Reflections on Easter

You know the story. You know that Jesus came to earth, born of a virgin. You know how He lived among us to show the world the heart of a loving God. You know how He healed the sick, raised the dead, and turned water into wine. He carried the broken, welcomed the outcast, and spoke words of life to a dying world.

We didn’t know how to take this Person who was fully God, and yet fully man. Some loved Him. Some hated Him. The crowds of Jerusalem worshipped Him as their Savior on the day He entered their city, yet howled for His death less than a week later.

As we stand looking back through years of history, we catch a glimpse of the larger story. That when we were dead in our sins and trespasses, God sent His one and only Son to pay the price for our sins and to sacrifice His life for our own. We reflect on the Easter story, and our hearts grow heavy as we remember the last supper, the garden of Gethsemane, and the mockery of Jesus’ trial. We identify with the prophet Isaiah when he wrote,

“He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.” (Is. 53:3-5)
The crowd condemned Him; Barabbas was released, and the Son of God was brutally beaten and crucified as a criminal. Mary wept; the curtain was torn, and the disciples were raw with grief and confusion. Jesus, the promised Messiah, was dead. His death was the culmination of God's plan of rescue for His people.

The law, the prophets, and the promises all pointed to this time in history when He would pay the price to bring His children home.

Our prayer is that 2,000 years later, we would be struck again by the heart of God displayed for us in Jesus’ death on the cross. That we would know the love and cost that accompanied the cry of, “It is finished!”

We also pray that our hearts would overflow with joy and hope as we remember the rest of the story. That after three days, the earth shook, the stone rolled away, and Jesus Christ walked out of the tomb victorious over sin and death and Hell. The grave could not hold the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

Amen and amen

(excerpt from a GenJ newsletter Daniel wrote.:)