Easter Reflections

Easter is one of the best holidays to celebrate. After all, who wouldn’t want two days off work and excessive amounts of chocolate? My family still does Easter egg hunts, and I find it so fun to be a child for that 30 minutes on Easter Sunday.

However, there’s something deeper to my appreciation of this holiday. I have always found Easter to be the time of the year that I understand more about what Jesus did for us. This year, I’ve been very busy. I have found myself not giving much thought to the reason for Easter at all. In all the busyness, though, it is important to set aside time to think about the reason we are celebrating.

A Sacrifice

Jesus died to take the weight of all our wrongdoing, so that we can have relationship with God. Jesus died so that we could have life in Him. In Mark 14:35-37, right before His death, Jesus pleads for there to be another way:

³⁵ Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him. ³⁶ “Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

When I was younger, I didn’t understand why Jesus had to die for our sin. Why can’t God just forgive it? However, as I’ve gotten older, I have started to understand that sin is offensive to God. It isn’t as simple as I thought it was. Sin has no place with our perfect God, which is why there was a gap between God and us. This passage has helped me understand Jesus’ amazing love for us and the sacrifice He made on our behalf.

A Living Hope

John 3:16 says, ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life’.

Jesus died out of God’s love for us, that we might live with Him and be with Him for eternity. The great hope that we have is that He didn’t just die. He also rose again, on the third day. Romans 8:34 says, ‘Christ Jesus who died – more than that, who was raised to life – is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us’. Even though there are things I don’t quite understand, I am so thankful for what Jesus did for us. Jesus bridges the gap between us and God so that we can know Him. That is something worth thinking about and thanking Him for this Easter.

This Easter I encourage you to open up the book of Mark, which talks about the life of Jesus, finishing at His crucifixion and resurrection. There is nothing we can do to earn His love or His grace; Jesus took upon himself what we deserved. 2 Timothy 1:9-10 says:

⁹ He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, ¹⁰ but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

Jesus paid our debt, and we have a living hope in Him. Enjoy your long weekend, and take a few moments to reflect on His sacrifice and thank God for His amazing grace.