Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24, Isaiah 25:6-9, I Corinthians 15:1-11, John 20:1-18

“Do not be afraid…they will see me.”

These are words Jesus spoke to Mary Magdalene and Mary as they encountered him while running from the empty tomb on Easter Sunday morning to tell the disciples all they had seen and heard—a violent earthquake, an empty tomb, an angel appearing as lightening, and fear overwhelming Roman guards. After the fear and grief of Saturday, they awoke to the joy only Sunday could bring.

I have known fear, and I have known the difficulty in seeing clearly through the veil of paralyzing doubt. While I write these words in mid-January, I’m contemplating the final days of my father’s life as he wins his battle with end-stage cancer, and the near-end of real connection with my mother as dementia slowly diminishes her memory. These are the days and nights of pain and suffering, of doubt and despair, of fear and fainting sight.

Perhaps it’s no accident that I agreed to write this Easter Sunday Lenten meditation. All of us have or will have that moment when our world will turn to darkness, when hope will feel out of reach, fear will overtake us, and our sight will grow dim.

After their encounter with Jesus, Scripture tells us that Mary Magdalene and Mary were “afraid yet filled with joy”—the “dark night of the soul” met the “joy that comes in the morning.”

Afraid yet filled with joy! As I celebrate Easter Sunday, I will have been to my father’s tomb, and I will have likely moved closer to saying goodbye to the memory-life of my mother. I will have walked the path of mourning and will have begun to embrace the path of morning—the journey by which joy overcomes fear, hope integrates with grief, and promise breathes new life into the future.

What journey are you on today? Has fear overwhelmed and paralyzed you such that it’s difficult to see and embrace a future? Has joy come to you in the early hours and given you a hope and a promise? Or perhaps life is going well, and you’re preparing for a yet unknown Saturday. Regardless, resurrection is a reminder that death does not have the final say—joy, hope, and promise are the light that breaks into darkness, giving life to those who seek faith, hope, and love. And seek we must. Do not be afraid. You will see him.

Wayne Barnard, Lecturer

Department of Psychological Sciences, College of Science and Math