Springtime

“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!” — Luke 24:5-6 When winter has passed and I check on our bees in the early spring, I think of the question the angels asked the women at Jesus’ tomb: “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” Many beehives become “dead-outs” after a long winter. The best hope for a beekeeper is that the hive will be able to be revived by the surviving queen and worker bees.The lives of people, animals, insects, plants, and all creation are cyclical. The cycle—birth, life, and death--can be both delightful and vicious, and both bright and dreary. Then the next generation takes its turn. The revival of a honeybee hive can be hopeful, and yet there’s an end in sight. Many people settle for that, but we may also ask, “Is that all there is?”The men and women who had followed Jesus went to his tomb expecting to find the dead among the dead. So it was shocking to be confronted with the surprise that Jesus had risen from the dead! As Jesus’ followers have come to know, he is alive today, tomorrow, and forever.Jesus’ followers celebrate an everlasting spring. After his resurrection, Bible passages call him “the firstfruits” of those who have died. As his followers, we share in his victory over death. We follow Jesus from death into life, certain that in him we have resurrection life. We can trust the risen and living Savior forever! Creator God, thank you for giving us “new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3). Live in and through us, we pray, by your Holy Spirit. Amen.