What’s So Special About Easter?

With the Easter holiday around the corner I wanted to take the opportunity to lay it all out there and express why it even matters to me. It seems like a rather unimportant holiday after all. It certainly doesn’t get the fanfare of Christmas. So, spoiler alert: I’m going to talk in depth about my faith.

The most important Christian holiday is Resurrection Sunday. Some may prefer the Christmas season but, biblically speaking, as important as Christ’s birth is, it is not nearly as important as his resurrection. I would argue that the resurrection is more significant (though not more important) than even His death. Christ died on Good Friday on April 7th 30AD (very probably). His resurrection took place on Sunday the 9th of April (the date on which I’m writing this blog).

You may wonder why I would say the resurrection is of the utmost significance to Christians. It’s certainly worth wondering about. I have no intention of minimizing the crucifixion.  His death purchased absolute pardon for those who place their trust in Him for forgiveness but, if it were not for the resurrection, we would be left with some of the most terrible, unanswered questions in all of human history: Was it enough? Did it work? The resurrection is proof that the sacrifice Christ offered up on our behalf (for the sin of the world) was accepted by God. More than that, Christ Himself IS God. Indeed, the very power that God exercised in raising Christ from the dead is at work in all of those who believe. So, you see, if no such power was wrought then Christ was not who He said he was and there is nothing at work saving us. I would say that makes the resurrection the most significant event in all of human history. It is the guarantee that our hope is not in vain. It is the surety (legally speaking) of our salvation. More on that in a moment.

The apostle Paul, in order to dispel the notion that Christ was not raised said that if Christ is not raised then we are still in our sins and are without hope in the world—that we would be, of all people, most to be pitied. After all, there’s nothing worse than a false hope. It would be better to have never hoped at all—to have lived life for self rather than self-sacrifice; to serve my needs rather than look to the needs of others. If this life is all there is, then my happiness is all that really matters in the end. Fortunately, that’s not the case. He is risen indeed.

So, what about the resurrection as a surety? The resurrection is more than a verification of the efficacy of Christ’s sacrifice, it becomes a promise for us that we, too, will one day enjoy resurrected bodies. More than that, the earth itself will be “resurrected” and restored for eternity. Heaven isn’t a place we ultimately go TO, and it isn’t clouds, harps, wings and other nonsense. Heaven is what the earth eventually becomes (a new earth), and the new Jerusalem is the apex of this eternal home. All of this is possible because, as the apostle Paul said, “that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, [AND] that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.” So, death itself has died with Christ for those who place their trust in Him. Take a moment and realize the ramifications of such a statement. Death has been defanged, abolished, completely swallowed up. These are promises made to us, and we believe them precisely because Jesus rose from the dead. It proves that we have an eternal body not made with hands. All of these promises find their “yes” in Him. As an added bonus, now you know why we call it, “the good news.” The real question is, what are you going to do with this good news? Shoot me an email and let me know what you think, or if you just have more questions.