The Real Meaning of Easter

During Easter last year, I had a conversation with a 19-year-old who had come to power-sweep our lawn on the morning of Good Friday. He arrived as we were leaving for the service, so I took the opportunity to speak with him about God. I mentioned that we were heading to a Good Friday service and assumed he understood what that meant. To my surprise, he had no idea that Easter was about anything other than Easter eggs and bunnies. He told me he had never known that Easter was about the death and resurrection of Jesus; it was the first time he was hearing about it. I chatted with him for a little while and invited him to consider a relationship with the Lord. I later followed up via text message. I can’t say he accepted the Lord, but he appreciated our conversation and told me he would think on it.

That day left a deep impression on me. I had assumed that, living in Canada, most people knew Easter was a Christian holiday – that it was about Jesus – even if they didn’t believe in Him. I realized that many people, especially children and teenagers, have never truly heard about Jesus or what He did for humanity. They celebrate Christmas and enjoy the season's excitement and the gifts they receive. They mark Easter and look forward to egg hunts and chocolate bunnies, but they have never heard about Jesus. That conversation with the young man made me realize I should never pass up an opportunity to share the real meaning of these occasions, and that I should never assume people already know.

That is my message to you today. Easter is about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ to save humanity from sin, so that we can be rescued from God’s wrath and reconciled to Him.

John 3:16-17 says, “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.”

It is our duty to share this truth, so that others may also come to the saving knowledge of Christ. You would surely agree that our world today desperately needs saving. People are, more than ever before, searching for truth. Unfortunately, many turn to psychic mediums, New Age practices such as Reiki, alcohol, drugs, sexual immorality, and other things – all in an attempt to fill a void in their hearts that only Christ can fill.

We must be intentional about sharing our faith and pointing people in the right direction. We know that everyone who calls on God for salvation will be saved (Romans 10:13). But as Paul rightly asked, “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?” (Romans 10:14).

If we don’t tell them, they will not know. The person next door or the colleague at work may have no idea that Easter is about what Jesus did for them. So, tell someone today!

Happy Easter.

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