Easter is a time when our spirits can be lifted, isn’t it?  

In Europe, it’s springtime. Where I’m now living, just outside Brussels, there’s blossom everywhere.  Up the road from me, there’s a really magnificent magnolia tree, in full pink blossom.   Soon after arriving two months ago, I planted some daffodil bulbs in a tub. They’re now in full bloom. 

It’s not just blossom and bright flowers that can lift our spirits at Easter time though, is it?  

In the Book of Acts, there’s a short, uplifting word that’s repeatedly used in speeches by the apostles.  The word is this: but. 

‘They killed him’ St Peter says to a Roman soldier and his companions  ‘but…’  

‘But God raised him from the dead’. 

We hear that phrase – or one very similar – six times in speeches from the apostles in the Book of Acts.  ‘But’ God raised him from the dead. Complete reversal.  What looked so depressing was turned into a magnificent outcome.  Far more glorious than even a magnolia tree in full springtime blossom.  It’s at the heart of what St Peter calls in one of these speeches ‘the good news of peace, through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all’ - and the one God raised from the dead. 

As we look around us, especially at the world’s conflict zones, and perhaps worry that destructive forces somehow have the upper hand..let’s keep in mind that ‘but’.  Destructive forces killed Jesus of Nazareth, but God raised him from the dead.  And that triumph points to the time when all destructive forces will have their fortunes reversed, through the risen and ascended Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. 

So let’s hold on firmly to that ‘but’ this Easter time.  And may God lift our spirits as we do so. 

I wish you a joyful Easter.