But what Jesus endured to make today possible is unfathomable.
“He was spat on, ridiculed, & violently nailed to 2 pieces of wood, to pay a debt He did not owe, because we owed a debt we could not pay.
He, a sinless man, blanketed our iniquities with His life on that old rugged cross..
But guess what?
Not even the grave could contain Him.”
-Ray Zingler on X
Today is obviously a glorious day.
You’ll see the “He is Risen” posts all over your Instagram and Facebook feeds, followed by pictures of females in their Easter dresses and males in their pastel-colored button downs.
Whether these people are celebrating the fact that it was today, many moons ago, that Christ rose from the dead to save our (very deserving) species from hell or a family photo opportunity to tell social media they went to church is up for discussion.
Regardless, seeing the increasingly rare praise and “visibility” for Jesus Christ on social media is a net positive and the fact that most of it is coming from CEO’s (Christmas & Easter Only’s) is largely unimportant.
But let me remind you that this weekend is about much more than pulling your kids out of school early on a Friday, trendy outfits, colored eggs, and rabbits.
We try to water down the gospel in 2024 to make it more palatable (look how well that’s advanced Christianity), but do not be fooled.
Despite Jesus being the purest example of LOVE the world has and will ever know, the story of His death and resurrection is gruesome and violent beyond comprehension.
Good Friday? Of course, His death was “good” in the sense that the loss of His pulse paid the penalty for our sins and secured our FREE gift of salvation.
But leading up to that good part was violence on a level we are fortunate to be blissfully ignorant of.
Not only was He brutally beaten, spat on, mocked, and ridiculed as He carried His cross to Calvary..
He was crucified, which was known as the worst death reserved only for the worst criminals.
Each nail was 6+ inches long and were driven into His wrists via hammer, shattering muscle, tendon, and bone.
His feet were then nailed together in a similar fashion.
He endured this for hours.
Finally, His side was pierced, and He bled out until He had no more blood to bleed.
“It is finished.” He said.
Easter is not just a cute holiday weekend.
It’s the most serious, important, selfless story you’ll ever know.
He did it for you (and me), too.
I implore you to reflect on it.
He is the one True King.
Happy Easter.
