Imagine a world where Easter never came. No empty tomb. No risen Christ. No resurrection hope echoing through the centuries. What would we lose?

Everything.

Easter is not just a spring holiday with pastel eggs and family brunch. It’s the seismic shift of history, the moment when death itself was defeated. Without it, Christianity unravels. As the Apostle Paul wrote, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.” (1 Corinthians 15:17)

Without Easter, Jesus becomes another wise teacher lost to time, a martyr whose movement faded like so many others. The cross becomes a symbol of tragedy, not triumph. The radical forgiveness, grace, and hope that have animated the Christian faith for over two millennia lose their power without the resurrection to back them up.

But because Easter did happen, everything is different.

Easter changed how we view suffering and death. It reframed weakness as strength and made humility heroic. The resurrection planted the seeds of a new kind of kingdom—not one of domination, but of self-giving love. Empires rise and fall, but the empty tomb still stands as the turning point of history.

Philip Yancey, in his recent reflection, imagines a world without Easter, and it’s a haunting vision. A world where despair wins. Where injustice has the final word. Where grief is a dead end instead of a doorway. Without Easter, there is no assurance that light overcomes darkness. No reason to believe that love wins in the end.

But with Easter, the worst things are never the last things.

That’s why Easter still matters—not just as a historical event, but as a living reality. It means the wounds we carry don’t define our stories. It means hope is not naïve, but anchored in something real. It means that in a world marked by war, fear, and death, there is a deeper, more defiant truth: Christ is risen.

And because He lives, we can too.