My Easter post is coming to you a little early, but since I blog on Mondays, next Monday will be too late so hopefully you’ll have a week to ponder on the thoughts I share with you today.
A common aphorism at Christmas time is “Remember the Reason for the Season.” It’s a great reminder that Jesus, Our Savior, was born on Christmas day to come into the world as a baby to die as a man on a cross and resurrect three days later on Easter. So at Easter season, why don’t we say: “Remember the Reason for the Easter Season”?
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I don’t recall ever hearing that slogan used at Easter. Do you? It’s not on flags, banners, buttons we wear, or even Easter cards or mentioned in Easter sermons. I wonder why not?
[Tweet “The “Easter season” has similar distractions as Christmas that can take our focus off Jesus”]
Easter commemorates the foundation of our Christian faith. Without Easter, there would be no hope. And yet most sermons about the joy of Easter are relegated to Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday. Why don’t we talk about such a glorious day all year long?
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Easter is the reason we have forgiveness for our sins and the assurance of eternal life. As the apostle Paul reminded the Corinthians:
Let me now remind you, dear brothers and sisters of the Good News I preached to you before. You welcomed it then, and you still stand firm in it. It is this Good News that saves you if you continue to believe the message I told you—unless, of course, you believed something that was never true in the first place.
I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said.—1 Cor. 15:1-4
In my book Forsaken God?:Remembering the Goodness of God Our Culture Has Forgotten, in the chapter on Remembering His Sacrifice, I wrote:
As Christians, we understand the extreme sacrifice God and Jesus endured: God gave his One and only Son who became the last sacrificial lamb dying in atonement for our sins. Jesus died a painful and horrific death on a cross for you and for me. At Easter, we celebrate Jesus’s resurrection three days later, and he lives today at the right hand of God—preparing a place for his followers who will someday join him in eternity. And he lives within the hearts of believers.
How could we ever forget such a sacrifice, but we do.
The “Easter season” has similar distractions as Christmas that can take our focus off Jesus and His sacrifice for you and for me. Our focus can turn to church services, performances, cantatas, pageants, new clothes, brunch, family gatherings, special dinners, decorating, egg hunts, Easter baskets . . . all good things. But before we know it . . . one of the most meaningful days of the year is over.
We probably went to church, said a prayer before meals, maybe even read some Bible passages about the Last Supper, Gethsemane, the Crucifixion, and the Resurrection. But did we take time to solemnly remember and praise God for the ultimate sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ . . .
39 lashes
A crown of thorns
Hands and feet nailed to a cross
The 10,000 angels he could have called to rescue him
The world’s sins he took on himself
Feeling forsaken
The torn veil
Shed blood
The final cry, “It is finished!” (Pg. 217, Forsaken God?)
[Tweet “I pray this Easter season finds you refreshed and renewed in your relationship with Christ”]
I pray this Easter season finds you refreshed and renewed in your relationship with Christ, and the purpose He has given each of us to keep the memory of Easter alive and vibrant, every day in our hearts, speech, and actions. Let us never forget:
“You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.” Colossians 2:13-14 (NLT)
Hallelujah!
Happy Resurrection Day!
Janet
Other Easter Posts:
What Does the Moon Have to Do with Easter?
How to Share the Easter Message with You Children and Grandchildren
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This was SO REFRESHING and TRUE. I sent a picture of a crown of thorns, cross, and and empty tomb on a shirt that stayed, So much happed in 3 days, to a group text involving a preacher that posted a family picture. People commented on pastors family but NOT 1 COMMENT on the shirt message . People have LOST the VISION of CHRIST.
THANK YOU so much for the article.
Bob
I’m glad it blessed you Bob. Happy Blessed Easter!