Happy Easter! Time to hunt for Easter eggs and try to catch a glimpse of the Easter bunny hopping around leaving baskets everywhere! That is what Easter is all about right? The famous chocolate Cadbury eggs.. baby chickens…. bunny costumes….?? what else ….. oh yea JESUS! Although painting Easter eggs and going on scavenger hunts are really fun, the most important thing about Easter is Jesus and the sacrifice he made for us!
Today some two thousand and some odd number of years ago something happened that changed things for all existence. This day is one of the most historically defining days for everyone who professes the the Christian faith. This is the day that Jesus defied death and rose from the grave. This is truly amazing and in no way a small detail to the story however I want to focus on the days and moments that led up to this day and to Jesus coming back from the dead.
For the past four years I have had the honorary opportunity to portray Jesus, and his life, death and resurrection in my church’s Easter play. We always have ours on Palm Sunday. I always ask God to let me be the best representation I can be of what Jesus was really like as he walked upon this earth. The day that we finally get to be in full character and give it our all in front of the church is always an amazing and somewhat intimidating day. After working so hard and making things look so good in practice it all comes down to this one time going through it and if you do something wrong you just gotta grin and bear it and make it look like you were the one doing it right. Most of the time the audience doesn’t know whether you messed up or if that was the way it was suppose to be.
Around 8:30 my dad and I arrive at the church to begin working on getting all the scars and bruises looking pretty realistic. We use a liquid latex that you apply like you would do when you would put glue on your hands as a kid and peel it off after it dries. The only thing is this stuff is a bit thicker and attaches to your skin and all your little blonde body hairs so much worse than the stuff you find in the craft section that has an Elmer’s glue logo on it. This is applied to my back, shoulders, chest, stomach and upper arms basically the places where it’s not visible until we want it to be as I carry the cross. To make the scars we have to peel parts of the latex up after it dries so it looks as if I literally have been lashed by a whip over and over again. This process, I’m not gonna lie, hurts pretty bad. I had a pair of basketball shorts with me that I would bite down on from time to time to help endure each making of a new scar.
While in the moment and as I sit here and reflect back upon that moment of teeth gritting and fist clenching pain my thoughts gravitate toward what Jesus went through. My Pain subsides within a few moments after my dad finished pulling the latex however Jesus’ pain didn’t. After the fact I did find that I had a few injuries such as a bruised shoulder from the cross, carpet burn on my ankle and my knee to which I was actually bleeding a little bit. Plus the latex was on longer than expected this time so I have battled with a bit of a rash from it but nothing compares to what Jesus endured. His pain had to have been more like 500 times worse than what I went through. My scars they washed off with some water and a little bit of soap but Jesus’ scars they weren’t able to be washed off. He was whipped to the point that his flesh tore open exposing bones and fragments of bones from where he had been beat so badly that his ribs were shattered. Even though he was past the point that any normal person could with stand he still had to carry his cross, your cross, my cross to the place where he was to be crucified. He didn’t have someone applying latex to make him look as though he had scars like me, instead he earn his scars by taking the place of every one of us so that we wouldn’t have to suffer a death as great as he did for our sins. He did it in hopes that one day we would accept this offer of forgiveness so that we could live eternally in heaven with him.
I also just read this and was amazed by it because I had never heard this statement before.
“Before the nail was pounded, a drink was offered. Mark says the wine was mixed with myrrh. Matthew described it as wine mixed with gall. Both myrrh and gall contain sedative properties that numb the senses. But Jesus refused them. He refused to be stupefied by the drugs, opting instead to feel the full force of his suffering.”
http://thoughts-about-god.com/easter_/max-lucado_thirsty-on-the-cross
He didn’t have to feel everything that he felt while hanging upon the cross but he chose to. He didn’t have to give up his life for you and me but he chose to. He didn’t have to say “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.” but he chose to. He chose to give us a second chance! His sacrifice was more than just a death sentence. It was a moment that gave birth to an eternal act of forgiveness for anyone who would take the opportunity to accept him as their lord and savior. Then just as he had said three days later he rose from the grave and hell was defeated.
”On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ””
??Luke? ?24:1-7? ?NIV??
Thank you all for reading this, I have had an amazing time reflecting back on what this day is really about and I hope you all have a wonderful Easter Sunday, I love you all and never forget
“”For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
??John? ?3:16-17? ?ESV
That includes you too!
