By Pastor Wilson (Insert photo please)
God’s House Church
If someone 1000 years from today looked back at our time and tried to explain how we celebrated a season we call Easter, they may be surprised why we have a rabbit as the main symbol and why that rabbit lays eggs. If they asked us why, we would be at a loss to explain that ourselves! Easter has come to mean so many different things that sometimes it is surprising how some of the other beliefs came about. What does an egg-laying rabbit have to do with Jesus on a cross? The meaning of Easter can be so deeply lost that sometimes it really almost feels like it is outright pagan.
It is easier to talk about a furry rabbit than to think of a Jesus that was tortured. The picture of a tortured half naked man hanging on a cross is too intense, too uncomfortable and may feel too out of place. However, this is how God chose to save the world and this unsettling and uncomfortable Jesus is the image that God left us with. This image is meant to immediate cause us to ask “why?” Why would a God who is all powerful choose to save the world in this way. He could just simply wave his hand and forgive our sins but why does he choose to do it in this uncomfortable and gory way?
The violent picture of the cross is meant to show the gravity and serious nature of our sin. It is no small matter. I will explain it this way: If one lies to a stranger, the stranger may not really care. If one lies to a friend, they may strain their relationship. If one lies to their spouse, it may lead to a divorce. If one lies to the courts, they may be jailed! If one lies before God, it will lead to an eternity in hell. The gravity of sin is in direct proportion to whom it is committed against. To us, sin may seem like a small matter; however, before an infinitely holy God, sin is infinitely fatal.
There is therefore no better and appropriate picture for Easter than a crucified Jesus on the cross paying the infinitely fatal consequence of our sin. That picture is not meant to comfort us but to rouse us to the gravity of our sin and to also show us the infinite depth of God’s love in paying that debt for us. That picture is meant to help us place our faith in that Jesus and accept his payment for our sins knowing that we could never pay that debt ourselves in any way. In return, we give our lives to him for there is nothing better we can give. Now that…. That is the point of Easter!
As we celebrate this season with your families, may we not seek to dampen the truth of Easter but may we be confronted with it. Furry rabbits may be easier to think about but a gory cross is the reality. May the uncomfortable truth lead us in the right direction and cause us to embrace God whilst forsaking our sin. May we make the leap, walk away from our sin and into the outstretched arms of Jesus who is prepared to forgive any sin and is waiting for us to just ask.