Easter is more than just remembering.
It’s acting on what it means if a Man really had the power to raise Himself back to life and walk out of a tomb.
“And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” (Jesus, quoted in John 12:32, NLT)
For some people, Easter is about wearing the best outfit to church. For others, it’s about going to church, annually, or maybe Christmas, too, and paying homage to a nice man who died because He was nice. For others, it’s about giving up a certain kind of food. For others, it’s hunting for brightly colored plastic eggs that hide candy. Still others try to combine all this together and make it a religious holiday with secular benefits. Maybe filling Easter eggs with mostly candy, but putting crosses in a few.
Bunnies? Chicks? Tulips? Baskets? Chocolates? Easter eggs? ‘Sunday best’ clothes? An hour in a church?
Or a Man on a cross?
Which one doesn’t belong? Bunnies, chicks, candies, new clothes, even a trip to church—it could all be a spring holiday. But there is no way to force into that story a Man on a cross. He does not, and cannot, belong with the others. You can turn from the cross, you can move away from it, but you cannot put bunnies or brightly colored eggs around its foot. There is only blood and forgiveness there.
I have to ask myself a hard question. A question I can’t answer without digging down past what I think, what I feel, and uncovering my very soul.
What does Easter mean to me?
At my heart, is Easter about new blades of grass growing, birds chirping, rabbits hopping? Is it about new dresses, new jewelry, new shoes? Is it about singing a few songs about a nice man?
Or is Easter the linchpin of my life? Is it the ground on which I walk, the breath in my lungs, the beat in my heart, the rhythm in my pulse, the spine in my back? Is it everything I have ever needed to know who I am and who God is? Is Easter my escape, my plan with no fallbacks, my sword, my shield, my fortress, my island, my Heaven, and the nailed palm that carries my soul?
Not if Easter is about anything except the Man on the cross.
Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.” And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.” (Matthew 26:38-39, ESV)
Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.” (Matthew 26:42, ESV)
he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same words again. (Matthew 26:44b, ESV)
So they took Jesus, and he went out, bearing his own cross, to the place called The Place of a Skull, which in Aramaic is called Golgotha. There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, and Jesus between them. (John 19:16b-18, ESV)
When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. (John 19:30, ESV)
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