Easter – The Celebration Of Life In Christ Jesus
Easter – The celebration of death to sin and new life in Christ Jesus
So we are still very much in the Easter season so Happy and a Holy Easter to you and yours.
While the Holy Roman Catholic Church celebrates Easter, there are many who do not understand why the church needs to celebrate Easter every year. Some even ask the question whether Jesus is being crucified over and over again every year? The answer is obviously no. Easter is another season within the Holy Roman Catholic Church and other Christian denominations as well, where the Church reminds us of the extent of God’s love for us by dying on the cross. However this does not stop there. The Church also teaches and Christians believe that Jesus rose triumphantly from the dead! He conquered death, he conquered hell, he conquered the grave. He is our Victorious King! Through the obedience and sacrifice of Christ Jesus His Only Son, GOD has ransomed our souls. Through Christ Jesus, God has made a way for us all to enter into Eternal Life. (ref. Romans 5: 19)
So what is Easter meant to be for us Christians? As Christians we are meant to live in the resurrection of Christ Jesus. What does this mean? This means that as Christ rose from the dead he conquered all that is evil. He conquered all that seeks to separate us from the eternal love of God the Father (ref. 1 Corinthians 15: 54-58). He conquered them all. In other words he has won the ultimate battle for our souls, and by so doing has given us the gift of Eternal Life. Even though the war rages on, Jesus Christ through his resurrection, has conquered it all. Through his resurrection and through the outpouring of his Holy Spirit after he ascended into heaven, we have been given Grace through his Holy Spirit to become ‘a new creation; a brand new man; a brand new woman’ in Christ Jesus (ref. 2 Corinthians 5:17). We have been given the grace to conquer sin.
So what is Grace? Grace is Supernatural gift from God that enables us to do things that we normally will not be able to do. Grace is given to us in particular to conquer sin. The Catechism Of The Catholic Church teaches the following about grace:
The grace of the Holy Spirit has the power to justify us, that is, to cleanse us from our sins and to communicate to us “the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ” and through Baptism. (ref. CCC.1987)
Our justification comes from the grace of God. Grace is favor, the free and undeserved help that God gives us to respond to his call to become children of God, adoptive sons, partakers of the divine nature and of eternal life. (ref. CCC. 1996)
You may recall that at the Annunciation of Jesus’ birth, the angel said to Mary that the child she will bear will be called Jesus because he will be the one who will save his people from their sins. It is interesting to note that the Word of God does not tell us that Jesus will save us from hardship. It is interesting to note that the Word of God does not say that Jesus will save us from disease. It is important to note that the Word of God does not tell us that Jesus will save us from poverty. What the Word of God does in fact tell us is that Jesus will save his people from their sin. (ref. Matthew 1: 21) What the Word of God is telling us there is that the one thing that separates us from the Father’s Eternal Love is neither poverty nor sickness nor hardship nor anything like that. It is sin. And so Jesus came to conquer send once and for all. This is what we celebrate with great pump and pageantry at Easter time – the Risen Lord Jesus Christ who conquered sin. The yoke of sin has been finally broken.
The gift of salvation is a free gift. God, in his love, does not force it on us. Of course, he desires that we should choose to accept this free gift of salvation, and it breaks his heart when we choose not to accept it. God’s desire is that all be saved. (1 Timothy 2:4) That being said, there are many who freely choose to reject God’s free eternal gift of salvation. There are many who choose darkness over light and will seek to corrupt your hearts and minds with their foolish doctrines. With great pain, St. Paul wrote, “Brothers, be united in imitating me. Keep your eyes fixed on those who act according to the example you have from me. For there are so many people of whom I have often warned you, and now I warn you again with tears in my eyes, who behave like the enemies of Christ’s cross. They are destined to be lost; their god is the stomach; they glory in what they should think shameful, since their minds are set on earthly things.” (Philippians 3: 17-19)
The word of God in John 3:16 tells us, “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but may have eternal life.” That is the celebration of Easter. It is the celebration of life over death; of light over darkness; of eternal life over eternal damnation. John chapter 3 continues, “for God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but so that through him the world might be saved. No one who believes in him will be judged, but whoever does not believed is judged already, because that person does not believe in the name of God’s only son.” Easter challenges us to believe in the Son of God
