What is Easter and how must I spend it? 1 Corinthians 15:3-5 3-4 For I passed down to you the crux of it all which I had also received from others, that the Anointed One, the Liberating King, died for our sins and was buried and raised from the dead on the third day. All this happened to fulfill the Scriptures; it was the perfect climax to God’s covenant story. 5 Afterward He appeared alive to Cephas[a] (you may know him as Simon Peter), then to the rest of the twelve. At least once in their lifetime, during Ramadan, every devout Muslim undertakes a sacred pilgrimage to Mecca, the most holy place of Islam. In the same way, every Christian needs to undertake an annual pilgrimage to our most holy place. No! Not a physical pilgrimage to the land of Israel or the city of Jerusalem, but a spiritual pilgrimage, for God says we must worship Him in Spirit and in truth. Easter is our most Holy Time and presents itself to us as a time when we can walk through the most sacred events of our faith in our pilgrimage. In the verses above, the Apostle Paul details these events that become stopping places on our Easter journey. You can undertake this pilgrimage through your own Bible readings and meditations, or in the company of other believers, through your local church. We need to start in the Upper Room, as we share with the disciples when Jesus breaks the bread and hands us the wine, saying, “This is my body, broken for you. This is my blood, poured out for you.” From there we move to the Garden of Gethsemane, and then on to Calvary, where Jesus’ words are fulfilled in his agony and death on the cross, dying for us for the forgiveness of our sins. Let us mourn with the disciples at his heart-rending death and walk with Joseph and Nicodemas to lay his body in a new-cut garden tomb. Then comes the greatest moment of wonder and joy in our holy pilgrimage: Easter Sunday. Stand again at the tomb with the women and hear the angels’ message: “You are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he is risen.” Spend Easter Sunday reliving those momentous moments when the Risen Christ appeared to his disciples. This is a blessed pilgrimage. I love you and miss you guys - Ahhhh Man☺☺☺
Posted on: Fri, 04 Apr 2014 06:27:51 +0000
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