The purpose of Easter started with Jesus’ miraculous birth and continued as he lived a completely human life –He experienced joy, grief, pain, hunger, pleasure, and just the ordinary life of a carpenter.
He walked the dusty roads from town to town loving on people, healing people, and modeling a new way of life that would extend into eternity. Telling people they didn’t have to die! They could spend eternity in a new dimension, with God, and each other.
This went against the powerful denomination of His day – the Jewish priests who had become demanding enforcers of judgemental, unforgiving laws.
He replaced their harsh legalistic teachings with God’s true law of love, grace and the humble message of putting others before yourself and serving others as the purpose of life on earth and into the hereafter.
When people responded to His message of the hope of overcoming death, and living in love, and when the authorities saw their power fading, they viciously turned on him, even though his message was completely peaceful – and they had him killed in a public, painful and humiliating way.
But this was not the end, the tomb was found empty. The body wrappings neatly folded - not work of grave robbers. And then… he reappeared AND...
continued to walk the earth for 40 days, appearing to more than 500 people to prove beyond any doubt that there is life after earthly death. This is the Good News Jesus brought to anyone who would hear.
So, his birth, our birth does not end. This is the hope we are celebrating every Easter, the gift of eternal life. Amen.
