Easter Day

Easter is a very important day in the Church’s year. It is true that Easter could not have happened without the miracle of Christmas. However Easter is a festival, which deserves more attention.

The preparation time for Christmas is Advent – approximately four weeks and including four Sundays.

Before Easter comes Lent, which begins on Ash Wednesday. The Sundays in Lent do not count as fast days. There are forty days of Lent to commemorate Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. Mothering Sunday is the fourth Sunday of Lent.

The sixth Sunday in Lent is Palm Sunday one week before Easter Day.

I have written about Holy Week before. It begins with Palm Sunday and includes Maundy Thursday and Good Friday.

On the first Good Friday Jesus was crucified. There were many witnesses to his death. His body was taken down from the cross and hastily laid in a tomb before the Jewish Sabbath. There was no time to prepare it for burial in the required manner. Once the Sabbath was over the women who followed Jesus went to the tomb to continue the process. What they found was unexpected.

The story is told in each of the Gospels: Matthew 27:32-28:15, Mark 15:21-16:8, Luke 23:26-24:50  and John 19:16-20:30

Many books have been written about the events of that day and the days following it. Some discuss evidence from other documents. Others retell the events in a way, which is more accessible to a modern audience. One such book is, “Who moved the stone?”  (I’m not sure I have read it.)  Another is “The Davidson Affair” by Stuart Jackman.

On Easter Day the greetings between rejoicing people are, “Christ is risen!” and the response, “He is risen indeed, Alleluia!”

Easter has become clouded with eggs, bunnies, chicks and chocolate.

Have a look at the evidence for the resurrection this Easter. The word crucial is derived from the Latin word crux, crucis, which also gives us the well-known phrase, “the crux of the matter”. Does it matter what we believe about Easter?

I pray that you will encounter the risen Lord and know the peace and joy which He offers to those who put their trust in Him.