bunny buntings and green garlands
It’s Holy Week! I am sitting up early this Good Friday morning while everyone under age six is asleep, and the other adult in the house is at work already. I love this quiet time. It is pouring rain outside, but the candle on my desk brightens this room.
We are celebrating the risen Savior this week, so we put up our bunny bunting, made a rabbit cake, and threw some springy garland around the house! These are welcome signs of spring and helps me feel alive after the rainy winter we have had. It also reminds me that He is risen and alive!
We celebrate what Jesus Christ has done for us. We see the narrative laid out for us beginning in John 18 when Jesus was betrayed, taken before the high priest, denied three times by Peter, one of His closest friends, taken before the governor. Chapter 19 details the mocking he endured and the brutal beating before He was sentenced to death (in place of a known criminal, I might add). To add insult, He carried His own cross after the extreme beating all the way to the crucifixion site as the crowd continued the mockery. To finish the torture off, His side was pierced with a spear to ensure He was dead. The great news is, “It is finished” (John 19:30)!
That is our God! As written in John 20, He demolished death and is alive again, actively engaged in my life and your life today. He is bigger and better than any superhero imaginable. He is kind enough to listen to me personally and capable enough to handle every problem the world can throw.
I know each of you, sweet friends have some kind of struggle in your life. We all do, as part of living on earth. These struggles make the grace of God and the hope of salvation more sweet and real as we depend on His strength.
We have unending hope because we know that one day God will create all things new (1 Corinthians 15:20-28). Christ’s resurrection guarantees our own! For those who were born into negative family situations, the sick, the abused, the hurting, the abandoned, Jesus came to earth, died for us, and kicked sin and death in the face as He was raised to life on the third day! What a reason to celebrate! That is OUR GOD - powerful and strong - more capable than any superhero out there!
In this passage, Paul focuses on Jesus’s future act when God will restore all things to the way He intended. Everything will be righted and restored. In this hopeless world, this message brings us hope for the future no matter the present circumstances.
It becomes easy for us to become so inward-focused on our relationship with Him, that we forget to share His Good News with people in our broken world. We are all affected by the sin that corrupts us all, not to mention the pain and heartache that living on this earth brings. People desperately need the hope of Jesus and need to hear and see the Truth from those of us who have it.
We have the privilege to share the best news ever to hurting people and I pray that we all look for opportunities to do so. The Resurrection is not all about us! It encourages us to look around and share the hope of Jesus. We should rejoice as we celebrate Jesus’s resurrection, while allowing the brokenness of the world around to affect us to share the Good News.
I hope this Easter brings you hope that lasts, no matter what is happening in life. Jesus is for you and is strong when you feel weak, overlooked, and unimportant. Delight in the knowledge that He abolished even death and nothing can separate you from His enduring love (Romans 8:38-39). Take some time to read John 18 through 21 to remember His compassionate love for us all.
Love,
Charis
