Why Easter?

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9)” is a statement found in the book of Jeremiah. This week, in my bible reading in the book of Acts, I saw that statement in action. Paul and Barnabas had just healed a man crippled from birth in the city of Lystra and as soon as the people of the town saw that, they rushed to worship Paul and Barnabas and even offer sacrifices to them. As expected, Paul and Barnabas, tore their clothes, refuting to have worship be directed at them and telling the crowd that they were just mere men and not deities. Now, what is astonishing is that some time later, the same crowd was stoning Paul because they had been seduced by Jews from different cities who were against Paul’s message (Acts 14:8-20). This is incredible to say the least! One moment, Paul had the crowd at his feet and the next the crowd was ready to kill him. How do you explain such a transformation except for the fact that the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked? Where does that wickedness come from you may ask? Well, as we celebrate Easter, we can rejoice in the One whose heart is far from being wicked, the One who never changes and on whose love we can count on forever. Easter holiday, it seems even among Christians is not as celebrated as Christmas or Thanksgiving is here in North America and I wonder why that is given that it is one of the most important holidays of the Christian faith? Well, in my own small way, I would like today’s post to be a celebration of Jesus’ death. I would like to remind us and make us ponder anew on the true meaning of Easter. And if you already know, then hearing it again will not harm you, in fact, I hope you get to be even more joyful.

Why should we be reminded of what Jesus has done as Christians? Simply because we are prone to leave the God we love as the hymn says “prone to wonder Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love”. We are forgetful creatures and when something is not on repeat, our brain does not retain it. It only takes a generation to forget what the previous generation did. God knew how forgetful we were and He instituted feasts for the people of Israel to remember what He had done. In addition to the feasts, He also had specific instructions in His words on how to commemorate what He had done including the establishment of stones of remembrance or having to read the word of God to oneself and to children constantly. This is why, we too, must remind ourselves constantly of what the Lord had done for us particularly as we celebrate Easter. Easter, is the Christian holiday where we remember the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross and celebrate His resurrection on the third day signifying His triumph over sin and death! You may wonder, why did Jesus die? And why is it a big deal to even remember? For starters, to us who believe, if Jesus had not died on the cross, we would still be in our sins, we would still be standing in judgement before a Holy God and we would not be feasting this weekend. Jesus died on the cross in order to take upon himself the punishment that you and I deserved for our sins. We are by nature sinners, that is, humans filled with the propensity to lie, steal, mock, kill, basically to do the most heinous and horrific thing you can possibly imagine. Such horrible acts are a direct transgression to the law of God who is Holy and expects us to be Holy. Whoever transgresses the Law of God is guilty of breaking it and deserves punishment for his or her actions. At this point, it can get unsettling for you, why should I be punished at all, you wonder especially if you have repented or if God is good? The question is valid and I share the sentiment. However, we do not understand the Holiness of God in the right view, we often fail to grasp that God is not like us, that there is no sin in Him, not even a hint of filth is found in Him unlike us where even our good actions are compared to filthy rags before God in the book of Isaiah (Isaiah 64:6). We carry in us the gangrene of sin which came from our forefather Adam, the first man who sinned and left us this legacy of sin. Unfortunately, this legacy of sin means we do not try hard to displease God, we just do because we break His law over and over again. Being a God who does not tolerate lies, injustices, evil, selfishness and the likes, our actions are a direct attack on who He is therefore the two natures cannot coexist. God must restore justice and judge the sinner and this is where Jesus comes in to play. At the same time, God is love. We love because He first loved us, 1 John tells us (1 John 4:19). Because God is love, He provided mercy and grace to the human race so that whoever believes in Jesus would be forgiven and have eternal life (John 3:16). God’s love makes it possible for us to experience pardon from sins. In God’s matchless wisdom, He thought of a way to satisfy His judgement while upholding his holiness and love by sending His son Jesus, born sinless, lived without sin, lived the perfect life on earth, the life that Adam failed to live, the life that you and I failed and still fail to live. Jesus lived it without reproach. He was so perfect in all he does that he himself said he always does what pleases the Father (John 8:29). The Father also declared that Jesus is his beloved son in whom He is well pleased (Matthew 3:17). Just like Adam was the one who sinned and transferred that sin nature to us, Jesus, being righteous, also transferred his righteous nature to us when he died on the cross as a sacrificial lamb for our sins. Unlike the blood of animals that the priest had to sacrifice again and again to cleanse for sins, the blood of Jesus was shed once and for all! His death in our place satisfied the wrath of God because it went on Him. Jesus endured the wrath of God so that we would not. Having done that, Jesus took away every condemnation, every accusation that stood against us and he nailed those to the cross (Colossians 2:14). This means, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ (Romans 8:1). No one can condemn us for our wrong doings because Jesus has taken care of those accusations. The only thing that is left for us to do is simply to receive and accept what Jesus did on our behalf. We could not have been righteous before God, we could not have obeyed God perfectly, we could not have saved ourselves. The “striving after the wind” that we often do would not have amounted to anything good. But thank God Jesus was willing to obey His Father and die as a sacrificial lamb for you and me. Thank God, our story is different. Thank God, there is hope that is available in this dark world. Indeed, when you repent of your sins and acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the son of God who paid the price that you deserved, you have a new life that is given to you. Your status changes immediately, you become a child of God. You now join a larger family with siblings that are not just nuclear related but Jesus’ blood related. Moreover, you are given the promise of eternal life, you get to spend the rest of your life with your Father and your new family!

On the cross, Jesus secured our victory over sin and over death. That is why we celebrate Easter. We love to sing about the victory that we have in Christ. We love to marvel at the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. We love to draw near to Jesus as our saviour on such a day because we are filled with awe, gratitude and thankfulness. I don’t know what my life would have been like if Jesus had not died for me, I don’t know where I would be today or how my life would have turned out to be if I had not surrendered my life to Jesus but I am so grateful because God found me. What about you? What does Easter mean to you? Have you been able to receive Jesus Christ as your saviour and Lord? Have you surrendered to him yet? Would you surrender to him today? The invitation is open to you. This is the best time to say yes to Jesus, he is waiting. A time will come when his offer will expire therefore, if you hear his voice today, do not harden your heart. Come to Jesus, he is waiting. Happy Easter!