joyful this Easter, don’t worry.
The human emotions found in the Easter stories
are more diverse than we might realize.
The Gospel stories of the resurrection of Jesus—known as the Resurrection Narratives—are rich and diverse, describing various encounters with the risen Christ and offering us many wonderful images to ponder and pray with. One reason I love these stories is because they help us understand that Easter is not a one-dimensional, one-size-fits-all experience of joy and exuberance. Rather, encounters with the risen Christ result in all kinds of human emotions, from disbelief and amazement to fear and trembling! And let’s not forget about confusion, and even doubt.
The earliest of the four Gospels, the Gospel of Mark, has the shortest Resurrection Narrative and ends quite abruptly. In Mark’s account (16:1-8), three women approached the tomb of Jesus, intending to anoint his body. Upon discovering the empty tomb and being told by a young man that Jesus had been raised, they were “seized with trembling and bewilderment,” and “they were afraid.” They fled from the tomb! Certainly joy came to these women later. But it was not their first response.
In Luke’s Gospel, a group of disciples encountered a stranger on the road (24:13-35). Of course the stranger was the Risen Christ, but they did not recognize him at first. He walked with them and talked with them. When they ate together—when he broke the bread and gave it to them—they recognized him. But he immediately vanished! The moment of full presence—the moment of understanding what was happening and recognizing who they were with—was painfully fleeting.
And, of course, who could forget Thomas, whose story we read in John’s Gospel (20:24-29)? When he heard that Jesus was raised, Thomas declared that he would not believe unless certain conditions were met. He wanted to see for himself. He wanted to touch the risen Christ! Who doesn’t sympathize with our friend, Doubting Thomas? We’ve all felt the ground shift beneath our feet. Uncertainty is part of life.
And finally, a strange but realistic note is sounded in the Gospel of Matthew, when the disciples approached the Risen Christ on a mountain in Galilee (28:16-20). The text says that when they saw Jesus, “they worshiped, but they doubted.” Worship and doubt seem like opposites, and yet here they are, coexisting in the minds, hearts, and even the bodies of those who are closest to Jesus.
Whatever mixed emotions you may be feeling this Easter are natural and authentic. As the Gospel stories remind us, you are simply an honest participant in a long tradition of being human—of encountering the divine, the mystical, the hard-to-believe, and the profoundly beautiful—in the midst of “regular life.” But in the end, even in the midst of our worries, doubts, and fears, there is a deep-seated, quiet joy in our hearts that can never be taken away. The Lord is risen.
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This reflection first appeared in Little Rock Connections, the online newsletter of Little Rock Scripture Study. Published here with permission. © Liturgical Press 2020.
Images from our Holy Week at home. Stations of the Cross on the fence (several of which blew away!), our Easter prayer table (with daffodils my mom planted when we moved into our home), and 40 Easter eggs (10 per kid!).