Bible Verse of the Day:
"Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die."
John 11:25-26.
Milk chocolate bunnies. Caramel-filled eggs. Gooey, yellow marshmallow chicks. Baskets stuffed with untold goodies and wrapped in bright bows. Ahh...Easter. Every sugar-deprived child's dream come true!
But Easter -- at least, the real meaning of Easter -- has nothing to do with rabbits and egg hunts. Those are actually pagan traditions that date back all the way to 13th century Germany where tribal peoples worshipped Eostra, the goddess of spring and fertility, and celebrated a feast in her honor on the Vernal Equinox. (She was associated with the rabbit because of the animal's high reproduction rate.) Stories of bunnies and eggs and baskets came to the United States via the Pennsylvania Dutch peoples of Germany in the 1700s.
No, as much as we enjoy gulping down those Cadbury eggs, the true meaning of Easter has nothing to do with the Easter Rabbit and everything to do with a carpenter who was crucified many long years ago, only to rise from his grave three days later.
I know that most of you out there don't go to church. If you do, it might only be on special holidays, like Christmas or Easter. But if you do go today -- because it's tradition, because you want to take your kids to the Egg Hunt, or maybe just because you want to show off a new outfit -- whatever the reason may be, remember this: Jesus rose from the dead on a day like today. The Christian world remembers his death, but we celebrate his resurrection.
Yeah, He died for us. You know that already. I don't think there's a reader among you who don't know the symbolism behind the cross. But Jesus didn't just remain in His grave. If He had, He'd have been just an ordinary guy. A nice guy, but merely human. Nothing to get too excited about.
But He didn't remain in His grave. Jesus was the son of God! No mere crucifixion -- however terrible it might have been -- could alter the purpose for Him having been born among us as a man. Jesus died, but He defeated Death. And then He rose again. His angels pushed open the door to His tomb and Jesus walked right out of it. He showed Himself to one of His many disciples -- a woman, no less! -- and then to many others, so that they would believe. So that there would be no doubt.
Yeah, He died. But now He lives. And He lives so that you and I can have eternal life. Death can't defeat us. Death isn't the beginning of the end for us. Not anymore. Death is the just the beginning. Period. For those who die having accepted Christ in their hearts and lives, Death is what brings us into the arms of Jesus. Forever. And that's pretty gosh-darn awesome.
So after you've finished going to Church, after you've finished gulping down the last of the jelly beans in your kids' Easter baskets, after you've thrown out the last plastic egg, sit down and reflect on what Easter really means.
It's when Jesus, the guy who died a horrific death on that cross for you, rose again, just so that you'd have a chance to spend eternity with Him instead of in Hell.
And if you ask me, that's better than all the chocolate bunnies in the world.
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Listening To..I Will Rise by Chris Tomlin
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