Our Easter break is coming next week. To wrap things up before then we had a community day at school. We’ve done these throughout the year. It’s been great and has helped everyone bond. This one was outdoors and we hosted an Easter egg hunt, crafts, a photo booth, and field sports. Most of the eggs had candy, but some had more valuable prizes like gift certificates, prom tickets, or a Grad night ticket. Woohoo.
Many people think of eggs and bunnies at Easter, but those have nothing to do with the real meaning of Easter. Easter is about finding real life in Jesus. The Bible speaks of Easter in terms of sheep. Like the people of Israel in the Old Testament, people today have rebelled against God who created them, loves them, provides for them, and wants to guide them in what is good, right, and true. The prophet Isaiah described Israel and us, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way” (Isaiah 53:6). This selfish waywardness will kill each of us.
Fortunately, our story doesn’t have to end that way. Jesus, the good shepherd, seeks out and calls his sheep to come to him and find rest. To do that Jesus himself took on the unimaginable role of becoming our sacrificial lamb. He lived the life we should live and died the death that we deserve so we don’t have to. Isaiah wrote, “Surely he took our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:4-5). The apostle Paul reiterated this in the New Testament, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
When Jesus suffered and died on the cross for each of us he brought forgiveness and reconciliation with God for anyone who trusts him to save them. Not only that, when he rose from the dead he brought victory over sin and death and gives believers the power each day to live a new life with him, for him, and through him. I’ve experienced that and nothing this world offers can compare.
Hopefully you can see the wisdom and value in knowing God personally through what Jesus has made possible at Easter. Jesus is lovingly calling you to himself. As the Lamb, he has died to save you. As the Lord, he has risen to give you true life. As the King, he is preparing for you to reign with him. Amidst your Easter celebrations I hope you can you see that this world is nothing without him.