If you’ve also felt like the past six weeks were “plenty Lent-y,” it’s time to rejoice. While Lent is only 40 days long, the liturgical season of Easter is 50 days long, so it is time to rejoice and remember that we are Easter People.
O God, who on this day, through your Only Begotten Son, have conquered death and unlocked for us the path to eternity, grant, we pray, that we who keep the solemnity of the Lord’s Resurrection may, through the renewal brought by your Spirit, rise up in the light of life. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.
Two words have been on my mind as I’ve meditated on this prayer. The first is unlocked. You can only unlock an already-locked door. The prayer tells us that what was locked was our way to eternity. That way, or path, or door, was locked in Genesis when Adam and Eve disobeyed God.
In movies and TV shows, when there is a prison scene, some of the most haunting sounds are those of the door sliding closed, or the creek of the hinges as it is closed. Then comes the bang when the door hits the grate and you hear the lock being engaged. I wondered what a person’s thoughts would be when they hear that sound. When you now have nothing but the clothes on your back and nothing but time to think.
When Adam and Eve were expelled from the garden, there probably wasn’t the clang of a door, and they weren’t locked inside, they were locked out. I wondered about their thoughts as well. They had no home, no place to sleep, one set of clothes, and nothing to eat. I can only imagine was was going through their minds, but I’m sure they were feeling some new feelings, those of blame, anger, fear, guilt, and shame.
Maybe they expected God to send a savior the next day or the next week.They didn’t know that for thousands of years after them, people were still waiting. The door was still locked.
Eden isn’t just about a garden, Eden is a place where we can be in spiritual communion with God and it is the promise of life with Him for eternity. Until the day whenJesus rose from the dead, the door was locked.
That day brings for us renewal brought by the Holy Spirit. The same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead brings us to life, too. Not only do we receive life, we can rise up, like Jesus, and live in the light of life.
Light was the second word I’ve been pondering. I prayed a long time about how to express the feelings I had about the light of life. The answer came to me as I scrolled through the online TV guide. You know how sometimes have something on TV, but you just want to see what else is on? That’s what I was doing and I noticed the darkness in many of the titles of the programs that were on.
Often times there are areas in our lives which carry darkness. Perhaps it could be called the darkness of life. However, there is an amazing thing that happens when we recognize the darkness and call it out. The darkness is now forced to come into the light and is conquered. This is living in the light of life, who is the Light of the World. Jesus, the Light of the World, didn’t just carry the keys, He is the Key that unlocked the path to eternal life and brings light the world.