4-23-2014 7-41-10 AMThis time of the year Christians celebrate the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord. While the world celebrates the bunny, eggs, and chocolate; we should know the true meaning. The King of Kings was crucified for us. It took some time for this to really soak in for me.

We grew up doing the traditional “Easter” thing, but once in college we had a shift in our family. We always knew that it was the time when Jesus was crucified, died, and rose again, but the emphasis was not on that alone. We soon began to let go of the mainstream idea of Easter. In the last several years my mind has grasped only a little of it, but I am getting there.

For Jesus this was a solemn time, the week of the Passover. He knew what he was about to endure and how hard it would be. This wasn’t going to be a happy time, though it would have a happy ending. It was much more than a happy ending. It was a longing that would be fulfilled.

How amazing………… 

God’s longing to be reconciled back to His creation would take place on that cross!

 The disciples heard His words, but it did not sink in. They listened intently, but somehow they did not perceive what He was saying to them. Is that not like us? I read the passages about His sacrifice. His love! His pain! But, do I truly understand it? I don’t and in some ways, I never will.

This was a bloody, gruesome, and painful time for the Son of God. We cannot fathom the excruciating pain that Jesus endured while being beaten and nailed to the cross. Neither can we comprehend the mockery that He endured. They literally spit on Him, ladies. For you….For me! He was the King of Glory and He could have put an end to it all, yet He did not. Oh sweet Savior, He wanted communion again with His creation and He longed for the adoration again.

When I think of it this way, I cannot help but pause and reflect.  Think and Ponder! He did this all for me and every day I do something displeasing to my Lord. No, I do not live in a life of sin, but I do still sin. The very thing that Jesus was punished for, I still do. It hurts!

Why do I not see how important, how powerful this act was that it causes me to strive for no sin in my life?

Oh my sweet friends! We must never forget that time Jesus endured the cross and total separation from His Father. We must never forget that it was gruesome and painful and bloody. Some do not encourage that, but I think it is dangerous to forget the brutality of the act that Jesus did.

And we must never forget that though Jesus endured much pain, He had the final say. After 3 days in the tomb, dead and lifeless, Jesus was raised from the dead. Breath came back into Him and He conquered sin, death, and the grave. What a glorious time!

He then reconciled us back to the Father and that is the joyous part. Not dying eggs. Not the Easter bunny. Not Easter baskets. Not food. Not family gatherings. Only Jesus made a way for us to commune with our Father again!  May we never forget this!

Let’s take a moment to pray!

Lord, we recognize the gruesome act that You endured for our sins, for our reconciliation. We thank You and we praise You! Thank You for making a way back to our Father and a way to know Him again. Words really cannot express the gratitude we have towards You. We ask that we never forget Your painful death and Your glorious resurrection! Let us live out that life every day. A life of joy and peace and love. Let us shine Your light to this dark, lost world.

In Jesus Name, Amen

Building strong marriages together,

Heather Strickland

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The following are a few verses to further encourage you:

By this we know love that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. (1 John 3:16)

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, (1 Peter 3:18)

You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. (1 John 3:5) 

He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of

the whole world.(1 John 2:2)

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, (John 11:25)

But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5)