Easter is, in all honesty, my favorite holiday. Thanksgiving and Christmas are both lovely holidays and have a magic all their own. However, without Easter, we don’t celebrate Christmas. Without a resurrection, there’s no reason to celebrate a birth. Without a risen Savior, Christianity is empty as the tomb was 2,000 years ago.
“And if Christ has not risen, then our preaching is in vain [it amounts to nothing] and your faith is devoid of truth and is fruitless (without effect, empty, imaginary, and unfounded).” 1 Cor. 15:14 (AMP)
I was really looking forward to Easter this year, as I didn’t celebrate as I normally would while in Germany (I tried… but that’s another story.) I missed attending Resurrection Sunday service, taking communion, enjoying brunch, and eating too many jellybeans. So, as the realization set in that the pandemic would prevent all these activities from taking place, I was bummed. Just add it to the list of everything else this craziness has canceled, I thought. I understand the importance of flattening the curve, but to be disappointed is to be human.
Thankfully, there is a truth we can still cling to – Christ is still risen. Christ is still risen even though we didn’t sing “Risen” (for the umpteenth Resurrection Sunday) under one roof, or partake in communion physically together, or enjoy brunch with extended family. Christ is still risen amidst a pandemic. Christ is still risen.
"He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay." Matthew 28:6 (NKJV)
And that, my friends, is something worth celebrating – every day – but I appreciate the annual reminder of the Cross. I often wonder what that day was like. In the moment of Christ’s death, they had to have known. The heavens roared its dark anguish. The ground shook in its sorrow. The veil in the temple ripped in two. There had to have been a realization that this was what the Scriptures meant. What would it have been like to be a Roman solider executing Jesus? Did the Jews who cried for His death realize what they had done? Did Barabbas ever understand who took his place?
Christ died for all. Even for His executioners. The Jews. Barabbas. You and me.
The monumental act that is Calvary inspired me to write this poem a few years ago, and I’ll leave it as my parting words.
