By Rev. Jay Therrell
April 4, 2023
On an ordinary winter day in 1961 a man named Edward Lorenz, a meteorologist from MIT, was running some routine experiments when he came across some interesting results. Lorenz discovered that seemingly tiny and insignificant changes in his data could produce huge differences in the result of the experiment. Lorenz continued to try experiments and found each time that small, almost infinitesimal changes at the beginning would create very large differences in the outcome. He and his scientist friends in the field of chaos theory called this discovery “the sensitive dependence on initial data.”
Fortunately, later, Lorenz coined a much simpler term: the butterfly effect. In 1972 he published a paper entitled Predictability: Does the Flap of a Butterfly’s Wings in Brazil Set off a Tornado in Texas? Now Lorenz didn’t argue that a butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil would cause a tornado on another continent, but his argument is that the butterfly, so small and simple, could start a chain reaction that leads to giant changes in world-wide weather patterns. In other words, even small, seemingly insignificant actions can produce huge changes that affect millions of people. (1)
To most of the people in Jerusalem, that first Easter morning was a small, seemingly insignificant event. It was a Sunday more or less like any other. There were very few people who realized the momentous nature of what had happened when Jesus died on the cross. The Roman governor was happy that he had kept the peace. The religious leaders of the day were thrilled the thorn in their side was gone. The thrill seeking rubberneckers that had come to watch the horrible spectacle of crucifixion had gotten their temporary fill and had gone on about their lives.
That first Easter Sunday morning, John tells us that Mary Magdalene went to visit Jesus’ tomb and that she discovered the stone in front of it had been rolled away. Even Mary Magdalene didn’t really get what had happened. She thought someone had stolen Jesus’ body. In John 20:2 she’s recorded as saying, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him.” She went and got the Apostles Peter and John, and they, too, checked out the tomb and missed the significance of what had happened. In John 20:9, we’re told, “They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.”
Finally, Jesus was standing in front of Mary Magdalene, and she still didn’t get it. Mary thought Jesus was a gardener. In John 20:15, not realizing she was talking to Jesus in the flesh, she said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” Finally, when Jesus said her name, Mary got it! This was a momentous day after all. It started off ordinary, but quickly Mary realized the very fabric of creation had been altered. Off she ran to tell the disciples of Jesus’ resurrection, shouting, “I have seen the Lord!”
And the world was never the same again.
That small, seemingly insignificant moment began a world-wide butterfly effect. A rolled away stone and some empty grave clothes gave way to the knowledge that Jesus is alive and that evil and sin are defeated once and for all time. Death had been transformed into new Life, and that new life is now available to every one of us. It’s the butterfly effect to end all butterfly effects as we still feel the effects of that day 2,000 years later!
The butterfly has been a symbol for Christianity for centuries. It’s the symbol of transformation into new life. It’s the metaphor for what happens when we choose to follow this risen Jesus as our Lord. Only in taking the risk of dying in the cocoon can the caterpillar go from a creepy crawling thing to a soaring delight filled with splendor. That’s why the butterfly is an authentic symbol of resurrection! Not because it’s cute, but because it risks dying to be born to new life.
This Easter, we can do the very same thing. So many of us are tired of the lives we’re leading. We’re tired of trying the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results – the very definition of insanity. We know there’s something more to life and that we were created for something greater, but we haven’t taken the risk of dying to our old selves, choosing to follow Jesus by making Him Lord of our lives, and emerging into a transformed person.
We may feel like we’ve been crawling on the ground, but the butterfly effect begun on that first Easter Sunday can include us when we say “yes” to Jesus and let Him transform us into a beautiful, soaring “butterfly” that has been declared not guilty before God and is available to be the person God created us to be.
The most exciting part is that when we all come together – as followers of Jesus – the butterfly effect that began with the opening of Jesus’ tomb on that first Easter Sunday becomes a global wave of salvation. Addictions are broken. Marriages are saved. Unborn babies are cherished and protected. Followers of Jesus find new life and, over time, allow the Holy Spirit to shape them into the masterpieces God created them to be.
The people that were surrounding the cross on Good Friday and the tomb on Easter Sunday didn’t get the significance of what had happened. Even the disciples missed it at first. It was the butterfly effect to end all butterfly effects – the world is different forever now that Jesus has declared victory over sin, evil, and death.
The ripple effects of that first day of victory 2,000 years ago are still felt to this day – in fact they continue to grow deeper and bigger. Part of that heritage is now being lived out in our own Global Methodist Church! We are bringing Jesus’ salvation to the entire globe.
Just like a caterpillar that risks death by entering the cocoon only to emerge a beautiful butterfly and soar into the skies, we, too, can make the decision to die to our old selves and transform into something beautiful – a new beginning – filled with God’s love that not only has new life, but helps bring new life to others.
Happy Easter!
The Rev. Jay Therrell is the president of the Wesleyan Covenant Association and an ordained elder in the Global Methodist Church.
(1) Kenneth Chang. “Edward N. Lorenz, a Meteorologist and a Father of Chaos Theory, dies at 90.” NewYorkTimes.com (4-17-08).