It’s empty …

My Aunt Lunelle was a tall, big-boned, extroverted bundle of fun. Of Dad’s three older siblings, she was closest to his age and they had a special bond from childhood until her passing just about three years before his.  

She was absolutely enamored with her baby brother and that affection extended to her baby brother’s sons.

When we were youngsters, Aunt Nell started a tradition that lasted for almost 40 years—a family Easter Egg Hunt in Dad’s pasture. 

In the early days, it was Dad, Aunt Nell, my brother and I, and sometimes Granny and Grandpa as observers.

Over the years, it turned into a family reunion with cousins, friends, sweethearts … and hundreds of eggs.  

There was a special hunt for the little kids (my children and their young cousins) and a competitive, no-holds-barred eggstravaganza for the big “kids”—complete with prize eggs, penalty boxes, and bragging rights for a year.

Candy was consumed and the plastic eggs were emptied and returned so they could be recycled for next year.

Every once in awhile, an empty plastic egg would find its way into the hunt zone.  Even though an empty egg still counted toward the total in the competition, it was a bit of a letdown to open the egg and find … nothing.

Bummer. No candy. No prize.  It’s just empty.

This makes me think of another time someone found something unexpectedly empty.

The first Easter Sunday—though it would not be called “Easter” for several centuries—brought followers of Jesus to the tomb where he had been hastily laid after his crucifixion. His body had not been properly prepared for burial because of the observation of Sabbath.

Some of the women who had been part of his entourage came with the spices and cloth to do the final job of a proper entombment.

The four Gospel accounts of this Sunday morning (Matthew 28:1-10, Mark 16:1-8, Luke 24:1-12, and John 20:1-18) contain the varying details of different perspectives and reporters, but one thing they all agree on is that the tomb was … empty.

No body to be prepared.

Nothing to do except wonder what in the world had happened.

And perhaps feel a sense of letdown, anxiety, and helplessness.

Empty.

What now?

As we read the story, we see the different ways the realization comes that the empty tomb was a reason for joy and hope instead of fear and anxiety.

Jesus was alive! He had risen from the dead!

It would not be long until the followers of Jesus would begin worshiping together on the first day of the week instead of the Sabbath—in celebration of the empty tomb.

They began greeting one another with these words: “He is risen. He is risen indeed.”

Amazingly, the path to eternal life passes through the stark reality of emptiness. 

The past year has been filled with empty. 

Don’t lose hope. The story is not done.

He is risen.