Getting to Easter

            Last Sunday, of course, was Easter.  Almost everyone looks forward to Easter Sunday.  We had a week of special church services, following Jesus to the cross.  But then comes the celebration!  He is risen!  He is risen, indeed!

            But of course, on the morning of the first Easter, the disciples were not anticipating a celebration.  They were not anticipating anything, really.  Jesus was dead.  Some of them, at least, had seen him die.  They were in hiding.  They thought the authorities might be coming for them, too.

            Even when they heard the story from the women who’d been at the tomb, they did not understand it.  Even when a couple of them went to the tomb themselves and saw it empty, they did not understand it.

            Finally, Peter says, “I’m going fishing”.  That, of course, was what Peter had done all his life.  He’d caught fish and sold them for a living.  Maybe he thought he’d have to get back into the business again, now that Jesus was gone.  Anyway, he went, and the other disciples went with him.  None of them knew anything was going to happen.  None of them knew that they were about to have the biggest celebration of their lives.

            Today, we sometimes take Easter for granted.  To many times, we make it about bunnies and colored eggs and candy.  Don’t get me wrong.  There’s nothing inherently wrong with those things.  But if that’s all we make Easter about, we miss the point.

            We also miss the point if we get to Easter without going through Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.  I hope you did not do that.  I hope you thought about the events that led up to Easter.  Jesus’ betrayal.  Jesus’ arrest.  Jesus’ trial.  Jesus’ torture.  And Jesus’ death.  Without those things, there would be no Easter.

            And without those things there would be no forgiveness of our sins.  That’s why Jesus went to the cross, after all.  He could’ve avoided it in any number of ways.  But he went through with it, willingly, out of love.  He took the punishment we deserve on himself, so that our sins are forgiven if we only believe in him.

             I hope you had a wonderful Easter.  But I hope you had some meaningful days before it, too.  And if you did not, it’s not too late.  You can still think about those events.  And you can still thank God for them.  And you can still repent of your sins, ask forgiveness, and believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior.