Easter is here again. If I am being honest, I don’t even remember Easter last year. But that’s probably because I blocked most of April 2018 out of my head. But this year, Easter is incredibly clear to me. This is mostly because I am attending Hillsong College and Hillsong Church holds Easter as one of its deepest core values. To Hillsong, Easter weekend is one of the most important weekends in a year. And for the first time in my life, I think I couldn’t agree more.
It’s true that most people, whether they are Christians or not, attend church on Easter Sunday. At least in the US, and I think it’s the same here in Australia. Therefore, people are coming from all over with different stories tell. Some incredibly desperate for Jesus. Hillsong understands this. But they also understand that for Christians, Easter should be a day that is just as big if not bigger than Christmas. Why? Because on Christmas we celebrate the beginning of redemption's journey; our Saviors’ humble beginnings. But on Easter, we celebrate the very thing he came to the earth to do, the redeeming. And not just the redeeming, the conquering.
For someone who now has a special person on the other side, there’s a lot of new meaning to this day. In the last year, I’ve experienced the repercussions of death and pain in ways I hope most people will never have to. But the fact of the matter is that Jesus experienced those things too. When I opened up the Bible this year to read about the last days of Jesus on earth, what he walked through has a whole new meaning. Think about it.
At the last supper, Jesus washes his disciples’ feet (John 13). He lowered himself to the standards of servant or slave and washes the feet of his 12 best friends, one of which he knew would betray him and all of which would scatter, and even deny him (good old Peter). He knew all those things would happen. Yet he did it anyway.
In the garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26), when he prayed to God, he asked his friends to pray for him and with him and they fell asleep. His very community in his last hours did not see the pain and urgency that he was feeling. And even then, Jesus prayed for them, he prayed for the earth, and he prayed for you and me. He knew exactly what was to come. In fact, if you want proof of how human Jesus really was, look at how he begged God to allow it to be done some other way. He knew the whipping, the crown of thorns, the insults, the slander, the false testimony, the gambling of his things and the nailing to the cross. The emotional, physical and mental pain. Yet, all he said was “not my will but yours be done”, to his Father in heaven.
I know that if you’re a Christian, you’ve probably read and heard this story a million times. But for one second put yourself in the place of Jesus and ask yourself if you could do ANY of those things, knowing the horrendous death that waited ahead. I know, having walked through my own pain, and barely surviving some days, I actually can’t begin to imagine what Jesus felt.
But that’s not even the craziest part about today for me. The craziest part for me is that Jesus endured all of that to conquer the diagnoses that 100 percent of the population will one day face: death. Because on Easter Sunday, Jesus not only atoned for the forgiveness of our sins, but he also took away the ultimate penalty of it. Not only can I walk a life of forgiveness and freedom in Christ, but I can also live my days knowing that one day I’ll see that same amazing Savior who paid it all for me, face to face. And not only that, I live with the promise that Taylor is there in eternity already living in the gift that Jesus gave on Easter Sunday that very day.
Easter Sunday is a day of hope and celebration for me. But I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t shed a tear or two. Because the reality of God’s grace and love is so clear to me today. I don’t deserve this forgiveness, this freedom, this grace, and this hope. But instead, he thought of me. And today I hold on to the hope of seeing Taylor and more importantly the glory of God that is waiting for me on the other side.
Death where is your sting? The resurrected King has rendered you defeated.
One day, the sting will be lifted, and I'll see my Savior's face.