The Hope of Easter
As we approach the holiday break at the end of term one, it is worth reminding ourselves of the most significant event in the Christian calendar… Easter.
Easter and Christmas are the two massive celebrations within the Christian year. So, it is interesting that I would say Easter is the more significant. Isn’t Christmas bigger? Isn’t there more “hoo-ha” about Christmas than about Easter? Let’s do a quick comparison of Easter and Christmas…
– Christmas seems to have more global acknowledgment than Easter does
– Christmas triggers decorations everywhere, just about worldwide
– There is a whole lot more impact on us as consumers during Christmas than at Easter
– Christmas is not just a few days; it really has its own season, the ‘silly season’
– Christmas costs more. We purchase gifts at Christmas whereas Easter purchasing is pretty much just chocolate.
– Christmas has feasting and even has its own pudding! Easter only has hot cross buns
So why do Christians say Easter is the most significant event in our year?
Well, the answer is in what happened on Easter Sunday all those years ago when Jesus was on earth. The start of Easter was when Jesus was killed on Good Friday. His body was placed in a burial tomb that evening, but on Easter Sunday He came back to life and got right out of that burial tomb.
This event of the resurrection of Jesus is central for Christians. We believe that by trusting in this miracle of Him coming back from the dead, we ourselves have the chance to live forever too. Many people might think this is silly, but I would suggest that filling our souls with hope is anything but silly. It makes sense to find meaning in life, and we believe that Jesus, by overcoming death, gives us reason to hope.
The alternative to hope is hopelessness. Many people accept a sense of meaninglessness in life, but Christians say No to that. We stay hope filled as we look to the re-born Jesus for our own re-birth and our move from this life into life-eternal.
So, the reason that Easter is the most significant point in the Christian year is because the hope of the resurrection transforms our souls from earth-bound mortality into Christ-bound eternity. Not everyone believes all of that, but we Christians do, and Easter captures it all for us beautifully.
Happy and Blessed Easter to all.
David Gleeson, Principal