Easter Reality

Donna wrote this post to share the true meaning of Easter, although, she would rather call it the Death, Crucifixion, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God.  So many have fallen away from truly recognizing the  meaning and sacrifice Jesus made.  Forgotten are the instances of painful encounters with so many individuals.  Forgotten are the insults, the cruelty, the inaccurate statements and charges, and rejection.

Easter is not about a bunny, chocolate candy, or egg hunts. Traditions are not necessarily bad, however, when the traditions are all that matter to many and children are not told the truth, it is time for a change.

In order to understand Easter, it is helpful to know what and where the true events and origin of the holiday began.  The word 'Easter' comes from a pagan god, thus my hesitancy in using it.

The rest of the story:

God created the heavens and the earth.

God created humans and placed them in the Garden of Eden.

The serpent tempted the human Eve.

Adam and Eve rebelled against God, listened to the temptation of the serpent (lucifer, satan, the devil), ate the forbidden fruit (sinned), and caused a separation between God and man.

In order for reconciliation between God and man, a perfect (sinless) sacrifice was needed.  No man is righteous, so for reconciliation to take place the Son of God, Jesus, left heaven and came to earth.

Jesus was born of the Holy Spirit and a human mother named Mary, so He was the Son of Man as well as the Son of God.

He lived perfectly (without sin).

Jesus began His ministry at the age of thirty.

Jesus had 12 disciples and others who ministered with him.

Three years later, the time came for Him to fulfill His purpose in coming to earth; to give Himself as the sacrificial Lamb who could reconcile humanity to God.

While sharing the Passover meal with His disciples, He informed them that He would be betrayed and put to death.

Following the Passover meal, He led His disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane, where He prayed.

When Jesus entered the Garden of Gethsemane, He began to be troubled and deeply distressed.

Jesus took Peter, James, and John with Him and separated Himself from the other disciples to pray.

He told Peter, James, and John that His soul was exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.

Three times Jesus moved away from them and prayed.

The third time He prayed, "Father if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me, but nevertheless, not My will, but Yours be done."

He was in agony and as He prayed, His sweat became like great drops of blood.

He returned to Peter, James, and John and told them His betrayer was at hand.

Judas and a large multitude with swords and clubs were there.

Judas approached Jesus and kissed Him, as a sign for the soldiers, so they could recognize Him.

When they arrested Jesus, all the disciples forsook Him and fled.

Those who arrested Jesus took Him to Caiaphas, the high priest's house.

The chief priest, elders and all the council sought false testimony against Jesus to put Him to death.

Many false witnesses came forward but none presented evidence that would warrant His death.

When two false witnesses stated that Jesus said He could destroy the temple of God and rebuilt it in three days, the high priest questioned Jesus. 

The high priest said, "I put you under oath by the living God:  Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God!"  Jesus said to him, "It is as you said"...The high priest accused him of blasphemy.  The chief priests, elders,, and council stated, "He is deserving of death." Then they began to spit in Jesus' face and beat him with their fists. And some slapped him, jeering, "Prophesy to us, you Messiah! Who hit you that time?"

In the morning they delivered Him to Pontius Pilate, the governor.  Pilate found no fault in Jesus, yet, when he heard that Jesus was a Galilean and was in Herod's jurisdiction, he sent Him to Herod.  Herod wished to see Jesus do a miracle.  When Jesus answered him nothing, Herod and his troops treated Jesus with contempt, mocked Him, gave Him a gorgeous robe, and sent Him back to Pilate.

Pilate, who found no fault in Him, gave the multitude opportunity to release Jesus.  However, the chief priests and elders persuaded them to have Barabbas released and Jesus crucified.

Pilate argued with them, because he wanted to release Jesus. But they kept shouting, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" For the third time he demanded, "Why? What crime has he committed? I have found no reason to sentence him to death. So I will have him flogged, and then I will release him."  But the mob shouted louder and louder, demanding that Jesus be crucified, and their voices prevailed.  So Pilate sentenced Jesus to die as they demanded. Pilate saw that he wasn't getting anywhere and that a riot was developing. So he sent for a bowl of water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of this man's blood. The responsibility is yours!"  So Pilate released Barabbas to them. He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified. 

