What does Easter mean to you?

Is it all about the bunnies and the eggs? I love chocolate, but this year they seem to be even more expensive than filling the fuel tank.

One headline I saw said this: “Modern Aussie Easter made easy: Barramundi with charred pineapple and a stunning upside-down apple & quince cake” So it’s all about the food then.

For other people, the long weekend is a perfect time to get away, possibly camping. Four days off work and time to de-stress.
The hardware shops will all tell us now is the time to buy that camping gear and paint the house, definitely a mixed message there.

So what is Easter about?

It all goes back to around the year 33 AD in the city of Jerusalem. Jesus Christ had become a problem for the authorities. His ability to draw crowds with lively preaching and miracles of healing was upsetting the religious authorities. Worse still, there was the possibility that riots might erupt, political turmoil develop and the occupying Roman authorities clamp down on everybody.

The religious and civil leaders hatched a plan. They rigged a show trial, complete with false witnesses who claimed that Jesus was stirring up trouble, The Roman governor didn’t have any qualms about crucifying one more Jew.

So on the day we now celebrate as Good Friday, Jesus was nailed to a cross at about 9 o’clock in the morning, dying six hours later. He was buried in a tomb. The authorities thought that episode was over, and life could get back to normal.

However, on Sunday morning, the day we call Easter Sunday, it became clear that Jesus had risen from the dead. Over the next few weeks hundreds of his followers reported seeing Jesus alive, in a restored body.

Easter is a celebration of two things.

We remember that Jesus died for us on Good Friday. His death paid for the things that we did that are wrong.

We also celebrate that Jesus has won the victory over death. He died and returned to life and promises that everyone who trusts him will also live forever.

The most famous verse in the Bible says, “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son so that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life.

That promise is for you if you will believe it.