"Easter, the day Jesus rose from the dead... what should we do?
"How 'bout eggs?"
"Oh, well, what does that have to do with Jesus?"
"Alright... we'll hide 'em."
"I don't follow your logic..."
"Don't worry... there's a bunny."
...and the crowd bursts out in laughter and so do I. It’s that “funny-ha-ha” kind of laugh that has a bit of “wait-a-minute-that’s-kinda-sad” mixed in. He’s got a point. What do eggs have to do with Easter?
Growing up, we ALWAYS went to church on Easter Sunday. Granted, we went most other Sundays as well, but Easter Sunday was the big one! I knew from a very young age that that day was different from all the other Sundays because my mom made me get super-dressed-up. She’d make me wear some sort of uncomfortable suit and button-down shirt (usually pastel in color) and a clip-on tie. We’d get to church to find that it was packed, packed with familiar faces, not-so-familiar faces, and faces I had never seen before. And the music was different too. It wasn’t just the typical organ or piano. There was an entire symphony orchestra in the front of the church. The music was loud and festive and the service was LOOOOONG! As a Sunday School All-Star (an actual title given to those with “all-star” attendance... I kid you not), I was well aware that Easter was the day Jesus rose from the dead and that’s why that Sunday was different from all the rest. It was a day to look forward to each year (except for the suit and tie)... but it didn’t really mean much to me. That is, until we left the church parking lot.
As soon as we got home, it was time for the Easter Egg Hunt. For me, that was what Easter was all about! I loved hunting for those pastel-painted hard-boiled eggs. And I was good at it too! A few days before Easter I would go out in the backyard and scout out the area, trying to decide where the best hiding spots would be... anything to give me an advantage over my competition. And even if I didn’t find the most eggs I knew there would be an Easter basket waiting for me inside... a basket filled with those neon-colored, sugar-coma-inducing Peeps and chocolate bunnies and Cadbury Creme Eggs buried in a forest of fake grass clippings. But as much as I loved those baskets, I was confused. Even as a kid I remember asking, “What does all of this have to do with Jesus?”
Even now, several years and a theology degree later, I still have the tendency to lose sight of what Easter is all about. And I’m not alone... just look around. It’s become this bizarre mix of commercialism and Christ, tradition and truth and has pitted a rabbit against a Redeemer. Instead of exalting the Prince of Peace we’ve turned it into eggsalting the Prince of Peeps. Now I’m not trying to knock traditions or do away with the Easter Bunny and candy (I would be devastated without those Cadbury Creme Eggs), but seriously... isn’t the empty tomb sweet enough? What’s more satisfying than the confidence of eternal life? Paul addresses this in the book of Romans: “Have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives” (Romans 6:3-4, NLT).
That’s the true sweetness of Easter. With any sugar-rush, what goes up must come down... but the Good News of Christ’s death and resurrection will never let us down. Without Christ’s resurrection we’d have no hope of our own. Easter without the celebration of His triumph over sin and death is just another Sunday. Or as Paul put it, “So if the dead won’t be raised to life, Christ wasn’t raised to life. Unless Christ was raised to life, your faith is useless, and you are still living in your sins... If our hope in Christ is good only for this life, we are worse off than anyone else. But Christ has been raised to life! And he makes us certain that others will also be raised to life” (1 Cor. 15:16-20, CEV). And this Good News isn’t just for Easter, it’s for every single day! We can (and should) live in the hope of our resurrection and in the promise of eternal life with God, a promise that will never go stale. Happy Easter and beyond!
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