The good news around Easter – Jesus of Nazareth, whom many people believe is the Son of God, dying for the moral crimes of all who believe in him, then returning to life three days later – are beyond the sort of simple, quick understanding our culture demands.
Indeed, for a long time, Easter was a great mystery to me. But now, as a relatively new Jesus follower, I can see what is surely a welcome revelation for every human being who believes in a creator.
Consider the death of Jesus. It’s a death that could have been stopped. To the religious and Roman authorities of Jesus’ day, God could have said words to the effect of “Don’t you touch my boy”. But He didn’t.
As Philip Yancey writes in The Jesus I Never Knew, “I have marvelled at, and sometimes openly questioned, the self-restraint God has shown throughout history … but nothing — nothing — compares to the self-restraint shown that dark Friday in Jerusalem.”
The good news here is the gift of free will is for real. We can go to war against each other; we can spoil our nest through pollution and greed; we can even kill the Son of God. Still, God won’t take that gift back. To me, that means He wants a relationship with real (read: very, very imperfect) people, not robots.
Now ponder the moment where Jesus, on the cross, asked God to “forgive them (His killers); they don’t know what they’re doing.” In his book For Christ’s Sake, Tom Harpur saw that moment like this: “Jesus revealed there are no limits to God’s willingness to forgive and pardon. In a real sense, we can even stand there with those who nailed Jesus to the cross and, in our rage or despair, join in hammering the spikes. God still forgives.”
All this can be – and often is – written off quite logically by saying, well, Jesus was just another cool preacher who was killed by nasty people. End of story. But it’s not the end. The resurrection celebrated each Easter is as real to me as the computer I used to write this blog.
Nothing else could explain how apostles cowering in fear for their own lives could be transformed into world-changing evangelists and martyrs; they must have met the risen Jesus.
Furthermore, a Middle East missionary named Paul (one of the men telling people about Jesus in the Mediterranean) cites living witnesses to the resurrection. As Harpur writes, “Paul is saying those who do not believe him can go and find out for themselves.”
For me, then, the death of His Son is God making a case for complete forgiveness and free will to the court of humanity. Bringing Jesus back to life is the overwhelming proof – how better to forgive someone than to reverse their wrong altogether? Case closed.
Does this make sense to you? Post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.
Easter is God’s greatest gift to us. Without the resurrection, there would be no Christianity. May we all celebrate God’s great love and forgiveness, not just on Easter, but on every day of the year.
Blessings, Frank!
Excellent thoughts (as always), Martha. Thanks for checking in! 🙂
Forgiveness is God’s greatest gift to us and also a gift you can extend to others that will ultimately free you from anger, bitterness and regret. Praise God!
Thanks for adding this important part to the forgiveness process, Lori. 🙂
This will be the first year that I honestly understand what Easter really means. I am so greatful for all our Lord has done for us. Even when we turned away from Him or totally denied His exsistence, He still forgave us and wanted relationship with us.
So glad you’re “on the team”, Kimberly. Thanks for contributing. 🙂
I read an article in a magazine recently about a CEO whose company lost a million dollars. The CEO was asked if the person responsible was going to be fired and he said “Why should I sack him when we’ve just invested a million dollars in his training?”. Wow talk about grace and forgiveness.
I saved the article to share with a small group I meet with each week because it seemed so appropriate for the Easter season. It reminded me of the tremendous grace Jesus showed to all of us when he took our place on the cross. I’m responsible for my sins but yet Jesus said it’s OK, I’ll pay the debt for you.
Great story, Brian. Thanks for contributing in such a meaningful way. 🙂
The death and resurrection of Jesus does give every person in the world an opportunity to either believe or reject God’s perfect lamb of God in the flesh.
It’s the key question that can open the door of your heart to be forgiven and restored into a correct relationship with the Creator, just like in the beginning when God came in the cool of the day to talk with Adam and Eve.
The question Jesus asked His disciples, He ultimately asks of every human being: “Who do you say that I am?” My mom and I were discussing last night as we were reading in the Bible about God caring for sparrows and how much more valuable we are to God than sparrows.
Jesus instructs us in the Bible not to worry about what we will eat or drink or wear because we know that our heavenly Father knows we have need of these things.
But rather we are to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto us. Seek and you shall find. Ask and you shall receive. Knock and the door will be opened unto you.
Jesus is giving everyone an opportunity to get to know Him before we die our physical death. He wants us to know Him before we meet Him at the Judgment Day. We want to hear Him say to us: “well done good and faithful servant”.
Enter into the rest and into what Jesus has gone on before to prepare for those who love Him and keep His commandments. We don’t want to hear Jesus say, “depart from me, I never knew you”.
The Pharisees and scribes and lawyers knew that Jesus was talking about them when he spoke about hypocrisy. They were trying to prove that they were right with God on the outside, but God judges the heart.
He knows the intentions of the heart and warns us to keep our hearts purified from evil through Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross. To make us pure and holy and acceptable in the sight of God. It is not our good deeds which will save us in that great and dreadful Day of the Lord.
It is only by accepting and receiving God’s gift of grace through what Jesus did for every one of us on the cross. The pure and spotless Lamb of God willingly laid down His life for us so that we in turn could be offered the gift of salvation.
Our salvation was bought with a very high price. When Jesus prayed before He was arrested by Roman authorities, He asked the Father if there were any way to avoid this awful fate.
But He said nevertheless not my will, but Yours be done. He agonized over it and sweat great drops as if they were blood. But because He loves us, He humbled himself and became obedient even to the point of dying on the cross. And God raised Him from the dead on the third day! Hallelujah, what a Savior.
Yes, yes and yes Frank! They say a man’s actions reveal his character – so God’s actions reveal His; perfect Love – held out to every person -it is beyond human reasoning yet makes sense to searching hearts.
Forgiving, reconciling, loving us – the One Love that amazes sinners and saints alike…and I think – the answer to every heart. Thank you for this posting this.
Thanks for reading and commenting, Penny. Glad you found this essay useful. 🙂
The events at Easter were universe-saving, with implications for everyone of every faith, everything, even time and all creation itself. There is never any underestimating the importance of Easter. Beautifully put, Frank!