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Reflections on Easter
Easter is hands-down the most important day of the Christian calendar. Unsurprisingly, the powers that Jesus defeated that day resist celebrating his resurrection. The resurrection is the single most important fact in the Bible and history. It is the event that makes Christianity different from all other religions. It is based not simply on a belief or an idea but on a historical event. Jesus is a person who lived at a specific time, died on a particular day, and rose again, defeating death forever.
We are often shocked and dismayed that so many wish to silence or corrupt the Easter message. And at times, it’s shocking where the resistance comes from. Nevertheless, our message must be more than just vainly trying to shout down the skeptics, marketers, media, and, sometimes, our government. The message of Easter is the good news. It is the gospel. Jesus is alive and has conquered death! And this life is available to all who believe it. Let’s reflect on the miracle of Easter beginning with the first chapter of John.
The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
He was in the world, and the world was made through him,
yet the world did not know him.
He came to his own,
and his own people did not receive him.
But to all who did receive him,
who believed in his name,
he gave the right to become children of God,
who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh
nor of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,
and we have seen his glory,
glory as of the only Son from the Father,
full of grace and truth.
(John bore witness about him, and cried out,
“This was he of whom I said,
‘He who comes after me ranks before me,
because he was before me.’”)
For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.
For the law was given through Moses;
grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
John 1:9-17[ESV]
The eternal Word became flesh(Jesus) and dwelt among us, but even his own people did not receive him. He was the light, yet most preferred their darkness. But Jesus brought overwhelming grace with him, such that anyone who believed in him would receive the right to become children of God. But this grace did not come cheap. Isaiah describes the life of Jesus over 700 years before his birth.
For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation,
who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring;
he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
Isaiah 53:2-11[ESV]
The resurrection is God’s seal on the life of Jesus. It proves for all time that He is pleased with the sacrifice Jesus made for us all. Isaiah describes in detail the righteousness that we(the unrighteous) will receive because he(the righteous) has suffered for us. God has not watched us suffer from afar. He has joined us in our suffering, but more than that, he has endured the suffering that our evil has caused. God is not silent, absent, or distant. He has become one of us in Jesus, and although he has never sinned, He paid the price and suffered the consequences for ours. And along with our forgiveness, we have also been given His righteousness.
This Week
It’s vital to remember that the death and resurrection of Jesus is our death and resurrection as well. Despite the many voices to the contrary, we are new creations because of the resurrection of Jesus. Paul sums it up so well in his second letter to the Corinthians:
For the love of Christ controls us,
because we have concluded this:
that one has died for all, therefore all have died;
and he died for all, that those who live might
no longer live for themselves but for him who
for their sake died and was raised.
From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh.
Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh,
we regard him thus no longer.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,
he is a new creation.
The old has passed away;
behold, the new has come.
All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself
and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;
that is,
in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself,
not counting their trespasses against them,
and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
2 Cor 5:14-19[ESV]
Get full access to On walking the Way at tompossin.substack.com/subscribe
Christianity is not a religion; it is a person—a person who gave everything for us so that we may live forever with him. For all who believe, eternal life begins today. Share that life with someone today.
Have a great week!
Get full access to On walking the Way at tompossin.substack.com/subscribe
View all episodes
By Tom PossinEaster is hands-down the most important day of the Christian calendar. Unsurprisingly, the powers that Jesus defeated that day resist celebrating his resurrection. The resurrection is the single most important fact in the Bible and history. It is the event that makes Christianity different from all other religions. It is based not simply on a belief or an idea but on a historical event. Jesus is a person who lived at a specific time, died on a particular day, and rose again, defeating death forever.
We are often shocked and dismayed that so many wish to silence or corrupt the Easter message. And at times, it’s shocking where the resistance comes from. Nevertheless, our message must be more than just vainly trying to shout down the skeptics, marketers, media, and, sometimes, our government. The message of Easter is the good news. It is the gospel. Jesus is alive and has conquered death! And this life is available to all who believe it. Let’s reflect on the miracle of Easter beginning with the first chapter of John.
The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
He was in the world, and the world was made through him,
yet the world did not know him.
He came to his own,
and his own people did not receive him.
But to all who did receive him,
who believed in his name,
he gave the right to become children of God,
who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh
nor of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,
and we have seen his glory,
glory as of the only Son from the Father,
full of grace and truth.
(John bore witness about him, and cried out,
“This was he of whom I said,
‘He who comes after me ranks before me,
because he was before me.’”)
For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.
For the law was given through Moses;
grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
John 1:9-17[ESV]
The eternal Word became flesh(Jesus) and dwelt among us, but even his own people did not receive him. He was the light, yet most preferred their darkness. But Jesus brought overwhelming grace with him, such that anyone who believed in him would receive the right to become children of God. But this grace did not come cheap. Isaiah describes the life of Jesus over 700 years before his birth.
For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation,
who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring;
he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
Isaiah 53:2-11[ESV]
The resurrection is God’s seal on the life of Jesus. It proves for all time that He is pleased with the sacrifice Jesus made for us all. Isaiah describes in detail the righteousness that we(the unrighteous) will receive because he(the righteous) has suffered for us. God has not watched us suffer from afar. He has joined us in our suffering, but more than that, he has endured the suffering that our evil has caused. God is not silent, absent, or distant. He has become one of us in Jesus, and although he has never sinned, He paid the price and suffered the consequences for ours. And along with our forgiveness, we have also been given His righteousness.
This Week
It’s vital to remember that the death and resurrection of Jesus is our death and resurrection as well. Despite the many voices to the contrary, we are new creations because of the resurrection of Jesus. Paul sums it up so well in his second letter to the Corinthians:
For the love of Christ controls us,
because we have concluded this:
that one has died for all, therefore all have died;
and he died for all, that those who live might
no longer live for themselves but for him who
for their sake died and was raised.
From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh.
Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh,
we regard him thus no longer.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,
he is a new creation.
The old has passed away;
behold, the new has come.
All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself
and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;
that is,
in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself,
not counting their trespasses against them,
and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
2 Cor 5:14-19[ESV]
Get full access to On walking the Way at tompossin.substack.com/subscribe
Christianity is not a religion; it is a person—a person who gave everything for us so that we may live forever with him. For all who believe, eternal life begins today. Share that life with someone today.
Have a great week!
Get full access to On walking the Way at tompossin.substack.com/subscribe