I’m dating myself here, but I can remember watching the celebrated news anchor, Walter Cronkite, cover the news of each day. That, of course, was decades ago. And now? We no longer rely on such limited news coverage. Instead, we scroll through our 24/7 newsfeeds that tell us instantaneously what is happening around the globe. We see how one crisis is soon eclipsed by another. The devasting impact of tragedy and loss of life is soon out of the media spotlight as the news focus shifts onto whatever is next. So what’s the point? As we celebrate the central truth of our Christian faith this month – Jesus’ death and resurrection – what does this say to life today?

On December 8, 1875, a tragedy at sea occurred when the German ship Deutschland went down off the coast near Kent, England. Five Franciscan nuns were lost in this naval disaster. In trying to come to terms with this, a young English poet and Jesuit priest, Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889), wrote a 35-stanza poem entitled The Wreck of the Deutschland | The Poetry Foundation. Hopkins was a person who struggled with poor health and weakness. In addition to physical challenges, he also struggled with psychological distress. We would likely understand his struggle today through the lens of depression. But in the midst of what he did struggle with, Gerard Manley Hopkins wrote this poem, along with many other works that were published posthumously. One of the lines in “The Wreck of the Deutschland” says this: “Let him easter in us, be a dayspring to the dimness of us.”

The “him” is a reference to Jesus. But what does “Let him easter in us” mean? We use the word “Easter” as a noun. In the English-speaking world, that noun encapsulates the springtime holiday that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. But in his poem, Gerard Manley Hopkins uses it as a verb: “Let him easter in us…” The meaning here is deeper than just whether the word “Easter” functions as a noun or a verb. As one writer puts it: “In this case, ‘easter’ is a nautical term. It means steering our craft towards the east, into the light. Throughout the forty days of Lent we have been heading toward the light, trying to shake the darkness, the doubts, the burdens of living, the heaviness of heart. By walking with Christ, letting him easter in us, we mean to turn in the right direction” (Small Surrenders: A Lenten Journey, by Emilie Griffin. Brewster, MA: Paraclete Press, 2007; p. 210).

In this month of April, together with Christ’s people throughout the world, we resound the ancient Easter greeting: “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!” But in order for us to arrive at Easter, we must first pass through Good Friday. If there is a rising, there must first be a dying. The reality of Jesus’ suffering and death on the day we call Good Friday is at the heart of God’s reconciling plan of salvation. To bypass this is to shortcut what is central to the Christian faith. We can’t have one without the other. As Paul writes: “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Let him easter in us.

How was it that those first disciples finally and fully understood that Jesus had truly risen from the dead? It wasn’t the empty grave that convinced them – that could mean many different things. It wasn’t even the witness of the women who were the first to receive the good news of Jesus’ resurrection, and then told Peter, James, John and the others. The men refused to believe the women, and we are told that “these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them” (Luke 24:11). What finally convinced the slow-to-believe disciples that Jesus was alive, just as he had told them, was when he appeared to them. As John’s Gospel records this: “On the evening of that day, the first day of the week [Easter evening], the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.’ When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord” (John 20:19-20). It was only when they saw the terrible scars of Jesus’ suffering and death still present in his glorious and resurrected body that they then believed, and “were glad.” That is how they knew it was Jesus. Let him easter in us.

We can’t be too hard on those first disciples for being so slow to believe. We may be tempted to think: “Why didn’t they understand? Why didn’t they get it?” We wouldn’t have been any different if we had been there. We who live this side of Easter have been given the tremendous privilege of knowing how the different pieces of the greatest story ever told all come together. And now it’s our turn to share that story. Let him easter in us.

There are many people in the world today, including many in our own neighborhoods and communities, who think Easter means cute bunny rabbits and chocolate eggs. For whatever reason, they don’t know the real meaning of Easter – of Jesus’ victory over sin, death and the grave. They may have never heard of Jesus’ promise that everyone who believes in him will also be raised from the dead. How will they hear and know except through Jesus’ people, you and me? As Easter draws near, be thinking and praying about this. Invite that friend or neighbor to join you for special Holy Week and Easter worship services to hear the good news of Jesus. This is the good news that makes an eternal difference. Let him easter in us.