Why do we celebrate easter?

 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:5

Bunnies. Eggs. Flowers. Is this what you think of when you hear the word Easter? Maybe you think of a week off from school or work and a day of eating chocolate bunnies and spending time with your family. Well, that's all great things to do and to think of but when it comes to Easter we are celebrating three things. These three things are the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. It's important to understand this because it is the reason why many of us are alive today. It's the reason why there are churches in the world and the reasons why preachers stand in pulpits and preach the good news. If it wasn't for this season, Easter, we would all lack hope.

    I know you're asking, well why does this matter to me? Why did Jesus even have to die? It all started in the beginning: Adam was given a commandment from God not to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam disobeyed God and ate of the fruit when his wife, Eve, urged him to. Because of Adam's disobedience man was separated from God. Man and God no longer had the same relationship as they did in the Garden of Eden. Man now had a knowledge of Good and Evil, so people began doing evil things that displeased God. When you look at the story of Cain and Abel, you see that good and evil coexists. Abel believed that he should do whatever he could to please God, so he gave his best offering to God. Cain, on the other hand, gave God an offering that was not his best and did not come from the heart. Abel received a greater blessing than Cain did because he sacrificed more. Cain was angry and murdered his brother, Abel. He was envious of Abel's blessing and killed him because of it. So, good and evil coexisted from the beginning of time.

    God saw the corruption of man and how far we were from Him. He still loved us so very much so he decided that he had a plan to redeem us. Years after Cain and Abel, Adam and Eve, God sent his son, Jesus to die for us. For man to be redeemed blood had to be shed and someone had to die. Not just anyone could die for our sins. Not even the greatest prophet that walked the face of the earth. Not Elijah, or Jeremiah or even Isaiah. This person had to be free from sin so that a pure and ultimate sacrifice could be made for our sin. This person had to be God Himself. This person was Jesus Christ.

   You may be asking, well, why couldn't God just make us free from sin? Why did Jesus have to die?  We needed an advocate, someone who would take our sin upon Himself and cleanse us from our sin. This person had to be sinless, and he had to wash us from our sins by taking on our sin and by dying on the cross, our sin would also die. A little over 2,000 years ago, Jesus came to earth and became the sacrifice for our sin.

   His death was not just a "quick" or "simple" death. Crucifixion was the highest form of execution in that time. Jesus endured mockery, shame, and pain for us. Two nails were put through His hand to nail Him to the cross and one through both of His feet. The Bible says that he was wounded for our transgression and crushed for our iniquity, by His stripes [whipping] we are healed. So imagine that: for every need that you have ever had or will ever have, Jesus took the beating of the Roman soldiers. For every time that you make a mockery out of this holiday, remember that he was spat upon for you. For your healing, he was beaten. For your sin He was wounded. He was bruised for our iniquity. That means that for every evil thought that you think, He was bruised to set you free from that.

   Easter is not a light holiday of bunnies and eggs. It's the day that is set aside to commemorate all that Jesus has done for us. It is a day to commemorate life. He died to give us life; he died to give us freedom. Jesus took your place upon the cross. We deserve to be hung upon that cross for all of our sin; we deserve to hang there in shame. But the Bible tells us that, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him, should not die but have everlasting life.

   The good news is that if you believe in Him and accept Him, you will have everlasting life. You will reign with Jesus in paradise. He suffered on the cross so that we all could have free salvation. The great thing is that if you will only call upon Him, He will save you. You just need to believe and open your heart to receive a blessing from Him. He loved us so much, that He died to give us a hope for paradise in the future. As you are with your family and friends, celebrating during your week(s) off, just remember the sacrifice made on the cross for you.