Typically, I LOVE holidays. The Holidays, for me, span between Thanksgiving and New Years. The music, the food, the spirit in the air - I love it all!
Well, as it happens, we're coming up on yet another nationally recognized holiday - Easter. When I think Easter, I think bunnies, chocolate, candy, marshmallow peeps, etc (thanks to our society for yet another commercialized holiday!)
In truth, Easter has been my least favorite holiday. This year, it's different. And I know why.
Has someone ever done something profound for you, maybe taking care of a situation where you screwed up, taking the ramifications on themselves? If so, have you thanked them knowing full well it was your fault and you deserved the blame? How about if you kept repeating the same mistake? Would you feel some kind of remorse and shame if you did and they kept accpeting the fall for it? I can most definitely answer yes to some if not all of those questions. It's funny how when we turn a blind eye to our sins and transgressions, we lose sight of significance of Christ's sacrifice. I suppose that's why I never regarded Easter with much more than the typical holiday cheer. Easter has never stirred any emotions in me. Sure, I understood the true meaning of Easter, God sent his Son at Christmas, Jesus died on the Cross at Easter, yaddah yaddah. But in the last six months, I've truly begun to understand the real significance of what the cross and the events that transpired truly mean to Christians.
So, I take the questions I asked in the beginning and reverse them. Have you ever done something profound for someone else, taking the blame when it was their fault? Have they thanked you, knowing it was their fault and they deserved the blame? Did they keep repeating the same mistake?
When I answer the second set of questions, my responses are pretty much "No"...and that saddens me. I'm filled with remorse because He died to set me free, taking all the blame that should have been mine. That I live a life where I don't need to do anything to earn forgiveness because the price has already been paid. That my sins are nailed to the cross and I bear them no more. I don't know what it's like to accept responsibility and blame because of someone else's mistake. In our human nature, it's our natural reaction to pass the torch so to speak. We don't want to be held responsible if it means getting in trouble. How opposite that is from Christ's actions. He meekly took our place, God's wrath and shame upon himself.
I was thinking about that last night...I remember my blog posts about how I was craving forgiveness and how wretched I felt...and the complete transformation of my life simply by picking up my cross and following him. It hasn't been easy but it has been by far the most rewarding thing I've ever done in my life.
So, my challenge, for myself and anyone reading this: take a minute (or more) to ponder the significance of the cross and what it means. Thank Him for sending His Son so that we might be free. Thank Christ for bearing the burden and shame that should have been ours.
One of my favorite illustrations of this is the one from Pilgrim's Progress. My parents bought us a book based off of Pilgrim's Progress called Dangerous Journey and it had AWESOME illustrations. The scene at the cross sticks out in my memory the most. Christian is on his way to the Celestial City. On the way he has dealt with many ordeals - all with this terrible burden on his back. The artist does and amazing job of rendering that burden. It look heavys, it looks uncomfortable - not my idea of a great backpacking trip! When Christian come upon the cross, something amazing happens. His burden falls off and he is set free. Not only that but the burden rolls into a tomb and he never sees it again. The angels that appear to him give him a scroll that assures his entrance into the Celestial City. If that isn't an accurate representation of what it means to become a Christian than I don't know what is. Our burdens are forever in the tomb, sealed with Jesus when He was buried. His sacrifice gave us the free gift of eternal life - our assurance of entrance into His eternal Kingdom. That's the reason for Easter - celebration of His Life, His death, His Resurrection - without it, we would be living in a meaningless existence, with no hope of salvation.
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