The Easter Story

By Rev. Elliott George - Belper Vicar

Hello there – I’m Elliot, the new vicar for Belper!

We’re about to enter my favourite time of year, when schools start talking about Springtime topics like flowers and life-cycles. As you can see in the photo above, we’re desperate for new life to begin – when the days will brighten up, leaves start growing on our trees again, and the damp and cold of Winter will (hopefully) fizzle away. Maybe some of you have also started stocking up on chocolatey treats, possibly in the shape of bunnies or eggs. This season of new life is why we get chocolates in those shapes at this time of year. And it’s always good to celebrate new life (especially with chocolate!), whether it’s a baby being born, or even our own birthdays each year. As a Christian, I’m lucky in that I get to celebrate Jesus’s new life twice! Firstly at Christmas, when we remember that Jesus was born as a baby in Bethlehem, with Mary and Joseph and all the rest of the characters. We get to eat lots of chocolate then too! 

But also, Christians all across the world will soon be celebrating Easter. We’ll remember Jesus’s story: when he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey while people were cheering and calling him king and saviour; when he taught people about God’s kingdom of light and love; when he shared a final meal of bread and wine with his followers; when he was arrested and executed on the cross; and most importantly, when he rose back to life again on Easter Sunday! 

Jesus was too powerful for death to hold him down, so he broke out and came back to life again! The people who followed him went to the tomb where they buried his body, but it was empty because he isn’t dead anymore! This is such an incredible story that even other heroes have copied it – like Harry Potter, Neo from the Matrix, Gandalf from Lord of the Rings, and many more.

But the thing that makes Easter a more special story than any of those heroes is that it makes a difference for us too. It’s a lovely story that Harry Potter came back to life to save the day and defeat Voldemort, but it doesn’t really change our lives. Christians believe that, because Jesus came back to life and defeated death, we can also be risen to life too. Even though we all do bad things from time to time, Jesus loves us so much that he took away the power of evil so that we can have a life of love with God. Sometimes in church services we say, “By dying, Jesus destroyed our death. By rising, Jesus restored our life.” Sounds like something to celebrate to me!

So, this Easter, when you crack open your chocolate eggs and see that they’re empty inside – remember that Jesus’s tomb was also empty! Because of Jesus, we have new life waiting for us too – life that can begin right now and last forever.