I love Easter.
Growing up in the 60’s in a Pastor’s home, Easter was always an exciting time for us. Often my sisters got new dresses, and my brother and I got new suits to wear to church. There was, of course, candy involved. And I loved the sunrise services. We held them outdoors in the cemetery that was adjacent to the church building. There is something about gathering outside, early in the morning, with my church family, that I still treasure.
It’s also a precious memory because I was baptized (in very cold water) just a week before Easter. That was the first Easter that my attention and my heart was focused on Jesus, and I began to understand the depth of His love for me.
As a Pastor it is easy to get wrapped up in all of the ministry plans and activities that surround the season. I hope you have been praying along with me as we have been preparing our hearts for Easter with the Real Hope; Lent Prayer Guide. Take time to dwell deeply in God’s Word as you see the impact Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection had on the people around the cross. You will find that hope – real hope – is only found in Jesus.
As I write this I am reading Luke 23:34, “Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” Don’t forget that He’s been beaten and whipped, forced to carry his cross to Golgotha, and there, between two thieves, crucified. And, to literally add insult to injury, He’s being mocked and reviled. What kind of people would mock an innocent, dying man? If ever a person deserved to take revenge, Jesus did.
And yet Peter tells us, “He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly (1 Peter 2:22-23). He didn’t retaliate. Rather, he left the judging to God. He could have utterly destroyed everyone who was involved, but instead, He prayed for their forgiveness.
And therein lies our Hope. We are just as guilty as the Roman soldiers or the Jewish leaders. I’m so glad my hope is not found in me, but in Jesus. What forgiveness, what grace!
They didn’t know what they were doing, but He did. He was canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands…nailing it to the cross.” He was paying for their sins and yours, so that you can be declared “not guilty” (justified). You can be raised with Him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised Him from the dead. Because He lives, you too can live.
Real Hope is found in the Cross of Jesus – “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus!” Real hope is found in the empty tomb. “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead…and in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:20-22).
It is my prayer that you have experienced and live in the hope only found in Jesus. If you do, will you intentionally talk to others this Easter about the cross and the empty tomb?
