I am excited! Tomorrow is Easter Sunday, and I feel like a kid who is eagerly awaiting Santa Claus to arrive. I can’t even remember what I believed about Easter as a kid and the Easter Bunny—real or unreal. Yes, I partook in Easter eggs hunts at various times. It must’ve been at the Catholic Church we attended when I was young. Unfortunately both of my parents are gone now and I can’t get those details of my childhood filled in.
My father rarely went to church with us. It was always my mother who got us ready and dragged us to Catechism (Catholic Sunday school). I think my father must’ve been what our pastor calls ‘Chreasters.’ Those are people who only go to church on Christmas and Easter. I was one of those people in years gone by as well.
Almudena Cathedral, Madrid, where I worshiped one day while on mission to Spain, October 2014.
Church as a Priority
I am at a stage in my life where I routinely go to church year-round, trying to give each weekend service a place of priority and honor. Christmas is, of course, a special time to celebrate Jesus’ birth. However, Easter feels especially sacred and uplifting to me. There are many reasons for that.
- It hasn’t been over-commercialized like Christmas.
- It doesn’t come with the holiday parties and stress of holiday expectations.
- It hasn’t been made into a non-Christian holiday.
- It comes in the spring, when flowers are blooming, the days are getting longer, and the sun is starting to shine.
- It is preceded by Lent—a time of deliberate prayerful preparation to celebrate Jesus’ resurrection.
- It signifies how to acquire salvation and eternal life—with one simple decision to accept Jesus at face value, as the Son of God.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16, NIV
Waiting for the Story to End
Lent has ended, and now are the days of waiting—the three days between Jesus’ brutal crucifixion on Good Friday (yesterday) and his resurrection on Easter Sunday.
We know how the story ends. Does that make the waiting easier? Does it make it irrelevant or less interesting? If we knew the ending to the books we read, would we stop reading them? Maybe that depends on whether or not it is a good ending—one we like.
The Easter Story is the greatest story ever told! I never tire of hearing it, especially so in a solemn church service like I did last night. (Read the Passion of Christ in John 18-19:42.) It should make us shout for joy!
Because the waiting isn’t just for Easter, it’s for the return of Jesus. Celebrating Easter, Holy Week, and Lent is ultimately celebrating in the here and now what our future brings. There is no mystery to the ending. However, there is mystery and intrigue in how we live in anticipation of what is to come.
Our lives don’t have to be mundane and boring. We can approach our days and our ways with the same excitement and fervor with which we celebrate Easter. There are blessings in it for us, for those we are in relationship with, and for those we come in contact with.
Easter: A New Beginning!
Easter marks the end of waiting for the Messiah, for us now and for the Jews and Gentiles over 2,000 years ago. Some might say the ending was marked by the birth of Jesus. I can’t argue with that. However, my point is that Jesus’ death and resurrection marks the fulfillment of over 300 Old Testament scripture that foretold His ministry, death, and resurrection. The resurrection is the linchpin of our Christian faith.
Easter really marks the beginning. It is the beginning of our Christian lives. It is the beginning of the Church. And that makes me giddy like a child—and worth the wait. It’s been a great week of anticipation. It’s been a great week of holy waiting, filled with church services, fasting, and prayer. I’m ready to celebrate.
Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed!
Making Me Bold 