Without Easter

He is not here but is risen. Luke 24:6

Without Easter’s true meaning

How could hope’s well-spring surge

And without heaven’s Offering

What then could our guilt purge?

Without Love’s ‘it is finished’

How could we ever sing?

No joy could yield full measure nor

Hope’s hallelujahs ring

Without Death’s resurrection

Salvation would be dead

And every bloom a gloomy thorn

Pressed hard upon the head

Without Easter, then Christmas

Would be a vain affair

Without Easter eternity

Would be too long to bear

Without Easter, our passage

Through life’s struggle and pain

Would be a hellish foretaste

Of all that yet remains

Without Easter, a promise

Would be hollow, and Hope

A mystery; without Easter

Tell me, how could we cope?

© Janet Martin

What is hope? The world cries. What is another word for hope? There is only one word for hope; Jesus. Why Jesus? Because of what we call Easter.