The True Meaning of Easter

As a child, I have always wondered what "Easter celebration" was. At that time, it was the time of the year where we can kill the fowls we have been rearing since January and wearing brand new white clothes. It had become a yearly ritual and gradually, the true meaning behind that celebration was fading away.

 

The more I grew up and read the Bible, the more confused I seemed to be because according to the biblical records in the gospel of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, Easter celebration was meant to celebrate the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ and by my understanding, this should have been a thing of sorrow considering the fact that Christ died young. Why do the adults around me all look happy instead? Was it a thing of joy for a man to die young?

All of these questions bothered me and remained unanswered until October 2021 when I attended the Basic Bible School at church and my teacher showed me Luke chapter 24 verse 26 which says, "Was it not necessary and essentially fitting that the Christ (the Messiah) should suffer all these things before entering into His glory (His majesty and splendor)?" [AMP]

It then dawned on me that it was necessary for Jesus Christ to suffer these things so that He might enter His glory. However, how does this still concern the modern-day believer? After all, we are not Jesus are we?

I kept ruminating on it until the day I was given an assignment by a pastor in my church to read through the new testament again and while reading through the gospels and Epistles once more, I understood the true meaning of Easter.

I realised that Easter is not all about eating and drinking, instead, it is about remembering the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for our sake. It is about remembering what his blood and body had gotten for us so that we might have a good life. It is about acknowledging the affection of God towards us. We celebrate Easter in order not to forget this gift of love from God and Jesus Christ, His son.


In celebrating Easter, we acknowledge that we have divine health at our disposal.

Isaiah prophesied about this divine health in Isaiah 53:5, "But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole." [AMP]

For us to live a life free from every sickness and disease, Christ had to be beaten, to die, to be buried and to resurrect. Easter celebrations should be the time when you should have more assurance that there is nothing missing and nothing broken concerning your health no matter how the medical state of your country or the world might look like.

Jesus Christ has taken our pain and shame, He has died so that you do not have to die.

Easter celebration helps us to remember that we are righteous.

Yes, we are righteous! There is no fable about that. The reason for this confidence of righteousness we have is because Christ has died once and for all for us - Not just for some people but for the whole world! 1 John 2:2, "And He [that same Jesus Himself] is the propitiation (the atoning sacrifice) for our sins, and not for ours alone but also for [the sins of] the whole world." [AMP]. The believer is the epitome of everything that can never go wrong!

Easter celebration gives us the assurance of complete freedom.

John 8:36 tells us that, "So if the Son liberates you [makes you free men], then you are really and unquestionably free." [AMP]. There is no doubt about our freedom as believers because this is what God, Himself has promised us and He has fulfilled His promise in our days. He has broken our chains and set us free! The sting of death and captivity in life has failed over our lives. This is why the proclamation of victory is sweet on our lips. Now, we can boldly sing the song of victory because indeed, we are victorious!