Have you ever wondered why people love spring?

My favourite day of the year comes just before Christmas.

People are often surprised when I tell them that I love the winter solstice, given that they know I’m not a fan of winter, which the solstice marks the start of. But in my mind at least, it actually marks the start of spring. From that moment onwards, I know the days are getting longer and spring will come!

Some people notice the arrival of spring with improvements in the weather. The problem is that, in the UK, I’ve known days in the middle of winter to be warmer than high summer. Last July, I was driving into town when I noticed that the thermometer on the dashboard was registering just 12 degrees Celsius! If it hadn’t been for the leaves on the trees, I could have been forgiven for thinking it was December.

We hope that death and darkness will not have the final word, that life and light will yet come

Therefore, I find watching the plants, rather than the weather, far more reliable. I haven’t yet met anyone who doesn’t take at least some joy in the sight of the first daffodils of spring. They tell us that winter is ending, the days are getting longer and, with any luck, the weather is going to improve. At some point, it actually starts to feel warm again. I love observing people on that first sunny day – even people queuing at the bus stop on their way to work have smiles on their faces.

Eternal hope

It seems we all love spring. But why? I think that the answer is: hope. Spring brings the hope that winter will not last forever; summer will come. But I think it awakens a deeper hope in us. As we look at our broken and divided world, we hope for so much more. An end to violence, injustice and conflict. A hope that the world could become a better place – but will it?

According to the Christian story, the answer is: “Yes!” The Bible tells us that the world we live in is not the way it once was. Something has gone wrong and we see the evidence of it all around us. But the Bible also says that the world we live in is not the way it will be one day. This broken world will be put right.

Christian hope it not about escaping our world to go to some celestial paradise – in fact quite the opposite. The penultimate chapter of the Bible describes how heaven comes to earth: “Then I saw a ‘new heaven and a new earth’…And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away’” (Revelation 21:1-4).

One of the main things people observed about the early Christian community was their hope. One early Christian leader instructed other believers to be ready to explain the reason for the hope that they had (1 Peter 3:14-16). In the midst of suffering and hardship, this was so noticeable that it provoked questions. The social historian, Rodney Stark, pointed out that one of the ways early Christians demonstrated their hope was their willingness to risk their lives to care for others during the plagues that swept through the Roman Empire. This led not only to many people surviving, but it also caused them to embrace the same faith.

Describing hope

In the Bible, we find that the very passing of the seasons is meant to remind us of this ultimate reality. The Jewish year didn’t start in the middle of winter (January), but in autumn (September). And unlike our own, biblical days didn’t start at midnight but at dusk. Just as each year was a journey from death to life, so each day was journey from darkness to light.

My favourite description of spring comes from CS Lewis’ The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe. The magical land of Narnia is under a curse so that it is “always winter and never Christmas”. However, the coming of Aslan breaks the power of the witch’s magic and ushers in spring. The Christian imagery is clear – Aslan is the Christ figure who brings an end to the power of evil and ushers in the spring of new life, although the twist is that it requires his own voluntary death.

Lewis’ friend, JRR Tolkien also employed the cycle of the seasons in The Lord of the Rings. The book takes place over the course of one year, travelling through the darkness of winter with the main characters longing to return to the shire in time for summer.

Perhaps the reason that we love spring is that, deep down, we long for an eternal spring. We hope that death and darkness will not have the final word, that life and light will yet come. If the Bible’s vision of reality is correct, then our love of spring really does point us towards something even greater. According to the Bible, death has been defeated through the death of Jesus – and nothing can stop spring from coming.

Have You Ever Wondered? by Andy Bannister and Gavin Matthews is out now. You can also get a FREE COPY when you subscribe to Premier Christianity magazine