Easter Is Coming
As Christians everywhere, prepare for the Easter celebration, we first go through a time known as Lent. This is a 40-day period of self-reflection, prayer, fasting, and for many, it includes giving up of a worldly pleasure as a way of making sure that our focus is more on Jesus, than on worldly things. It is, therefore, a time of preparation as Easter approaches.
During Holy Week – the week immediately preceding Easter - we gather for special services, as we focus on the historical events that led up to Easter. We can only imagine the disbelief and confusion when Jesus was arrested at the urging of the Jewish religious leaders. We can imagine the fear as Roman soldiers began trying to identify Jesus’ disciples. We are horrified by the brutality of the beating that Jesus endured after he was sentenced to death, and we are saddened to read about Jesus suffering a death on a cross.
But all this had a purpose, because the Son of God was born as a child (fully human, and fully God) for this purpose. Jesus did this so that our sins could be forgiven. The old covenant that God had with the Israelite’s included a provision for sinful acts. When someone became aware of their sin, a sacrifice needed to be made – a perfect lamb needed to be sacrificed. Jesus came to be that sacrifice, once and for all, so that our sins are forgiven by God. We understand the Friday before Easter as “Good Friday,” because Jesus made the sacrifice that allowed us to receive forgiveness.
Easter then is the triumphal day that Jesus showed that death is not the end of human existence, because he rose from the dead! Our sins have been forgiven and we can be in a right relationship with God. I will end with John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Easter blessings to all,
Rev. Bob Niles
Hope United Methodist Church
As Christians everywhere, prepare for the Easter celebration, we first go through a time known as Lent. This is a 40-day period of self-reflection, prayer, fasting, and for many, it includes giving up of a worldly pleasure as a way of making sure that our focus is more on Jesus, than on worldly things. It is, therefore, a time of preparation as Easter approaches.
During Holy Week – the week immediately preceding Easter - we gather for special services, as we focus on the historical events that led up to Easter. We can only imagine the disbelief and confusion when Jesus was arrested at the urging of the Jewish religious leaders. We can imagine the fear as Roman soldiers began trying to identify Jesus’ disciples. We are horrified by the brutality of the beating that Jesus endured after he was sentenced to death, and we are saddened to read about Jesus suffering a death on a cross.
But all this had a purpose, because the Son of God was born as a child (fully human, and fully God) for this purpose. Jesus did this so that our sins could be forgiven. The old covenant that God had with the Israelite’s included a provision for sinful acts. When someone became aware of their sin, a sacrifice needed to be made – a perfect lamb needed to be sacrificed. Jesus came to be that sacrifice, once and for all, so that our sins are forgiven by God. We understand the Friday before Easter as “Good Friday,” because Jesus made the sacrifice that allowed us to receive forgiveness.
Easter then is the triumphal day that Jesus showed that death is not the end of human existence, because he rose from the dead! Our sins have been forgiven and we can be in a right relationship with God. I will end with John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Easter blessings to all,
Rev. Bob Niles
Hope United Methodist Church