I’ve mentioned this before, but Easter has always been my favorite holiday. I remember the world celebrating Easter with much more commercial enthusiasm than I think we see today, but even as a kid I knew, just as with Christmas, that Jesus is the reason for the season. I chalk that up to being raised in a Christian home by parents who knew and loved Jesus.
Our celebrations were much like they were for Christmas. My mother loved to decorate and prepare well in advance. We found baskets full of candy and small gifts when we woke up, but we weren’t allowed to dig into them until after church. At church, our celebration included a sunrise service, a huge breakfast cooked by the men of the church, and sometimes a bigger presentation by the choir. Then we gathered with extended family for an amazing meal and egg hunt.
With all that effort and activity, our Easter celebration didn’t really compare to our celebration of Christmas. I can only speculate, but I would guess that the difference between those celebrations is the emphasis on gifts. Obviously, the secular perspective of Christmas emphasizes the stories about Santa and the gifts he leaves, but even the church’s perspective is often focused on the birth of Christ as God’s gift to the world, which has deep theological importance but is typically overshadowed by the gift wrapping. Yes, we received gifts in our Easter baskets, but they were typically treats and trinkets. It’s easy to see which traditions dominate the commercialized holiday world, since the Christmas season lasts quite a bit longer and Easter comes and goes much quicker and quieter.
So how did Easter become my favorite holiday? Because of the weekly emphasis and reminders of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. While we celebrated Jesus’ birth every year, we remembered and celebrated Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection every week. We observed the Lord’s Supper, frequently hearing Jesus’ words about the bread and cup, “Take and eat; this is my body…. Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:26-28). We were intentional about meeting on the first day of the week in remembrance of Jesus’ resurrection. The preacher always offered an invitation to respond to the gospel through baptism, which we knew illustrated Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. That frequent, consistent, intentional focus on Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection laid a solid foundation for my faith in such a way that when the stores started putting up bunnies and baskets, I knew that this is it!
While the angels announced the birth of Jesus was “good news that will cause great joy for all the people” because “a Savior has been born” (Luke 2:10-11), in Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection that birth announcement became the Good News of salvation. Paul revealed the connection between the two when he wrote, “It has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:10). Paul explained the gospel writing in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4:
Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.
Church, this is it! The gospel is the Good News of new life, salvation established through faith in Jesus and his death, burial and resurrection, so we must keep it in focus not only in annual celebrations but in weekly, even everyday remembrance, devotion, and proclamation. This is it: He is risen!