Hopefully, we’ll hear those words a lot over the next few days. After our experience of the last year and of the ongoing pandemic, it might seem a strange thing to be saying: Happy Easter! Why should we be happy this Easter?

The word “happy” comes from a Middle-English word that carries the sense of “lucky” or “fortunate”—we use it to communicate pleasure, wellbeing or contentment. The biblical sense is much deeper, though. The Beatitudes are not just about luck or good fortune, pleasure or contentment. The Greek makarios—that gives the meaning of what Jesus communicates, carries a deep sense of blessedness; a profound contentment that comes from knowing we are a child of God, a beloved child of the Father.

How vital it is for every Christian to live their life out of the knowledge that they are a beloved child of God? This is the true source of our identity and our happiness—this is the wellspring of our joy. Here is the source of our peace.

Jesus came to the fullest appreciation of his Father’s love when he was raised from the dead. How he appreciated the depth of his Father’s love when he learned that this love would not let him die.

So “Happy Easter!” dear brothers and sisters, “Happy Easter!”