I recently read an article proclaiming that there were some groundbreaking discoveries that might change the way we celebrate Easter. The article was talking about how a scientist had discovered that the Last Supper may have actually taken place on the Wednesday before the Crucifixion as opposed to the Thursday that was originally thought. His reasoning was that there was a difference in the calendar used and so on and so on. Well, I have news for you, that scientist, and anyone else who thinks that news will change the way that we celebrate Easter. While I understand the premise that the date of the Last Supper could possibly be different from what we have always thought, I, for one, do not celebrate a day or a date. I celebrate what was done on the Cross with me and you in mind. Praise God that my celebration doesn’t end there. You see, my Savior did die on the Cross that day, and He was placed in the tomb, but He did not stay in that tomb. My Savior rose from the dead and ascended into Heaven where He became our righteousness and our salvation. If that isn’t reason to have true joy in your life, I don’t know what is.
The meaning of Easter, much like the meaning of Christmas has been lost in the fray. Society has flooded us with so much commercialism from the Easter bunny, to the Easter egg, to the ridiculous amounts of candy that is on the shelves that we seem to have lost sight of the priceless gift that was given to us on that day. Easter is not about any of those things. While I appreciate history, and I love to see how historical events that were secularly recorded often match up almost exactly with events depicted in The Bible, I do not worship a date. It doesn’t matter to me what day my Savior died and what day He rose from the dead. What matters to me is that I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that He did die for me, and He did rise from the dead.
I challenge you this Easter to put the emphasis back on what God did for us that day through his Son, Jesus Christ. I am not saying that Easter egg hunts are bad or anything. I can certainly remember finding (and sometimes not finding) my fair share of Easter eggs in the yard, but I can proudly tell you one thing. My mom and dad made sure that my sister and I understood that that had nothing to do with the reason we celebrate. If you are a parent, take time out of your busy schedules to share with your children about the joy of the precious gift given to us through the Cross. If you are not a parent share with those around you and those you come in contact with.
This gift that was given to us is way too important to get tossed on the back burner or lost in all of the hubbub.
MY SAVIOR LIVES!
James
Canvas Rhapsody 
He is Risen, Indeed! Thanks for keeping it all in perspective James.
Yes, He is risen indeed! My impression of the reason for some of this type of research is essentially that they want to attempt to “disprove” what Jesus did, using the fact that pagan rituals, beliefs, and practices {connected with the change of the seasons} were inserted into Christian beliefs creating a type of syncretistic religion. As you said, it’s much like needing to refocus our minds as we need to do at Christmas. I TOTALLY AGREE with you!!! Thanks for your thoughts, James; I always look forward to your posts.
Ted, isn’t it amazing to serve a living God!
Denise, it is sad that people spend their entire lives trying to disprove what God has done. As believers, we need to check our perspective regularly. I think that if we do that, we would see things change in our lives and our community.
Sometimes peoples’ efforts to disprove Jesus or the Bible ends up in the opposite direction! Josh McDowell{sp?} began his book “Evidence That Demands a Verdict” as a post-grad thesis to disprove the Bible and Jesus as the truth, and ended up becoming a major evangelistic believer! God moves in strange ways, and gives us unexpected turns and results, no?
I have Josh McDowell’s “A Ready Defense”. It is basically a collection of quite a bit of his work. I use it as my bathroom reader (possibly too much information). I find the book to be very interesting.
I’m with ya Preach. I don’t like all the commercialism that comes with Easter. And many kids have no idea what the true meaning of Easter is. We got the most precious eternal gift. That’s worth shouting about! Although there is one good thing that has come out of the commercialism of Easter…the Cadbury Creme Egg.
Ash, I would also like to nominate Peeps and the Chicks and Ducks Sweettarts as positives as well.