"I'm Speed."
Do you remember running as a child? If not, let me reacquaint you with what it’s like: sheer, simple joy. My youngest son, Jonas, is four. When he discovered he could run, nothing could stop him. I often hear the quick pitter-pattered of his feet up and down our hallway. If I’m in eyesight, he says, “Dad, watch this.” After a lap around the house, he comes back satisfied, explaining, “Dad, I’m speed.”
It’s interesting to me that the original Easter Sunday had a lot of running. After Mary sees the empty tomb, she runs. When Peter and John hear her report, they run. As they are on their way to the tomb, John runs a little faster. Why so much running? Could it be that after the shockwave of Friday and the heaviness of Saturday, Sunday lightened their hearts enough to run? Could it be they felt like hounds with the scent of hope again and they couldn’t contain themselves any longer?
Friday had been devastating. Saturday had seemed endless. Sunday brought something unexpected.
As I think about those early moments on Sunday, it brings Job 14:7–9 to my mind:
“For there is hope for a tree,
If it is cut down, that it will sprout again,
And that its tender shoots will not cease.
Though its roots may grow old in the earth,
And its stop may die in the ground,
Yet at the scent of water it will bud
And bring forth branches like a plant.”
A stump that seems hopeless will reawakened just at the scent of water. It doesn’t take a full downpour. Just a scent. Even before the disciples saw the living Jesus on Easter, they began to run. Why? The scent of life, of hope, of promise called forth their joy.
One of my favorite scriptures is Psalm 119: 32: “I will run the course of your commandments, for You shall enlarge my heart.” When Mary first traveled to the garden tomb, she was in dire straits, confined within her own sorrow. However, when she saw the empty tomb, something within her enlarged. Her heart beat with new possibilities, and the open space within her empowered her to run.
What does it look like for you to run? What does it look like for you to operate in sheer, simple joy? What does it look like to escape the confinement of sorrow and break into the open spaces of hosanna? Perhaps it is time for you to answer these questions and get that image into your mind. Why? Because Easter always brings something new and unexpected. Howevrer, it’s not just a scent, drizzle, or shower. Easter is a deluge of hope, and it makes all things new.