Easter Sunday is the day Christians celebrate the risen Christ. Over 2,000 years ago God's promise of a Savior was fulfilled; Jesus died an agonizing death on a cross. At that moment of death, Jesus paid the price for our sin. His last words were "It is finished". He was laid in a tomb and the tomb was sealed. Then, something amazing happened three days later, He came back to life, actually 'rose again'! Over 500 people saw the risen Christ. You can read an account of this in the Gospels - Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and I Corinthians 15.
There was a period of darkness over the world the day Jesus died on the cross. Jesus was 'the light', and the light was gone. But when God the Father resurrected our Lord, we who believe had evidence that we also would rise again and live eternally with God in heaven, as He has told us. How are we able to understand a truth such as this? According to the Bible, only the Holy Spirit, God's Spirit, can reveal this to our human mind.
I Corinthians 2 - The apostle Paul told a group of people in the city of Corinth (modern Turkey) that he spoke to them "in weakness and fear with much trembling." He didn't use wise and persuasive words, he wanted to demonstrate the Spirit's power so that "your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power."
If we know this truth, that God has chosen us, we have not been so wise as to choose Him, we cannot find fault with those whose main focus of Easter is bunnies and egg hunts.
I Cor 2:9-10
"No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for
those who love Him
But God has revealed it to us by His Spirit.
Quite simply, Paul goes on to say that the man without the Spirit of God cannot accept the things that come from the Spirit, they are "foolishness" to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned (understood)." See I Corinthians I.
I did some research on the Easter bunny recently. One theory of how the rabbit came to be a part of Easter is from a pagan tradition - the Festival of Eastre. Eastre was a goddess of fertility, and her animal symbol was a rabbit. The Easter bunny first arrived in the United States in the 1700's when German settlers came to Pennsylvania. They taught their children a myth about an egg laying 'hare' (rabbit) called an 'Osterhase'. Children would make nests in which this animal would lay colored eggs. The custom spread across America and included chocolate and candy in decorated baskets instead of a nest.
Eggs have long been the symbol of fertility and new life. They also became a symbol of the resurrection. . .the empty eggshell a metaphor for Jesus' tomb. Another interesting metaphor. . . in ancient times the hare was thought to be a hermaphrodite having both male and female genitals, which means they could reproduce on their own. Some early Christians thought the 'hare' to be a symbol of the Virgin Mary who conceived a child (Jesus) and remained a virgin.
I am always reminded when I dig a little into history how God has planned, He cannot be manipulated, and His plan will work all things together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be firstborn among many brothers, and those He predestined, He also called, and those He called, He also justified; those He justified He glorified. You can read these words for yourself in Romans 8:28 -30. This is a finished work God has done; He began it, and He will complete it. That is why Jesus said, "It is finished" as He died on the cross.
Thank you Lord that we can share your Gospel with full assurance that you have given spiritual ears to those you have chosen.
