Jews had prayed for him, hoped for him, and looked for him for generations. But now the one who said he was the Messiah was dead, killed by the very ones who had for so long anticipated his coming. For his disciples, three years of following Christ seemed to end in despair.

And then they found the empty tomb.

The Messiah was alive!


The Message of Easter is kept more in the background of the holiday than that of Christmas. After all, this is not the joyous welcoming of a baby with the giving of gifts, this is the brutal death of a young man, stripped of any gifts and dignity.

For the Easter story to work as a joyous occasion you have to accept two stories: the death of Jesus, a negative event, and then the resurrection of Jesus, which requires faith.

Without faith, the events speak of failure; with faith, they speak of triumph. Here the drama, purpose and events of Easter interplay around these two stories - and bring out the joy.