Leading up to Easter, we see Jesus enter Jerusalem, scold the wicked, heal the sick and prepare His disciples for His upcoming death. The night before Good Friday, Jesus celebrated the Passover feast at a table with His disciples. Many important things happen at this meal, and what is most important is that God reveals Himself through Jesus and lets us in on the work He’s been preparing since the beginning of time.
What happens on this night, at this meal? Let’s look at just two things Jesus says:
1. Jesus comforts His disciples
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going." (John 14:1-4 NIV)
2. Jesus promises the Holy Spirit
"If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you." (John 14:15-18 NIV)
As Jesus explains to the disciples that He will soon be betrayed and put to death, He says, "Don't let your hearts be troubled by this! It is good that I leave you, because when I do, I will not only prepare a place for you in heaven, but I will also send my Spirit to guide you while you are here on earth."
And then, it happens. Jesus is arrested and put on trial the next day. Religious leaders and an angry crowd convince Pilate, the Roman leader of Judea, to have Him crucified. Jesus is mocked, beaten and spit upon before being nailed to a cross to die. His disciples, even if they believed everything Jesus said the night before, must have found it extremely difficult to understand Jesus' pain and suffering as good. Jesus death, as gruesome and unjust as it was, is the greatest thing to ever happen to you, me and the entire world.
We can rejoice because Jesus' one death won life for all of us. The story of Easter doesn't end on Good Friday. In fact, it ends with a beginning.
In Matthew chapter 28, we see Mary Magdalene approach Jesus' tomb three days after His death, only to find that his body is no longer there. Shortly thereafter, Jesus appears to Mary and later to the disciples. And He's not some ghostly apparition – It's really Jesus, flesh and bone, alive! Through the work of God, Jesus has conquered death and spends the next 40 days with His disciples before ascending to be with the Father.
When Jesus went to the cross, He knew that God's power would triumph over death, and not just triumph to raise Him again but to raise us all.
What does this mean? When Jesus died on Good Friday, all of our sin (everything that separates us from God) died with Him. This means that every bad decision I've made or will make in the future is forgiven through Christ. Before Jesus' death and resurrection, I’d be dead meat! I've always been a sinner. Even as a Christian, I am still a sinner. I wrong my God in one way or another every day. We all do. But now, it's no longer held against us. It's gone, buried with Christ.
Jesus resurrection on Easter Sunday is an awe-inspiring illustration of not only God's power over death but also His power to give life. As Jesus explained at the Last Supper, after He ascends, God sends His Holy Spirit down to live within the disciples and all who believe in Him. This is God saying, "There is no separation between us anymore. I love you so much that I want to be with you forever, all day, every day."
Easter bridges the gap for us. Christ's death and resurrection leads us away from an old life of death and sin to a new life of forgiveness and fullness.
So, what has this meant to me personally? How has Easter transformed my life? Let's look at a passage from 1 Peter:
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:3-5 NIV)
This scripture states that as a believer and follower of Jesus, I am a completely new person with an inheritance of eternal life. This means that God loves me and my sins aren't counted against me. It means I can love others the way I was meant to, like Jesus did. And it means that when I die, my life is not over. The pain, struggles, and disappointments of life here on earth aren't all there is. There is so much more.
What is new birth like?
For me, the transformation of new birth in Christ has been pretty incredible. I think thoughts I've never had before. I make decisions I'd never have made before knowing Him. Whether my thoughts or decisions are "small" like how I spend an afternoon or "big" like how I spend the rest of my life, I now find Jesus at the center of all of them. And that's the Holy Spirit working in me. Does that sound a little weird? Someone else's (God's) spirit living in you, transforming your entire being, how you think and how you act? At first, it is a little weird! Then, it becomes completely natural. Because this new person is who I really am, who I was created to be - a child of God in relationship with my Maker, motivated to do good for Him and others.
What is eternal life?
Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. (John 17:3 NIV)
Don't some days, weeks or even years feel like eternity? Things on the horizon seem so far away, yet Jesus says eternity is here. Eternity is now, with Him and in you. All the peace, all the joy, all the good that He has, you have access to right now.
If God created us and God is in us by His Spirit, then whatever He does has to affect us, right? Just like whatever we do has to affect Him. We ignore Him, and He is hurt. We bring Him glory, and He is pleased. There is a real relationship here in which both parties are participants. So, when Jesus died, something in us had to die, too. And what died was death. God triumphing over death, which only He can do, gives us the opportunity to follow Him into eternity.
Because of Christ's resurrection, we can say:
"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" (1 Corinthians 15:55 NIV)
It's gone. God has power over life and death. And for you? He chooses life. He says, "It's here, in me. Come and get it!" God allows us to, in a way, share in His power, by accepting it, and saying, "Yeah, I want that. Lord, what you offer is all that is good. And I could use some good right now. I could use some life!"
Could you use some good? Could you use new life right now? I encourage you to really think about what Christ's death and resurrection means to you. Reflect on your life up to this point. If you believe in your heart that everything in this post is true, tell Him! Whisper to God or shout it from the rooftops! You're forgiven from sin. You're saved from death. You're alive in eternity. Hallelujah!
Community Relations Associate
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