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Easter Sunday Dawns
The joy that follows grief
Today is Easter Sunday. It was preceded by Good Friday and also by Saturday, which seemed to give us a pause before the joy of the resurrection.
I never understood why we call “Good Friday” “good”. What’s good about a day when our Savior is tortured and then hung on a cross to die? Was it good for Him? Or just for us?
Christ is the example of Holy leadership — He is the good Shepherd.
Earthly kings fleece their subjects. Kings, corporate CEOs, politicians — they use their followers for their own gain. They live in luxury while beggars roam the streets. They sit in comfort while young men and women die in far flung wars for their glory. When was the last time an earthly leader sacrificed him or herself for the good of his or her people?
Yet Christ was our Good Shepherd. He did not tax His followers. He freely fed and healed them. He did not insist on obeisance. He washed the feet of His disciples instead. He did not set Himself above us but welcomed the smallest children, the poor widows, those who were heartbroken.
Unlike earthly leaders — the captains and the kings of the earth, the rich and the powerful — our supreme leader, the Lord of the Universe, the King of Kings died alone and reviled so that we might have eternal life.
