This weekend marks the most important day on the Christian calendar. While the Orthodox will celebrate a week later, the Catholics and Protestants all around the world, that means approximately 2 billion people, see today as the most important of their faith.
Easter doesn’t have the pop appeal of Christmas with its reindeer, sleigh songs, an overweight hairy man who dresses in red velvet, knows everything kids do, and breaks into homes (wait, why is this guy famous…, sounds creepy). Still, I believe that Easter is the pinnacle of all the Christian Holidays.
While Christmas is wicked awesome, it doesn’t carry the gravitas of Easter. Yes, Christmas is the day when God veiled His divinity in human flesh. It’s amazing! Yet, no matter how epic everything surrounding the birth of Jesus is, it all points to one weekend, EASTER! That’s right; Easter is the day.
So, why is Easter the best? While there is much debate about what exactly is happening when Jesus died on the cross, there are a few things that all Christians agree with.
- We need a saviour
As much as we try to strain, push, and pull—fighting to fill the vacuum of purpose—we cannot overcome the brokenness that comes in and from our life. There is not enough status that can take away the shame we all experience. There isn’t enough good behaviour that will mitigate the brokenness we carry. We need something outside of ourselves to take the brokenness and shame and deal with it in some way.
2. Jesus did what we couldn’t
What exactly, we don’t know. It’s the great mystery of the cross. What we do know is that our life was wanting. The way we live has caused a debt or you might say has placed us in slavery. We could not free ourselves. We needed a saviour, and Jesus came when we had no power to save ourselves and gave His life in our place.
We needed help, and God didn’t count us too far gone. When we were still broken, Jesus gave His life so we could have ours. The greatest gift arrived Christmas morning, but the gift wasn’t fully realized until Good Friday when Christ laid down His life for us.
Easter may not have all the pop of Christmas; it makes up for it in the sizzle. God took our worst and did His best—a best that is better than any Christmas present we could ever receive…except for Jesus, but that brings us back to Easter.
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