there is something in this festival which meets the need and longing of
their hearts. It is a day of joy and gladness, a day of liberation and
promise, a day for flowers to bloom and birds to sing, a day of
spiritual spring-tide and immortal hope.

Mankind desires and needs such a day. We are overshadowed in all our
affections and aspirations, all our efforts, and designs, by the dark
mystery of bodily death; the uncertainty and the brevity of earthly
existence make us tremble and despair; the futility of our plans dismays
us; the insecurity of our dearest treasure in lives linked to ours fills
us with dismay.

Is there no escape from Death, the Tyrant, the autocrat, the destroyer,
the last enemy? Why love, why look upward, why strive for better things
if this imperator of failure, ultimate extinction, rules the universe?
No hope beyond the grave means no peace this side of it. A life without
hope is a life without God. If Death ends all, then there is no Father
in Heaven in whom we can trust. Who shall deliver us from the body of
this Death?

Now comes Easter with its immortal promise and assurance, Jesus of
Nazareth, who died on Calvary, a martyr of humanity, a sacrifice of
Divinity, is alive and appears to His humble followers. The manner of
His appearance, to Mary Magdalene, to His disciples, is not the most
important thing. The fact is that He did appear. He who was crucified in
the cause of righteousness and mercy, lives on and forever. The message
of His resurrection is "the power of an endless life."

The proof of this message is in the effect that it produced. It
transformed the handful of Jesus' followers from despair to confidence.