Something is happening on the northeast corner of Line and Main. The building that used to be Brock’s Sporting Goods is undergoing another change of ownership and something is missing. In the spirit of full disclosure, I have to admit that I wasn’t the first in my family to notice what had disappeared from the front window. The huge bear wearing the extra large fishing waders is no longer there. As new displays come and go, I wonder how long we will remember the bear that was in the front window for so long.
Today we are in the middle of Easter celebrations between Good Friday and Easter morning, and it causes me to think back to that first Easter. I wonder if people observed that something significant was happening at the time. Did people notice what was really taking place? Did they know why the One they had welcomed so eagerly into Jerusalem a little less than a week before had now been killed on a Roman cross? Did they think about Him being gone and wonder what had happened, and more importantly, why?
First of all, none of this took Jesus, or God the Father, by surprise. Death on a cross was why Jesus came to earth. He came to do the will of His Father and it was God’s plan from the very beginning to provide a sacrifice for sin. Romans 5:8 tells us that “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” We are justified by Jesus’ blood, saved from the wrath of God and reconciled to God through the death of His Son (v.9-10). Philippians 2:8 reminds us that Jesus, who existed in the form of God, humbled Himself and became obedient to death on a cross. There is no possible way for men and women to have a relationship with their creator without Jesus’ death on that hill outside Jerusalem. The wages of sin is death (eternal separation from God) and Jesus paid that debt.
The Easter story is familiar, but I wonder if we’re really paying attention to all that it means. Jesus died in our place to provide forgiveness of sin, but that’s only half of the amazing story of what happened. After His crucifixion many were grieving the loss of the One they had hoped was their Messiah. Others, after watching the events of the crucifixion, went on with their lives with no further thought about what it meant when Jesus cried out “It is finished” and gave up His spirit. The full story of what Jesus’ death meant for them personally was apparently of no concern.
The other half of this incredible story of Easter is that Jesus rose again—and by His resurrection, he defeated death, Satan’s weapon against sinful humanity. Jesus explained to Martha, Lazarus’ sister, that He, Jesus, was “the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies” (John 11:25). Physical death is to be expected, but salvation from spiritual death took place when Jesus took our place on the cross. Resurrection Sunday truly is a “hallelujah morning!”
I don’t mean to compare Jesus to a missing bear, but I’m afraid that as with the bear, people won’t always remember there was a man called Jesus who gave His life to die for them and rescue them from sin. I’m afraid they will forget God’s amazing love. The true message of Easter is a matter of life and death—His death providing our eternal life. Never forget.