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Most Easter Sundays started early for me as a teen. The church youth group always had a sunrise service. We’d drive a few miles north of town and sit on the rim of a canyon cutting through the sandstone. The leaders encouraged us to spread out, so we wouldn’t talk, hoping we’d think about the meaning of Easter, and maybe, just maybe, even talk to God about it a little. It must have worked.  

I didn’t like getting up early, and I didn’t like sitting in the cold, but there’s something about watching the sun rise that makes the inconvenience worth-while. The reddish-orange hue on the horizon as that glowing disc approaches and then cracks the skyline never fails to impress. The light that begins to dispel shadows, pushing the darkness away, brings everything it touches into sharp focus. As it begins its march across the sky, the sun takes on a golden yellow glow, spreading warmth and bringing the promise of a new day. Sun rise. Son Rise. The play on words is trite, it’s old, it’s been used a kajillion times, but it’s still meaningful. On that first Easter Sunday the sun rose and the Son of God rose, and as He rose the light of His gospel spread, illuminating truth and dispersing the shadows of lies.

Sun rise brings the promise of a new day, but each day is fleeting and quickly comes to a close.

Son Rise – the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead – is the promise not of a new day but of a new life; a life lived in the very presence of the Lord Himself. A life that is not fleeting, that will not pass quickly, a life that is everlasting!

We have to remember there’s no Easter Sunday without Good Friday. There’s no Son Rise without the horrible, unjust, yet wonderful sacrificial death of Jesus. The juxtaposition is poignant; the indescribable fettered agony of the cross and the pure ecstasy of freedom in the resurrection.

But why did Jesus have to die, especially in such a cruel way? A good question we all have to answer, even a teenager sitting in the cold dawn of an Easter morning. We all have to come face to face with our own sin and the realization that we cannot justify ourselves before the holy God Almighty. We need a savior, one who can and will pay the price for our sins. Jesus was able and willing and that’s why He had to die. He was the only one who could redeem us, and for that He endured the cross.

Culturally sin is passé, but it’s still an accurate describer of what fills the heart of man. We are all sinners, we all need a savior, we all need Easter; not the bunny or the eggs, we need Jesus. We need amazing grace and He provides it – in abundance.   

Without Easter the past has no meaning, the present has no purpose and the future holds no hope. Have you seen the Son Rise on Easter morning?