Some people get it twisted, but the most important thing to know about the holiday we all call, “Easter”, is that fact that the Lord, Jesus Christ suffered to and on the Cross of Calvary, died, and rose with almighty power in his hand. Right now, he is sitting on the right hand of God, making intercession for us and pleading our case. When we fall because f Jesus’ pleadings we will never again feel the wrath of God that put Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden. In addition, the wrath caused the great flood to wash away everything because of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Several Pastors in my area do some wonderful enactments of what happened to our Lord and Savior. Some are so poignant that you wince with trembling when you hear and see the crack of the whip upon his Jesus’) back. The one movie that I thought was the best movie of all time was “The Passion of the Christ”. Producer Mel Gibson did a wonderful job and made you actually feel all of the anguish and despair that Jesus must have been feeling.
Sitting in church during an annual Easter Sunday service, I still find myself weeping when the talk about how Jesus was scorned, beaten, bludgeoned, and left for dead. Then made to get up, bare his cross, and had nails hammered into his body. I still weep. However, the glory of the entire event is that fact that he did because he wanted to. Can you imagine, laying down your life knowingly for someone the entire world, and going through excruciating pain and ridicule. I do not know anyone before or since that could have bared that burden.
However, reading the bible, I find helps me to understand the meaning of Easter. It is more important that, “The Easter Bunny”, chocolate bunnies, marshmallow candies, jelly beans, Easter egg hunts, stuffed animals, and Easter Baskets. IT IS ABOUT THE LIFE, DEATH, AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS.
The main scriptures that help me understand are:
For my own edification and me, I love the King James Version (KJV) and the Amplified King James Version (A KJV) of the Holy Bible.
Of the 66 Bible of the Holy Bible, I think that the Book of John holds much information about who Jesus was, and still is. John the Baptist, I believe wrote this particular book, and he was the closest to Jesus while he was in his Earthly form. So knowing this I think much of the Bible verses about Jesus would come from this particular book. I am not a scholar, I just think that it helps some to understand better and see into who God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are.
John 2:19 KJV
Jesus answered and said unto them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
The declaration of Christ that he is going to be raised up from the dead within three days of dying. NO MAN can do that!
John 3:16 KJV
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
This is normally the first verse introduced to any child about God, Jesus, and how much God and his son Jesus loved every one of us. I still love this verse today. In fact, everyday my son and I recite it before he goes to school. It is part of our daily morning ritual. It has a lot of power in this on Bible verse.
John 10:17-18 KJV
(17)Therefor doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life; that I might take it again. (18) No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.
Again, this verse speaks about how Jesus willingly laid down his life for us. He knew that he was going to go through some terrible horrific things, but he knew that God had commanded him to do it, and he did it willingly. This is kind of like when you know you have do nothing wrong, and you are wrongly accused anyway. People hold us accountable to something that someone else did, but you cannot convince everyone that you are not guilty, so you have to pay the price.
These are only a few of the verses that I love. I hope that they will help others understand the true meaning of Easter, and God’s love through his son, Jesus Christ.
