As Easter dawned this year, I felt the same sense of relief I always feel. Good Friday had passed, along with that mysterious Saturday when we aren’t sure exactly where the spirit of Jesus was or what he was doing. Once Sunday dawns, the mourning and uncertainty are blown away like leaves in a gust of wind.

I like to think about that first Easter, putting together the details we read in the 4 Gospels. When the women were walking to Jesus’ tomb, they were consumed with grief over losing their beloved friend and Lord. According to Scripture, they walked to the garden cemetery while it was still dark, wondering how they were going to get into the tomb to lovingly apply spices to Jesus’ body.

Scripture hints that it was only shortly before they arrived that God the Father had dispatched two angels from heaven, telling them, “It’s time! Go to Jerusalem and open my Son’s grave!”

Matthew tells us one of those angels rolled the heavy stone away, no doubt a task of great joy to this heavenly being. I can just imagine Jesus sitting up on that stone slab with the angels’ lightning-like clothing illuminating the dark tomb in that pre-dawn hour. Maybe the angels helped him remove his grave clothes. Maybe they even brought along a new outfit for him to wear.

And then it was time. Jesus stood, put one foot in front of the other, and walked away from death and out of that tomb! And it seemed that within minutes he encountered Mary Magdalene. He was still close to the tomb entrance, and he told her not to touch him, since he hadn’t yet been to the Father, which leads us to believe he was newly-risen. (Not too long after that he had no problem letting people touch him.)

Though Mary was so shrouded in grief she didn’t recognize Jesus at first, she quickly came around (“Rabboni!”) and knew who he was, believing that somehow he had come alive again. And there it was: Happy Easter #1! Mary didn’t wait to understand it all. She just believed.

The same is true for us today, nearly 2000 Easters later. There is much we can’t figure out about that first Easter, and we crave answers to our questions. But whether we understand it or not isn’t what matters. The important thing is that we believe it.

It’s a great privilege to live on this side of Christ’s resurrection. And each year, as we go into the sadness of Good Friday, we already know our Happy Easter morning is a guarantee. But may that awareness never dull the glorious truth of what Jesus did for Mary Magdalene on that first Easter… and for all the rest of us who believe.

“Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” (Acts 16:31)