Easter for Dummies

Like any holiday, Easter's true origin tends to get lost in the giddiness of a little extra time off work, gifts for children, and a wee bit of excess in the food and drink department.  But even as a Christian, I spent many years of my life knowing why we celebrate Easter without truly embracing one of the most basic concepts of why it is such a big deal.  So, because I think everything worth reading should be entertaining, I thought I would break down the message of Easter for someone who might not really "get it" in a very non-Bible-speak kind of way. 

 

Ironically, many Christians fall into this category.   I know this because I was one of those people for a long time...which is why I can call this post "Easter for Dummies" with a healthy degree of humility, as I was once the said "dummy."

 

Here goes.

 

God created humanity because He wanted someone to love, who would love Him back.   He wanted to share eternity with others...a community.   Even though He could have created us with a built-in chip to adore and serve Him automatically, He didn't.  Instead, He gave us a choice.

 

So man chose.   He chose his own way, because it holds the illusion of power.   His choices were sometimes good...but mostly they were selfish and flawed...choices that took him on a path further and further from his best Friend...his only Friend that loved him just because.

 

He knew we would choose this when He created us.   He created us anyway.

 

So He decided to make a Way. What I mean is, He wanted to make a way for mankind to find his way back to this unconditionally loving relationship.

 

Sin was a wedge that forced distance between Creator and the created.   This was an unacceptable loss for Him, because of how deeply He loved us.   So first, there was the Law.

 

The way it worked is that the shedding of blood would pay for man's sins and reconcile him to a divine God.  He reached out to our fathers of old, namely Moses, about the methods that were required to shed the blood of animals so that our sin could be paid for and, in effect, remove the wedge between us.   But this was problematic.   Man kept sinning, which meant the blood kept spilling.  He just couldn't help himself. 

 

There had to be a better Way.   So the first community...the one that existed before mankind...the "Big Three"...made a decision that would change everything.  Now, as to how and when that decision was actually made, I don't know. Maybe They always knew it would have to come to this: there would be one final sacrifice...one which would supersede every one that had ever been made, and that could ever be made.

 

They would sacrifice Themselves for man.   Jesus, God's son...one member of the eternal, perfect Trinity, would choose to tear Himself from a perfect heaven and perfect fellowship to be made flesh, and ultimately sacrifice Himself to pay the price for mankind's sin...once and for all.   What drove Them to decide such a thing?

 

I think maybe it was the fact that They knew we need a God who really understands the human journey.  Who understands physical pain, hardship, disappointment, betrayal and loss --  not only because He created us, but because He chose to live a human life like us.

 

Or maybe, it was just because of mind-bending, crazy love for you.  For me.

 

So that's exactly what happened.   Jesus made Himself flesh.   He lived a human life, but amazingly, miraculously, without sin.   He transformed the lives of everyone He touched.  He healed sick and dying people.   He accepted and embraced the rejects of society.   He bucked the religious system and got in the faces of hypocritical religious leaders and exposed them for who they were.   He was betrayed by those in his closest circle of friends who couldn't fully understand why He came in the first place -- to die.

 

He was crucified -- the most barbaric means of execution imaginable -- by the very people He came to save.

 

That day, after unspeakable torture, trembling from physical pain, in agony from being separated from the Trinity, with the sins of mankind heavy on His heart, Jesus pleaded with His Father to forgive His executioners.

 

That's love.

 

They put His body in a grave.   But a grave could not hold Him.

 

He rose from the dead.   And that, my friend, is the difference between the Christian God versus all the others.  He wasn't just a great man that had a lot of good things to say and set a wonderful example of how to live.  He was dead for three days...but He defeated Death.  You can't go somewhere and put flowers on Jesus' grave...because there isn't one.   Jesus' resurrection is one of the most well-documented actual single events in the written historical record.   Most people don't realize that, but it is, in fact, the case (as a side note, you should check out Lee Strobel's book, "The Case For Christ" for more on that subject. It is a very interesting topic no matter what you believe).

