What Is The Real Meaning of Easter?

Have you ever given thought to what is the real meaning of Easter?

The other day, our son caught me unaware when he asked what does Easter really mean and why don\’t we celebrate it the way we do Christmas?

 

You see in our home, whereas we celebrate Easter, it does not come with the hustle and bustle that Christmas brings. Like most people, we choose not to decorate our home but to decorate our souls during the lent season.

My favorite memories of Easter were the years we spent in Tunisia. We attended a small Anglican church called St George\’s Church. It was led by a Bishop who always had wonderful programs for the lent season. I recall in 2012, one of the former members of the church sent weekly Lenten meditations that reflected on the sacrifice Jesus Christ made for us all. Easter Sunday often saw the congregation have the service in the church gardens allowing us to enjoy the beauty of spring. The service was crowned with a potluck where members brought dishes from different parts of the world.

I did my best to explain to our son what is the real meaning of Easter and below I share parts of our discussion.

The Sacrifice

I started by explaining that to us as Christians, Easter spells the words \”New Covenant\”. With the coming of Jesus Christ, and him being offered up as the lamb that would forever cleanse our sins came a new pact. John described him as \”the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world\”. As a result of this sacrifice, we have a new relationship with God where he has \”put his law in our minds and written it on our hearts\”. God\’s promise to forever call us his people spills hope in a world that is full of hopeless situations that threaten to steal our joy every day.

Prior to Jesus\’s death, our ancestors had to rely on the blood of a lamb to save them when the angel of death came to strike dead the firstborns of all animals and human beings. It was the blood of a sheep plastered on a door post that caused the angel of death to pass over each home. (See Exodus 12:21-29.) To this day, every year, the Israelites celebrate the Passover festival to remind them of this night.

Today in order for you to escape eternal death, you need to accept Jesus Christ, the lamb of God who takes away our sins as your personal Lord and Saviour.

The Power of the Cross 

In the words of Mercyme in this song https://youtu.be/wjLlLPZderk, indeed the cross has made us flawless. It does not matter what you have done or not done we can all claim sanctification because of the work Jesus Christ did on the cross at Calvary many years ago.

So it does not matter whether you celebrate Easter by putting together a pretty basket of goodies to share with others or take your children to an Easter egg hunt or attend a church potluck.

What matters is you remember that with Easter came a new covenant. One which removed the burden from us of doing and being and brought one of accepting and trusting in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. What is left is for you to \”declare with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised him from the dead\”. Doing this, will bring you salvation and grant you a seat in eternity with him.

After this lengthy explanation, the young boy looked pensive and he said he now understood the real meaning of Easter.

Finally,

As you celebrate Easter this year, give some thought to the fact that Jesus Christ died and resurrected for us all. His resurrection brought us a new covenant with God and because he lives you can go through life with the hope that you are never alone. Jesus is just a prayer away no matter what you face in life. All you need is to approach his throne with boldness in your heart and ask him to walk with you on this journey of life.

The sacrifice Jesus made brings to life a beautiful exchange where he laid down his life and expects us to take the responsibility of accepting what he is offering us. This lent season, as you let go and fast in preparation for Easter, go ahead and receive the grace that comes with the season. Determine to let go of your sins and in exchange begin to experience the new life that only Jesus Christ gives to all the children of God which is you and me.

I would love to know how do you prepare and celebrate Easter in your family? Please share in the comments section.