When I was eight or nine, my family bought Franco Zeffirelli’s six-hour miniseries Jesus of Nazareth (1977) on video and we spent quite a few Sunday mornings slowly going through the series, learning about the life of Christ. During the last hour, Jesus’ trial and crucifixion are portrayed. I knew the basic story, having heard it retold each Easter for as long as I could remember, but seeing it portrayed so vividly was a different matter. I watched with horror as Jesus was tried, mocked, beaten, and crucified. Watching Jesus die was too much to bear. My heart broke and tears flowed.

          My mother saw my anguish and pulled me near. “But honey,” she said, a smile lighting up her face, “the best is yet to come. He is alive!”

          Sure enough, after that terrible death came His glorious resurrection, and with it all my anguish was washed away. After we had finished the video and our discussion, I drew a picture of Jesus smiling down from Heaven. I was so thankful that the greatest story ever told had a happy ending!

          I believe day-to-day life is a bit like Easter. We experience disappointments, sorrow, and pain, but through our Savior we can find sweet relief and “resurrection.” Our troubles won’t last forever. In those moments when we feel like we are dying, when we feel burdened and full of sorrow, we need to remember that the “best is yet to come.” Just as Jesus’ death was not the end, only the beginning, so the problems of life that threaten to undo us can signal a new beginning, the turning of a new page. That’s Easter—the joy of starting again.

          “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die” (John 11:25–26). “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16–18).

            Happy Easter! Happy resurrection!

          Ariana Keating is a member of the Family International in Thailand.