Easter

Easter

As I’m sitting here thinking about Easter so many thoughts wander through my mind.

There could be no Easter if there was no Crucifixion, Christians understand that for the most part and generally celebrate the whole Passion Week. His triumphal entry to Jerusalem, his teachings in the Temple, the withering of the fig tree, the Supper at Simon’s and Mary’s anointing, His public silencing of His critics, the Last Supper with the 12 disciples, His final teachings to His Disciples, His prayer in the garden, His betrayal and arrest, His mock trial and beatings, His rejection by the Jewish leaders and King Herod, His being replaced by a murderer, His scourging, His walk through Jerusalem, His hanging on the cross, His family business, His forgiveness for humanity, His death and shedding of His blood, His burial anointing and sealing of the tomb, His victory over hell and death where He took the keys of their kingdoms and led the captives to liberty, His resurrection and His presentation as alive in flesh and bone.

There is so much there, so how does the world celebrate Easter? They celebrate it with a week of debauchery called Carnival or Marti Gras which ends on the high day of Fat Tuesday. Then the world and many Christians practice Lent. Starting with Ash Wednesday for 40 days of prayer and fasting. When you are supposed to give up something very important in your life and spend that time in personal reflection and prayer. I know a Lay Leader in the Catholic Church who speaking of Lend told a gathering of mostly Catholic men that he gave up beer for Lent, though he did have the occasional slip. This pretty much seems to be the attitude of most Christians. While Lent is not in the Bible if we are going to practice an activity related to Jesus’ life, death and resurrection we better be serious, thoughtful and dedicated.

The world also celebrates Easter as a time of new beginnings, Spring, with candy, bunnies that lay and distribute colorful hardboiled chicken eggs and fertility which they relate, somehow, to the empty tomb and Mother Nature.

Jesus said that a seed had to be buried and die before it could bring forth a harvest and that what you plant is not what you get. You plant a seed and you get a greater amount of what you planted than the one seed. Plant a kernel of corn (seed) and you get a stalk with a couple of ears and hundreds of kernels (seeds) of corn; plant a cabbage seed and you get a head of cabbage with dozens of cabbage leafs, etc. So? Jesus is the seed, the first born of the resurrection; those who believe in Him and give their life for His are the crop, the harvest; the many for the one. He went from one Son of Man to millions of Sons of GOD and is still producing, and we each are called to be seeds, dying to our own life and being raised in His life and bringing forth fruit.

So, Easter is not about the pageantry, the religious activity or the celebration; it is about death and life, His death on the cross for our death to the world, His life in flesh and blood for our born again eternal life!