Rebuilding

What difference does Easter make in the reality of our every day lives?  One of the most significant aspects of Easter is God’s ability to do new things in circumstances where everything seems humanly impossible.  After all, what is more radical in terms of God’s possibility in the midst of complete impossibility than raising somebody from the dead?  Jeremiah 31:1-6 describe God’s radical “Easter” in the life of Israel.  The northern kingdom, Samaria, was under foreign rule, and the southern kingdom, Judah, would soon be under foreign rule as well.  There’s destruction in the North, and there’s destruction approaching the South.  So Jeremiah’s “Easter” message of hope is that God will intervene and rebuild all the clans of Israel were there is only a sense of loss in the midst of destruction.  Where there is this great sense of having lost everything you know and love, and that everything you trust has been taken away from you, God shows up with his “favor” (31:2) and “everlasting love” (31:3) to declare his trustworthiness (31:1) that will result in God’s rebuilding process (31:4).  And those who hear God’s amazing “Easter” promise can only rejoice in knowing that even in the most hopeless of circumstances, God can be trusted to do new things (31:5-6).  Does Easter make a difference in your life where everything seems to be lost?

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