It’s said that the outcome of the epic Battle of Waterloo was communicated by a system of flashing lights in church steeples, stretching from Waterloo to Calais and across the English Channel to Dover and on to London. The message sent was ‘Wellington defeated Napoleon.’ However, somewhere along that chain a fog obscured the final word; and so the message that got through read: ‘Wellington defeated.’ It was some hours later that people in England got the complete message and learned of one of history’s greatest victories.
It reminds me that the message of Easter initially seemed to indicate that goodness had been defeated. But when the fog disappeared and people realised Jesus had risen from the dead, the world learned once and for all that faith is stronger than unbelief, hope is greater than despair, love is more powerful than hate and life outlasts death