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Why Do We Celebrate Easter?

When most people think about Easter, visions of egg hunts, candy delivering bunnies
and new pastel colored outfits pop into their minds. What is Easter all about? Why do
we celebrate Easter? Is it truly about baskets full of candy that was left for children or
is there a higher meaning? I submit to you that the true meaning of Easter rivals if not
surpasses the true meaning of Christmas. During the Christmas holiday we celebrate
the birth of our Savior. However, during the Easter holiday we celebrate the sacrifice
our Lord. For this sacrifice was made on our behalf to once and for all show the world
that He indeed is the true Messiah, our beloved Savior. We celebrate the end of winter
and the rebirth of the trees and flowers when indeed we should be celebrating the
death, resurrection, and ascension of our Savior.

As He entered the city of Jerusalem to the crowds of people that had gathered to praise
Him as the King of Kings, He knew what was to take place in the days to come. He
knew why He had to journey to this city where the Jewish leaders hated and despised
Him. Multitudes lined the streets waving palms as if lifting great banners glorifying the
name of the Lord. Jesus entered the temple there and announces "the hour is come,
that the Son of man should be glorified." John 12:23. Even after all that Jesus had
accomplished, the healing, the miracles, they still would not recognize Him as the true
Messiah. "but though He had done so many miracles before them, yet they believed
not on Him" (John 12:37).

The night before His death, Jesus gathered with His disciples to celebrate the Passover.
This event has been designated as the "Upper Room Discourse" but is more commonly
known as the Last Supper. Jesus begins by washing the feet of each disciple. By the
act Jesus teaches that spiritual greatness is achieved through humility and service to
others (John 13:1-20). He also instructs them what their new responsibilities and
privileges will be after He is gone. Sometime during these last lessons Judas, Jesus'
betrayer, will leave the room. Jesus teaches the remaining eleven a new commandment.
"A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another, as I have loved you,
that ye also love one another." (John 13:34). Jesus also informs them that after His
ascension the Holy Spirit will come and indwell them so that they may be empowered to
carry out the Lord's work. "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the
Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your
remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." (John 14:26). After Jesus finishes His
last lessons, He removes Himself from the presence of His disciples so that He may
commune with the Father in solitude. His communion is detailed in John chapter
seventeen. After His prayer is finished He enters the garden of Gethsemane with His
disciples where He is arrested and taken before the Jewish High Priest and then to
Pilate who was the Roman Governor. Pilate ruled that Jesus had not committed any
rimes against Rome, however the Jewish leaders pressured Pilate into a conviction by
claiming that Pilate was not acting as a friend to Caesar. "And from thenceforth Pilate
sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art
not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar." (John
19:12). Pilate buckles under Jewish pressure and orders Jesus to be crucified. Our Lord
is then taken away beaten, mocked, and whipped with what is known to be called a
flagellum. The flagellum was made by weaving pieces of bone and lead into the leather
straps. Each strike of the whip would rip pieces of His flesh from His body actually
shredding His skin and exposing bone. This torture would continue through the night.
When morning came the Roman soldiers stripped Him and placed a purple cloak about
His shoulders. Then they placed a crown of thorns about His head; blood from the
thorns would trickle down His face. His strength long gone, He struggles to bear the
weight of His cross. Simon, a Cyrenian who was pressed into service by the Roman
soldiers, carried His cross to the place known as Golgotha or the place of the skull. The
soldiers then lay Jesus on top of the cross. Then holding Him down they drive steel
spikes through His hands and feet securing Him to the cross. They then lifted the
cross into its resting-place with our Savior nailed to its face. The people that gathered
ridiculed our Lord saying to Him "You have saved so many why now won't you save
yourself? If you are truly the chosen one, save yourself and come down off the cross?
Indeed today unbelievers will ask the same question. Why did He not save Himself?
The answer is so simple, because He loves us. He loves the people of the earth so
much that as He hung there on that cross, He bore the entire world's sin and then
suffered God's wrath for that sin. By paying the ultimate price for us, He reconciled our
sin to God, thus bridging the gap between God and man. This event is the reason that
we have atonement to God, the reason that we may enter into Heaven cleansed. After
His death He was laid to rest in a tomb. A large stone covered the entrance to the
tomb. On the third day He rose from the tomb showing the world His power over death.
He lives today, His body and spirit rejoined and in Heaven. One day He will return to
first rapture His faithful and then to claim His rightful place as King of Kings and Lord
of Lords.

I urge you to pick up the nearest copy of the Holy Word. There is far more to the
greatest story ever told than what I have written here. Read the Gospels Matthew,
Mark, Luke, and John and learn of our Lord's greatness. Read and believe, for this
knowledge and faith in Him will cleanse you as well.