Activities: Worship: Easter Story

Last week we shared the story of Passover, and today we'll share another story
that is part of our Judeo-Christian heritage; one of the sources we draw
on as Unitarian Universalists.

On Easter, Christians celebrate what they call "the Resurrection". That word
means "coming back to life after being dead". When Christians use the word,
they are referring to one person in particular; a man named Jesus.

Jesus was a Jewish man, born around 2000 years ago. He lived in the area we
know as the Middle East, at a time when it was part of the Roman Empire.
That meant that a government far away, across the sea, was in charge of the
laws that people had to live by.

The Jews believed that one day, a great man would be born, a Messiah, a
Savior, and that Messiah would set them free forever from people and governments that wanted to control their lives. They looked forward to that day.

When Jesus grew to be a man, he went from place to place, teaching, telling
stories and talking to people that he met along the way. Some of the people
began to believe that he was the Messiah they were expecting. Others did not
think so. And some began to believe that he was a troublemaker and a problem.

After about three years of his traveling and teaching, Jesus was arrested one
Thursday night, just as he finished his Passover supper.

He was brought before judges and put to death that very Friday. His body was
wrapped in cloths and put into a tomb in a garden, with a large stone rolled
across the doorway.

Saturday came and went, and then, before dawn on Sunday, a woman named Mary
Magdalene entered the garden. She was crying, for she missed her friend
Jusus very much. She had come to sit beside his tomb and grieve.

When she arrived, she saw that the large stone that had covered the
entrance had been rolled away. She crept up to the opening and peered inside. The tomb was empty except for the cloths that Jesus' body had been wrapped in.

Mary turned away, not knowing what to think. Just then, she saw a man
standing beneath a tree. Thinking he was the gardner, she said, "Please, if you've taken him, tell me where he lies."

Mary heard the man say her name and knew that it was her friend Jesus, risen
from the dead. She was overcome with joy.

Mary Magdalene ran to tell Jesus' folowers that their friend was alive and
well; that he was their Messiah. And though he would soon be with his God, he
would always be with them as well.

Some people believe that Jesus literally came back to life after he died, but
many Unitarian Universalists believe that this is a metaphor, another way of
making the point, that this special person's message lived on in spite of his
death.