 

This one act...the sacrifice of the perfect Lamb of God (as the Bible calls Him) broke the obligation of the Law once and for all.   No more animal sacrifices, no more going through a High Priest in a temple to talk to, or hear from, God.  No more exclusivity.

 

Did you catch that?

 

Israel was, and always will be God's chosen nation.  But Jesus' sacrifice made a relationship with God, and eternity with Him, available to everyone.   Every single person from every single nation.

 

So, finally, your mother is right.

 

We're all special.

 

Nobody is more special to God than the next person.   He adores each of us with a love so great that He allowed His own Son to be sacrificed.   And you know what I think?

 

If I was the only person on earth that needed to be saved from my own sin, He still would made that same sacrifice.   He loves me that much.  That's why I love Him back.   But many, many people don't.

 

He knew many would choose indifference over love and devotion to Him even when He sacrificed His Son.

 

He did it anyway.

 

But He is always waiting.   Always loving.  Always hoping that every single one of us will realize that in His arms is the best gift you can ever imagine: unconditional love and acceptance without having to be perfect.

 

Let me say that again.   He knows you're not perfect...that you will never be perfect.  Not in this life.   He loves you anyway.

 

He made a way for you to be with Him always.   Here on earth through his Spirit. Then someday for eternity.   You can't earn it.   It's a gift.   It costs you nothing.

 

It cost Him everything.

 

This is where lots of folks get mixed up with the whole God thing.   It's an easy mistake to make.  I know, because I made it for a lot of years.   It's the "earn it" approach to salvation.   We are conditioned to believe this because this is generally how people are hard wired.   If I am good enough, or perform well enough, or work at it long enough, I will be loved and respected by those around me.  That's human.

 

But...He isn't.  His love is beyond your ability to perform.   To produce results.   To be work so hard at being good that you are just plain tired.

 

So I'm going to say something that flies in the face of religiosity in general.  Before you get all upset with me, you should really check out the first four books of the new Testament, because Jesus was ruffling the feathers of religious people all the time.

 

Here it is.   You can never be good enough for God to hang out with.   Neither can I.  If we were, we wouldn't have needed the Law and we sure wouldn't have needed a Savior.   But He knew we could never be good enough.   We always get in our own way of achieving that.

 

So you can rest now.   You can stop.  Stop trying to earn something that you've already been given.

 

All you have to do is accept an invitation.

 

That's it.   That's Easter.

 

It's the invitation of your life.   You can put it on your refrigerator to remind you to respond later.   You can file it away with the bills and hope it doesn't get thrown out by accident.   Heck, you can even throw it away without opening it.  But if you never even open it and examine the offer itself after what was sacrificed to deliver it your door, that would just be...well, rude. 

 

I'll throw out this analogy.   My child doesn't like ice cream.   At least, that's what he says.   He's never actually tried ice cream.  I mean, maybe when he was a toddler...but at some point, it had been a long time since he'd had some and he forgot how it tasted.   He only knew that he didn't like the way it looked.   So he decided it's not for him.   He doesn't want to try it, therefore he doesn't like it.

 

But that's not true, is it?

 

The truth is, he doesn't know if he likes it or not.   He's making a judgement call based on how the food looks or smells...or maybe based on what someone he knows has said about ice cream (though I can't imagine who).   The end result is that he is missing out on one of the life's yummiest treats.

 

Now that's OK, mind you.   My son can live without ice cream.  But if he really knew what it tasted like...if he would just be brave enough to take a bite...not a wimpy, half-hearted lick of some remnants on a spoon...he could finally make an educated decision that would make sense.

 

But he hasn't.   Ultimately it's his choice.   He may never try ice cream again.  And that would just be sad.

 

See where I'm going with that?

 

Easter is kind of like that reminder about the invitation you haven't responded to...so maybe give it some thought.  Open it.  Read it.

 

And consider a RSVP.