Last year at this time, I learned that a new Veggie Tales DVD entitled ‘Twas the Night before Easter was soon to be released. I watched the two-minute trailer on line but was not able to tell very much about it. Apparently, it deals with an Easter Pageant in which the local town’s people (or should I say local town’s vegetables) try to persuade a famous singer to participate. It appears to be full of the characteristic fun, music, and Christian messages that make Veggie Tales one of my favorite gifts to give my grandchildren.
It was, however, the title that intrigued me most, and I could not stop thinking about how neglected the night before Easter is in our celebration of this most Holy season. The night before both Easters—the first Passover in Egypt (the precursor of Easter) and the first Easter when Jesus Christ was crucified—are often given minimal attention because our emphasis is on the deliverance from slavery in Egypt and the resurrection of Jesus Christ and all that it promises.
The significance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is, of course, of inestimable importance. It is the basis for our faith and our hope. Yet, the night before Easter also has much to teach Christians about faith and hope.
Both the first Passover and the first Easter were nights filled with death, uncertainty, and fear. In Egypt the Israelites witnessed the death of all firstborn males, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh to the firstborn son of his lowliest slave, and even the firstborn male animals—all who were not under the protective covering of the blood of the lamb. The Bible says, “The wail of death will resound throughout the entire land of Egypt; never before has there been such anguish, and it will never be again” (Living Bible). How incredible! The night before the Nation of Israel was gloriously delivered from slavery, on the last day of the 430th year of their being in Egypt, the Israelites endured a night of such anguish and terror that God promised “it will never be again.”
Likewise, on the night before the first Easter, hope seemed to have disappeared from the earth. Jesus’ followers were scattered, disillusioned, and terrified. Luke gives the account of the two men on the road to Emmaus who were discussing the crucifixion—this was on Sunday, the day Jesus arose, but these followers had not yet heard the news. Nothing had turned out as they had imagined it would. Now their faith had all but disappeared as Cleopas demonstrated when he remarked, “We had thought he was the glorious Messiah and that he had come to rescue Israel” (Living Bible).
Many of us feel as if we are living in our own night before Easter. Some of us have lost our jobs, our businesses, our retirement accounts and our homes. Things have not turned out at all as we had believed they would. We are experiencing financial upheaval, threats of terrorism, and a flood of uncertainty in almost every aspect of our lives. This is a very scary time.
I hope that as Easter approaches, we will remember how hopeless things looked the night before that first Passover and the night before that first Easter. I hope that we will be emboldened by the knowledge that although on both occasions God’s people felt that they had been deserted, they were never alone. God led them out of Egypt with mighty miracles. On the road to Emmaus Jesus appeared to his followers and walked along with them, even though, at first, they did not recognize Him. He comforted them and told them that everything that had happened was part of God’s plan.
The night before the first Easter was an absolutely necessary part of the fulfillment of God’s promise on Easter morning. Whatever we are going through in our personal lives this Easter season, we need to concentrate on God’s promises to His children and not become discouraged. Jesus has called us his “friends” and has promised that He will never desert us. With a friend like that, how can we fear our enemies?
Joyce Swann is a nationally-known author and speaker. Her own story of teaching her ten children from the first grade through master’s degrees before their seventeenth birthdays is retold in her book, Looking Backward: My Twenty-Five Years as a Homeschooling Mother. For more information visit her website at http://www.frontier2000.net or like her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/frontier2000mediagroup.
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