It's Easter Again...So What?

Last winter, I bumped into a local pastor at our town's Christmas parade, so I asked him what he was preparing for his church's upcoming Christmas Eve service.

He looked at me and said, "Everyone already knows the story, so I'm not gonna bother preaching a message this year."

I was a little surprised to hear it, and I suppose most people around here could explain the basics of the Christmas story, but I imagine the number of people who can't grows every year. He had decided that people already knew the "what" of Christmas, and thought that was enough. But I figured his job was to explain to whoever showed up, why it matters.

I wonder if he is doing the same thing, this Easter weekend? Is he going to pass on explaining why this Easter weekend matters to people he assumes know the "what"? I hope not.

This is where I suggest we need some clarity.

I'm writing this on the Thursday before Good Friday, which is the day of the week Jesus met with his disciples in the upper room to share in what Christians refer to as the Lord's Supper, or last supper, before He would be crucified the next day, what we call Good Friday.

So, why did Jesus die on a cross two thousand years ago?

I think there are a number of legitimate answers, but here are a few...

Atonement for sin: Jesus died to take on Himself the punishment that sin requires. "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23

Reconciliation: God is holy and righteous, so our sinful nature means we cannot have a relationship with God apart from the death and resurrection of Jesus. "For all have sinned and fallen short of God's glory, but are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." Romans 3:23

God has made it possible for us to enjoy a personal relationship with Him...through the cross.

A Demonstration of God's Love: There is no greater expression of God's love for us, than Jesus' death on the cross. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

To Demonstrate God's Power Over Evil: The Bible says that "Jesus disarmed powers and authorities, making a public spectacle of them by triumphing over them." Colossians 2:15

To Fulfill Prophecy: Jesus' death fulfilled numerous Old Testament prophecies including Isaiah 53 which predicted His death hundreds of years earlier. "He was pierced for our transgressions..." Isaiah 53:5

I'm sure there are more reasons than what I've listed here, but there is one reason I hear championed from time to time, that doesn't belong.

I've heard some people talk about how much God loves them, no matter what; in effect saying that God accepts them as they are. Like they get a free pass to live anyway they choose.

But Jesus didn't die on the cross so you and I can feel good about ourselves. In fact, it is because we are dead in our sin, and hopelessly lost that Jesus died; so that death has to be for more than our affirmation doesn't it?

Jesus didn't die for our affirmation...but for our transformation!

While God is love, He also holy, righteous and just. He hates and punishes sin; you only have to get to page 3 in the Bible to discover that. God doesn't turn a blind eye to our sin. He doesn't excuse it or minimize it, or overlook it. He demands payment.

Another reason Jesus died. So we don't have to; not spiritually anyway.

The good news of the gospel requires a response that should go way beyond, self-satisfaction. Maybe it should reflect the women who visited the tomb on Easter Sunday who were met by two angels, and their response was to "In their fright, bow down with their faces to the ground" (Luke 24:5)

Yes, God loves you and me, without a doubt. But His love is not void of His holiness and righteousness.

Jesus didn't die for our affirmation...but for our transformation!

Last week I referred to what Jesus said in Luke 9:23...

"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me."

Jesus’ command to “take up your cross and follow Me” is a call to humility and self-sacrifice. We must be willing to die in order to follow Jesus. Dying to self is an absolute, to surrender to God.

Dying to our way of thinking, to our way of doing things, to our version of how to live, period.

Jesus calls us to surrender, sacrifice and to serve, not half-hearted allegiance; our response to the "what" and "why" of Easter.

Happy Easter!!

Until next time - Dan