Several years ago, my wife and I watched this obscure Netflix series, Glitch. It is set in modern-day Australia. It opens with a teenage boy riding his bike near a graveyard at night. Spooky, right? It gets worse. He spots the impossible.  He watches with fascination mixed with horror as the dead come back to life.  They claw their way out of the ground.  He calls the police and an officer shows up.  He, too, is mystified.  He, along with a doctor, get all the “ex-dead” on to a gurney and haul them back to a clinic in the neighboring small town.  After they clean the former dead up by washing off the mud, the police officer makes a startling discovery.  One of the dozen or so resurrected turns out to be his departed wife, who had died of cancer only a year before. He is over the moon with joy.

But there is a glitch (hence the title).   He has already remarried, and his new wife was expecting a baby. Evidently, he wasn’t big into grieving.  That is not all.  He married his departed wife’s best friend.  That reunion wasn’t so cheery.  It is best described as “awkward.”  So as incredible as the police officer’s first wife returning from the dead might have been, it came at a price. In fact, it kind of created a mess. For him and the other families who experienced the same.   Relationships had to be re-evaluated. Some marriages were ruined. Some lives were even cut short.  Resurrection turned everything upside down.

Jesus coming back to life on that first Easter was, of course, wonderful and joyful, but make no mistake about it; it made things messy.   For all of Jesus’ followers, they had to make a choice.  Stay put and play it safe?   Or go to Galilee.  Galilee is where Jesus’ ministry began.  It would be in Galilee where they would have to go to meet Jesus again and receive their new mission to go tell the world about Jesus’ resurrection.  And that was exceedingly dangerous.  So, yes, Jesus coming back from the dead was unbelievably joyful, but it also caused a huge glitch for those first Jesus followers. Their lives were about to be turned upside down and inside out.  In fact, according to church tradition, all the original 12 disciples, once you removed Judas and subtracted John, were brutally executed.

If you are a Jesus follower, please join me in celebrating Easter this month.  It was the most pivotal point in history, in my humble opinion.  Glorious indeed. But don’t miss this detail.  Don’t ignore the fact that believing in Jesus’ resurrection can create a glitch.  It can cause life to get messy. It can lead to division in families, friends, and even marriages.  Like the first disciples, our lives can very well be turned upside down and inside out, too. We should expect the glitches. Expect the occasional or even regular rejection or loneliness. Maybe worse.   But here is the good news in the Good News.  The One who was resurrected from the dead doesn’t leave us hanging.  He walks with us as we walk with Him.  Hear some of his final words: “I am with you always, till the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).  Knowing that God is with us, we can have the courage and the power to overcome any glitch we face.