Easter or Resurrection Sunday

Easter or Resurrection Sunday

When I think about this season whether it’s called Easter, Resurrection Sunday, or something else the name almost doesn’t seem big enough. None of the titles seem to fully capture what it really means. It feels so different to me now than it did years ago.

When I was younger, I didn’t really understand. Maybe I didn’t know better, or maybe I just didn’t want to know. What I wanted was the candy, the quarters inside the eggs, the baskets full of goodies the Easter Bunny brought. I looked forward to the delicious Easter dinner Grandma made on Sunday after church. And when it was all over, I ran outside to play with bubbles and sidewalk chalk, and the day was done. I never really understood the true reason behind the day. But I was a kid, and honestly, I didn’t care. As I grew older, I still didn’t yet have that connection, Easter just became another holiday. A day to gather with family, eat a big meal, and then go home.

But something changed when our Father finally got hold of my heart. Everything about this season feels different. I begin to read what really happened. Every year I go back through Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. I watch the reenactments of His death. And suddenly the story is no longer just a story. It’s History and you feel every bit of it. You feel the pain in your heart as you see what Jesus endured. You feel anger toward Judas. Was he even a true believer to do something like that? Even toward Peter. How could you deny Him in that moment? How could you?

Then you stop and ask yourself a harder question: Would I ever do such a thing? We want to believe we wouldn’t. But Peter walked beside Jesus. He saw the miracles. He listened to His teachings. He was there through it all… and still he denied Him. The same people who praised Him as He rode into town on a donkey shouting, “Hosanna, Hosanna!” were the very same people later yelling, “Crucify Him!” as they chose to release a murderer instead. And when you truly think about it, it forces you to look inward.

Everything He did… He did for us. For US, the ones who are selfish, needy, hateful, sinful, careless and more. It makes me sad. Honestly, it makes me cringe when I think about the many ways I have dishonored Him in my life and I still fall short too often. None of us are perfect, and none of us could ever be when we compare ourselves to Jesus.

Yet He still gave His life for me. He gave His life for my family. He gave His life so that I could experience the many blessings that I have today. During this season, I feel called to draw nearer to our Father. To bring Him into my life as much as possible. To read His Word more. To guard it, defend it, and to share it. To live less by the world’s view and more by YHWH’s view. So, as we walk through this week, and as we take the bread and the cup remembering the body and blood of our Savior, I hope we pause to truly reflect on the pain He endured for us. When the sky turned dark. When the stone was rolled away. When He rose again.

Whatever you call this day, maybe take a moment to think about something deeper than the Easter bunny, eggs, dinner, and candy. When I think of this day, I think of my Jesus, my Yeshua. I think of the cross I wear around my neck every day, reminding me that He died for me. And I will never forget it.

He is my Light. My Life. My Savior. Mine forever. And I am His.                      

My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  -Galatians 2:20