Reflections on Easter
This morning as I read part of the Easter story and reflected on this weekend so many years ago, I found myself thinking of the 3 hours where "there was darkness over all the land" (Matthew 27:45).
In the past, when I've imagined myself in the Easter story, I've envisioned myself among the disciples or among the Passover crowd in Jerusalem, watching from a distance the horrific events unfold with my very own eyes. But today I started thinking about the Easter story from a distance. I started thinking about the people who lived far from Jerusalem, like in France, who knew nothing of the events happening that day, who maybe had never even heard the name of Jesus. They were going about their days as usual, cooking, cleaning, working, shopping. What did they think when it became like night at 12pm?
Jesus was crucified, dead and buried in Jerusalem, but His death and resurrection were not only for the Jewish people - praise God!
Just like that first Easter weekend, the French people today seem to be far away, unaware, and seemingly untouched by Christ's death and resurrection. But that does not change the Easter story because "...God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).
The French people 2000 years ago had equal access to Christ's salvation, redemption and restoration as the disciples who watched Jesus be falsely accused, crucified and who saw Him again after He rose from the dead. They simply did not know or understand.
And the same is true today.
Today as I ponder Christ's death and resurrection and their significance in my own life, I am compelled to pray for the French people, that they, too, may recognize that the death of a man in Jerusalem thousands of years ago has an eternal impact on their lives. May they hear, believe, and repent!
In the past, when I've imagined myself in the Easter story, I've envisioned myself among the disciples or among the Passover crowd in Jerusalem, watching from a distance the horrific events unfold with my very own eyes. But today I started thinking about the Easter story from a distance. I started thinking about the people who lived far from Jerusalem, like in France, who knew nothing of the events happening that day, who maybe had never even heard the name of Jesus. They were going about their days as usual, cooking, cleaning, working, shopping. What did they think when it became like night at 12pm?
Jesus was crucified, dead and buried in Jerusalem, but His death and resurrection were not only for the Jewish people - praise God!
Just like that first Easter weekend, the French people today seem to be far away, unaware, and seemingly untouched by Christ's death and resurrection. But that does not change the Easter story because "...God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).
The French people 2000 years ago had equal access to Christ's salvation, redemption and restoration as the disciples who watched Jesus be falsely accused, crucified and who saw Him again after He rose from the dead. They simply did not know or understand.
And the same is true today.
Today as I ponder Christ's death and resurrection and their significance in my own life, I am compelled to pray for the French people, that they, too, may recognize that the death of a man in Jerusalem thousands of years ago has an eternal impact on their lives. May they hear, believe, and repent!
"For 'everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.' How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!'"
Romans 10:13-15
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him."
John 3:16-17
Happy Easter! Christ is risen, He is risen indeed!
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