Jesus is the way, Jesus is the truth, Jesus is the light. Anyone who believes in Jesus acknowledges that he is the way, that he is truth, that he is the light and they seek to walk in his way in his truth and in his light by obeying God’s Commandments. God’s way cannot be made corrupt; God’s truth cannot be distorted nor watered down. The darkness on man’s heart; the darkness of this world can never cast shadows on the Light of Jesus Christ. God is Eternal. His ways are sure. His glorious Light is Eternal and never fades. On the other hand, the persons who do not believe in Jesus – the only Son of God – have refused to acknowledge that he is the way, the truth, and the light. They reject his Commandments, the reject his ways, the reject his truth, the reject his light. That in itself is self condemnation. It is like being marooned on an island and a rescue ship was sent to save you, but you refused to get on board that rescue ship, stupidly thinking that another one would come. There are many who live their lives this way. The rescue mission has already been sent but they refused to accept it and so they remain marooned in darkness and in sin. In John chapter 3 verse 19 it continues by saying, “and the judgment is this: though the light has come into the world, people preferred darkness to the light because their deeds were evil.“
We live in a time when many are no longer ashamed of their evil deeds but a parading them boldly in public. We are living in a time when all of God’s commandments are not just being broken, but are done so boldly and in some instances, man’s evil deeds are – as it were – being thrown back in God’s face. Not only this, but they are seeking to ratify their evil deeds by the law and through the passage of legislation. In John 16:33, Jesus tells us, “I have told you all this so that you may find peace in me. In the world you will have hardship, but be courageous: I have conquered the world.” So when we see evil being paraded in the manner that it is, we need not lose hope nor should we be afraid. Rather, we should stand firm, holding our ground ensuring that we have on the “full armour” of God. (ref. Ephesians 6: 14 – 17) Easter reminds us that Christ Jesus, through his death and resurrection, has conquered it all, and He invites us all to be sharers in His Resurrection and in so doing, overcome the world as well.
With regards to the law, Jesus tells us in Matthew chapter 5: 17 – 19, “do not imagine that I have come to abolish the law of the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to complete them.” Then Jesus continues, “I tell you solemnly, till Heaven and Earth disappears not one dot, not one iota, is to disappear from the Law until its purpose has been achieved. Therefore, anyone who infringes even one of the least of these commandments and the teaches others to do the same, will be considered the least in the Kingdom of Heaven; but the person who keeps them and teaches others to do the same will be considered great in the Kingdom of Heaven.” Of course the laws Jesus is speaking of here are not those that are written in the law books of Trinidad and Tobago, nor those written in the law books of the United States – he is referring to the commandments. Again, just like Salvation which is free for man to accept or reject, so too are the Laws of the Lord free for man to accept or reject. Those who accept them as truth will experience great blessings. Those who choose to reject God’s Laws – well, they will be considered to be least in the Kingdom of God.
So the Word of God is quite clear about God’s law. It is there to achieve a particular goal and that goal is to lead us into Eternal Life by guiding us away from sin. Again, remember that our number one enemy is not sickness nor poverty nor is it hardship. Our number one enemy is sin. God’s law; his commandments are meant to guide us on our journey through this life; away from sin, towards Eternal Life. It is like using Waze to get from one point to another – it keeps us from getting lost. So too does God’s Laws keep us from getting lost in sin.
One day, Jesus was asked, ‘Master, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?’ Jesus said to him, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second resembles it: You must love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang the whole Law, and the Prophets too.’ (Matthew 22: 34 – 40) It is very easy to be all up in arms with the evil that others are doing, and in so doing, harbour bitterness and resentment towards them. When we do this, we too are living in sin. We too are rejecting God’s Laws. We too are choosing darkness over light. Even in the midst of evil, our response must always be to love. Evil is not conquered by more evil. When evil is treated with more evil, it grows and so too does darkness. However, if love is given in response to evil, then love will conquer. It is like lighting a candle in the darkness of the night. Darkness will be dispelled.
So Jesus came that we may have life and have it to the full. Jesus came to conquer our number one enemy which is sin in all its forms. God’s law has been given to the human race to help us navigate this life avoiding sin. Through his death and Resurrection, grace has been poured out on all who believe in Christ Jesus so that we will no longer be slaves to sin, our number one enemy, but rather slaves to righteousness. This is why we celebrate Easter every year. This is why the Catholic Church has this beautiful season of Easter every year.
Eternal Father, please grant us all – in particular, the person who is reading this post, the grace through the power of your Holy Spirit, to truly become ‘Easter people’; dead to sin, but alive in Christ Jesus Your Son. Amen!
