In the Southern Hemisphere, Easter is at harvesttime, while in the Northern Hemisphere it comes at a time when days begin to grow longer and the warming sun coaxes out the tender new shoots that are harbingers of spring. The Easter message of newness of life and regeneration, however, has practical power that is far greater than any seasonal change.
Christ Jesus' lifework proved the deathless reality of Life as God. The Saviour's supreme demonstration over death helped his disciples to recognize and accept the fact that the man of God's creating is wholly spiritual and always at one with Him. To the disciples, Jesus was the Master, the man they knew and loved, and he was their Teacher who was showing them an entirely new way to live as children of God, the Father of all. Yet until the resurrection his followers had not fully realized he was showing them the way out of mortality into the possibilities of life in Spirit, not matter—Life that is never subject to the ravages of disease and death.
This past year as the grip of communism has been broken, more and more people have been undoing the shackles of the past and reaching out for new freedoms and opportunities. Christians around the world, especially those in Russia and some parts of Eastern Europe and Africa, will be celebrating Easter this year with renewed hope for the future and with new purpose for their churches. The example of the Master's disciples can be a beacon light to guide their course Spiritward.
