Easter Is All About Jesus

Easter is more than a 4 day long weekend and an opportunity for a short holiday, special as that is.

It is more than chocolate eggs and bunnies, and I enjoy chocolate as much as anybody.

Easter is about the ultimate revelation of what life is about. So of course our culture reacts to that by focusing on the chocolate.

To understand why this is important, we need to travel back in time to a couple of thousand years ago and to the city of Jerusalem. On the eve of the annual Passover festival, a religious teacher called Jesus was put to death on a cross. Three years of public teaching about God had got him into trouble with the authorities, so they did what dictators always do, they had him killed. Problem solved.

That was the Friday, but by Sunday an incredible thing had happened. Jesus’s followers were claiming that Jesus was alive. Even back then, people understood that dead people do not normally come back to life.

Looking back at the reports of the events of that weekend, there are 4 alternatives;

1. Jesus was not really dead. Some people think that in the cool of the cave Jesus somehow revived. The Roman army was the most ruthless and efficient killing organisation of its time. When they killed you, you stayed dead. They did not make mistakes.

2. The disciples stole the body and perpetrated a huge hoax on humanity. The Twelve apostles, (minus Judas who suicided) suffered horrendous torture and death. Would you die for a lie?

3. The authorities stole the body. They had no interest in promoting christianity and could have squashed the movement by simply producing the body.

4. Jesus really is alive. This fits what we know about the early church. Hundreds of followers of Jesus were galvanised by their own meetings with the risen Christ or by reports of people they knew. Their lives were changed for the better, their communities were changed, and in a couple of generations, the whole Roman Empire was changed.

Jesus promised that those who believe in Him, who give Him their loyalty and obedience, they will not die but live for ever. We don’t know exactly what that looks like, but we do know that for followers of Jesus, the next life will be even better than this life. There will be no sadness, fighting, disease or death.

Easter is a time of celebration and joy for christians around the world. Give is a go. Every church in town will be pleased to welcome you.