In darkness did our Lord die. In darkness did he pay for our sins. With that darkness the apostles' fire was put out. As darkness covered the land, they saw the Lord in anguish. Their teacher, messiah, and friend was slain.

And the Father? He watched as his own son was deserted by all of his friends in the darkness of night. He let the darkness cover the land. And, for the love of his image-bearers, he deserted his own son, rending the fellowship that had existed from eternity.

Yet even in those dark hours, the light of hope did not die. And on that first paschal morning, a guttering, dying flame rose and blazed as bright as the sun itself. With what joy did the Father receive his son again to life! One imagines a holy laugh among eternal friends, a laugh from which death cowers, for its days are numbered.

With what joy did Jesus rise like the sun on the shadows of his friends' sorrow! And the Marys and Salome passed the light of Christ to Peter and John, who passed it to the other apostles. And today, all the corners of the earth are being filled with the light of Christ, and those lights will be as numberless as the stars in the sky. Now, let us be filled anew with the light of Christ's joy, and worship our Lord and our God. Alleluia! Christ is risen!