With the onset of the Easter holiday, there seems to be a degree of expectation that begins to stir within us. Perhaps our expectation stems from the desire to once again enjoy the outdoors, with its warmer temperatures, refreshing spring showers, resulting in the glorious blooms of brightly colored flowers, and the hues of green that begins its advance on the countryside foliage. All of it seems to speak to us of new life—a new beginning—and abstractly, perhaps the hope of things somehow changing for the better. What a wonderful time of the year.
However, in the midst of all our Easter joys, let’s be careful not to forget Jesus. If brightly colored Easter baskets, dyed eggs, chocolate bunnies, and jelly beans were the sum total of this holiday, it would be the omission of its most significant purpose—to remember and celebrate the risen Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ. In reality, Easter has nothing to do with the trappings of societal tradition. Though I have no problem with children enjoying the traditions of the Easter season, I believe parents should make a special point to teach their little ones the real meaning of this annual celebration.
The word “Easter” is found but once in the New Testament (Acts 12:4), and it comes from the Greek word “pascha,” meaning, “passover.”1 The word used here actually makes reference to the Feast of Passover, when a sacrificial lamb, without physical blemish, would be offered to God for the sins of the people. This feast included the seven-day Feast of Unleavened Bread which followed it, and pictured the putting away of one’s sin. It was during Passover week that Christ, the spotless Lamb of God (John 1:29b), died for the sins of mankind.
If the story ended there, we’d have no purpose for celebrating Easter, since this holiday is all about the resurrection of Christ from the tomb. Though the resurrection of Christ might be scoffed at in our day, it is both a biblical and literal fact of history. The Apostle Paul stated that “above five hundred brethren at once” (1 Cor. 15:6a) saw Jesus Christ alive after His resurrection. Numerous others personally saw the once dead Savior alive, after being in the tomb for three days and nights.
So what is my point? The point is simply that the Christian worships and serves a living Savior, not a dead martyr. Again, the Apostle Paul said, “And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain (“empty”); ye are yet in your sins” (1 Cor. 15:17). If Jesus did not come out of the tomb alive, we have no hope of salvation from our sins or any possibility of eternal life, which He promised to all who would trust Him as their personal Savior (Rom. 10:13).
I say this with reverence, but I believe my statement is valid: If Jesus is still in the grave, then He was a liar of the first magnitude, for He said, “The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again” (Luke 24:7). However, Jesus is not in the grave, for as the angel at Christ‘s sepulcher proclaimed, “He is not here: for he is risen as he said” (Matt. 28:6a).
Allow me to conclude with a quote from a great songwriter, whose lyrics make the case for the resurrection succinctly as follows:
Tomb, thou shalt not hold Him longer;
Death is strong, but Life is stronger;
Stronger than the dark, the light;
Stronger than the wrong, the right;
Faith and Hope triumphant say,
Christ will rise on Easter Day.2
1James Strong, The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, (McLean, VA: Mac Donald Publishing Company, n.d.), Greek Dictionary of the New Testament, #3957, p. 56.
2Phillips Brooks
