Do you prefer Christmas to Easter? If so, that’s understandable, after all the Christmas story has a newborn baby, a young couple in need of hospitality, a glorious star, angelic choirs and woolly sheep... what a cast! In contrast, what does Easter have to offer? A stone rolled back, an empty tomb and neatly folded linens, three women running to tell others about what they’ve seen yet do not understand.

Another way of looking at the holidays is this: at Christmas we say “hello” to Jesus, but at Easter we say “goodbye”. For, in a way, Easter is about “parting company” with His disciples. When Jesus rose from the dead He was not merely resuscitated like Lazarus, He went beyond death to an intrinsically new life. After appearing to the disciples and others who loved Him, the Lord was received into heaven and sat at the right hand of God, saying “I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you” (John 16:7). The disciples went out and preached the Good News, empowered by the promised Holy Spirit. And so it is today! Yes, in one sense, Jesus is always with us, but in a deep way, Jesus goes before us beckoning us to be His disciples.

After Christmas the world would never be the same. After Easter, we as Christ’s followers will never be the same!