This Easter

It has been a long while.

I lost my Mom last summer. A vicious form of cancer came unexpectedly and took her in only a few short months.

But this is not the end of the story.

This past Sunday evening, I sat at our church for the Lord's Supper in preparation for Easter. I had been a follower of Jesus for many years, and had taken part in many a communion. However, this time, God gave me a deeper understanding of the Cross through Mom.

I watched my Mom's body deteriorate in her fight against cancer. All my life, I only knew her as healthy and vibrant. She might have the (very) occasional cold, but I could not even remember her ever taking a sick day. About ten years ago, she changed careers and became an aerobics instructor. She was so good at it that she would be teaching multiple classes a day. She was fit. But the cancer changed the story. In a short time, instead of being strong and active, she became weaker and more fragile. Both the cancer cells and the radiation treatment took a toll on her body. The last ten days of her life were spent in a quarantined hospital room as she was being observed and treated for pneumonia. Her body became swollen as a result of fluids being pumped into her body to sustain her life. The last few days, her organs began to shut down one by one. The once lively person was slowly fading away. Her body was breaking down.

As I was sitting in the pew at my church for the Lord's Supper this past Sunday, I listened to the familiar Scripture about Jesus breaking bread with His disciples before He went to the Cross. 

The Lord Jesus on the night when He was betrayed took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, “This is My body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.”In the same way also He took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 

- 1 Corinthians 11: 23-25

Jesus said His body would be broken for us. For me.

Because of my Mom, I now more fully understood what it meant to have a broken body. To think that Jesus would do it for me long before I was even born from my mother's womb was too much for a human mind to truly fathom. What love was this, that Someone would love me so much that He would willingly break His body for me to save me from myself?

As I was holding in my hand the piece of bread and the sip of grape juice that symbolized his body and blood, I could only be grateful for His love for what He had done for me.

I no longer have my Mom on this earth. I can't talk to her and we can't make new memories. Some days, these thoughts sadden me.

But this is not the end of the story.

While my Mom was lying in the hospital bed and her body was shutting down, she gained a new - and eternal - life. I had the utmost privilege to lead her to Jesus a few days before she took a last breath. But this passing was not permanent. She was leaving this earth for an eternity with Jesus. She died only three months short of her 60th birthday and retirement, but she "retired" to a far better place. She went to heaven.

My Mom's physical body might have deteriorated, yet her soul had never been more alive. This is only possible because the Crucifixion was not the end of the story. Jesus died on the cross, but on the third day, He is risen! Death and sin had no grip on Him because He had victory. Today, my Mom is with Him in heaven.

Because of what He has done on the Cross and His victory, I will see my Mom again. Because of His Resurrection, we celebrate Easter.