According to commentary in the Spirit Filled Life Bible, "a victim to be scourged was stripped and tied to a whipping post.  Then he was beaten mercilessly with a whip consisting of several leather thongs, each loaded with jagged pieces of metal or bone and weighted at the end with lead.  Fragments of flesh would be torn from the victims, some of whom did not survive the ordeal."

After the scourging, some of the governor's soldiers took Jesus into their headquarters and called out the entire regiment.

They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him. They wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head, and they placed a reed stick in his right hand as a scepter. Then they knelt before him in mockery and taunted, "Hail! King of the Jews!" And they spit on him and grabbed the stick and struck him on the head with it. When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified.

Simon a Cyrenian was compelled by the soldiers to carry Jesus' cross to Golgotha for Him.  At the 3rd hour (9:00a.m.) Jesus was nailed to the cross. The soldiers divided His garments, casting lots for them.

As He hung on the cross, those who passed by blasphemed Him, the chief priests, scribes, and elders mocked Him and the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him.

At noon (sixth hour), darkness fell across the whole land until three o'clock (9th hour)."

He had been on the cross for three hours when the darkness fell and it stayed dark for three hours. At about the ninth hour, Jesus cried out and asked God, "Why have You forsaken Me?"  Then He cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.

When Jesus died, the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to the bottom, the earth quaked, rocks were split, graves were opened.

The centurion and those who were guarding Jesus feared greatly and said, " Truly this was the Son of God!" 

I am going to stop telling the story at this point.  The end of the story though, is the most important. Jesus rose on the third day overcoming death and hell. Today He sits on the right hand of the Father, making intercession for us!

My prayer is that as you have read this account of Jesus' crucifixion, that it brought a new awareness to you and into your spirit of what Jesus endured.  Was He a criminal?  No!

Did He deserve to go to the cross?  No!  Why would He do it?

In John 10:17 and 18, Jesus spoke these words, "The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. 18 No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded."

In John 10:28, Jesus said, "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me."

In Romans 5:6-8 the Apostle Paul wrote, "When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7 Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners."

Wow! He choose to go through the rejection, mocking, scourging, and the agony of the cross, (suffocating to death) for each and everyone of us so that we could have a restoration to a right relationship with God. That right relationship was His intention for us until sin entered into the picture.  Jesus gave His life so that we could have the gift of salvation.  It is amazing!  He died so that we could be delivered from the Kingdom of darkness, into the Kingdom of light and from the Kingdom of death into the Kingdom of life! Death and darkness is all that exists in satan's kingdom, while God's kingdom is all about light and life!

Please understand this though.  To enter into relationship with God is more than just repeating a prayer.  Entering into relationship includes genuine confession of sins and repentance.  It means a changed heart and life. Repentance is more than knowing what is right or wrong.  It means to turn away from and to stop doing wrong, sin, and evil.

Salvation (deliverance, preservation, safety, benefits and blessings) begins with believing in Jesus and receiving forgiveness for our sins.  Then, the beautiful benefit is living life  with Him eternally.

If you have never recognized or chosen to receive the sacrificial gift Jesus is offering to you, I ask that you make that decision.

I am going to pray for it right now.  You can pray it with me and have your life changed completely.

"Father, in Jesus' name, I come to You right now, confessing that I have not been living in accordance with Your Word or way.  I have sinned.  I am choosing today to repent and turn away from sin. I have never accepted the loving sacrifice that Your Son, Jesus, made for me. Father, I ask You to forgive me and I declare that, at this very moment, I do receive Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Help me to walk in righteousness.  Thank You for loving me.  In Jesus' name,   Amen

If you spoke that prayer or spoke your own from your heart, congratulations!  You have made the most important decision of your life.  Please share with someone what you have done and bask in His love and forgiveness.

The references for the details of the Passover meal and the crucifixion were taken from :

Matthew 26:17 through Matthew 28

Mark 14:13 through Mark 16

Luke 22:14 through Luke 24:12