The Real Easter by Our Daily Bread Ministries

The Real Easter

What’s your reaction to a photograph of a stunning white beach in a holiday brochure or to a magazine image of an ageing star who still looks remarkably young? Do you think they’re too good to be true—that they aren’t ‘the real thing’? What about the image on the front of this leaflet?

Since the 1980s when the Knoll brothers developed their Photoshop® computer program, even photos can no longer be trusted. In this digital world, reality can be easily manipulated. Blemishes can be removed and parts of the photograph can be repaired or replaced. Yet it’s not just in photography that these things happen!

For many people, Easter is a time of newborn chicks, the Easter bunny and chocolate eggs. These are all good things, but this image has been ‘photoshopped’ away from the real Easter.

On the first Easter morning, the women who took spices to anoint the body of Jesus found His tomb empty. When they first told Jesus’ disciples that His body was gone, the disciples didn’t believe them. It must have seemed too good to be true! Yet the reality of Jesus’ resurrection changed His disciple’s lives, and it has enormous implications for us as well. This should be the centre of our Easter celebrations.

As you read through this selection of articles from Our Daily Bread, we trust that you will find the real Easter and discover the reality and relevance of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.

Day 1

Happy cHRIstmas!

Read:

John 3:13-18

I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. —John 11:25

Last Easter morning when I walked into church I saw my friend and greeted her, “Happy Christmas!” I quickly corrected myself. “I mean, Happy Easter!”

“Can’t have one without the other,” she smiled.

How true! Without Christmas, there wouldn’t be an Easter. Also without the resurrection, this day would be just another day. In fact, we wouldn’t even be in church.

Christmas and Easter are the most joyful celebrations of the year for the Christian. In the first, we celebrate the incarnation (God taking on flesh and coming into the world). “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son . . .” (John 3:16).

In the second, we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection. “He is not here, but is risen!” the angel said (Luke 24:6). From the beginning of time, these 2 days were inextricably linked in the master plan of the Father. Jesus was born to die for our sins and to conquer death so that we could live.

Which is more important? Christmas—the birth of the infant Jesus? Or Easter—the death and resurrection of the man, God’s Son? Both are essential—and both are clear evidence of the Father’s love for us.

Happy Christmas! And Happy Easter! —Cindy Hess Kasper Jesus our Saviour left heaven above, Coming to earth as a Servant with love; Laying aside all His glory, He came, Bringing salvation through faith in His name. —Hess

Christmas and Easter—two chapters of the same Book.

Day 2

Wounded FoR me

Read:

Isaiah 53

He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities.

—Isaiah 53:5

Amanwho was deeply troubled by his sins was having a vivid dream in which he saw Jesus being savagely whipped by a soldier. As the cruel scourge came down upon Christ’s back, the onlooker shuddered, for the terrible cords left ugly, gaping wounds upon His bleeding, swollen body. When the one wielding the lash raised his arm to strike the Lord again, the man rushed forward to stop him. As he did, the soldier turned, and the dreamer was startled to see his own face!

He awoke in a cold sweat, conscious that his sin had inflicted this grievous punishment upon the Saviour. As he thought of Christ’s suffering, he remembered these words in Isaiah 53:5, “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.”

How wonderful that the Lord Jesus Christ suffered and died to redeem a sinful and lost world! He was wounded for our transgressions. “All we like sheep have gone astray”, but praise God, “the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).

In one sense, Good Friday was the darkest day in human history. But because of Jesus’ sacrifice for us, the cross was actually the greatest victory of all the ages!

Henry G. Bosch

Wounded for me, wounded for me, There on the cross He was wounded for me; Gone my transgressions, and now I am free, All because Jesus was wounded for me. —Ovens

Christ was delivered for our sins that we might be delivered from our sins.

Day 3

tHe loRd Is RIsen Indeed!

Read:

Luke 24:13-27

Surprise!

Jesus is alive! The two travellers from Emmaus, who had just entertained the risen Saviour in their home, were greeted by the disciples with the news that the Lord was no longer in the tomb (Lk. 24:29-34).

The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon.

—Luke 24:34

How strange that the news of Jesus’ resurrection should be a surprise. He had told them repeatedly that He would rise after 3 days (Mt. 26:61; Mk. 8:31; Jn. 2:19). Yet when Jesus was crucified, His disciples were filled with gloom and despair, though they should have been joyously and expectantly waiting for Him to rise.

Resurrection day is a day of joy and victory! But on that first resurrection day there was gloom and sadness before the disciples realised Jesus was alive. Mark’s Gospel tells us that they “mourned and wept” (Mk. 16:10), but they should have been rejoicing. It is the resurrection that gives meaning to the cross. The death of Christ alone is bad news, but followed by His rising from the dead it is good news. Why? Jesus took our sins to Calvary. Had He atoned for all but one, He would still be in the tomb. His resurrection is the assurance that the work is finished. God was satisfied, and He demonstrated it by raising Jesus from the grave (Acts 13:32-33).

Hallelujah! The Lord is risen indeed! —M.R. De Haan Christ the Lord is risen today, Alleluia! Sons of men and angels say, Alleluia!

Raise your joys and triumphs high, Alleluia! Sing, ye heavens, and earth reply, Alleluia! —Wesley

Live as if Christ died yesterday, arose this morning, and is coming back tomorrow!

Day 4

a suRe Hope

Read:

1 Corinthians 15:12-20

Konrad Adenauer, former chancellor of West Germany, said, “If Jesus Christ is alive, then there is hope for the world. If not, I don’t see the slightest glimmer of hope on the horizon.” Then he added, “I believe Christ’s resurrection to be one of the bestattested facts of history.”

Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

—1 Corinthians 15:20

Christ’s resurrection and ours go together; so reasoned the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15. If Christ didn’t rise from the grave, what’s left? Empty preaching (v.14), false witnesses (v.15), a futile faith (v.17), unforgiven sins (v.17), no life after death (v.18) and hopelessness (v.19).

However Christ did rise from the grave. Paul asserted the proof for the resurrection in verses 1 through 11, listing many credible witnesses who saw the risen Lord: Peter (v.5), 500 people (v.6), all the apostles (v.7) and Paul himself (v.8).

When the Greek philosopher Socrates lay dying, his friends asked, “Shall we live again?” He could only say, “I hope so”. In contrast, the night before author and explorer Sir Walter Raleigh was beheaded, he wrote in his Bible, “From this earth, this grave, this dust, my God shall raise me up.”

If we trust in Christ as our Saviour, we won’t say, “I hope so” about our own resurrection. Jesus’ resurrection gives us a sure hope. —Dennis J. De Haan Rejoice in glorious hope! Our Lord the Judge shall come And take His servants up

To their eternal home. —Wesley

Christ’s resurrection is the guarantee of our own.

Day 5

Is Jesus exclusIve?

Read:

John 14:1-12

Jesus said . . . , “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” —John 14:6

Ionce saw Billy Graham’s daughter Anne Graham Lotz on a popular news talk show. The interviewer asked, “Are you one of those who believe that Jesus is exclusively the only way to heaven?” He added, “You know how mad that makes people these days!” Without blinking she replied, “Jesus is not exclusive. He died so that anyone could come to Him for salvation.”

What a great response! Christianity is not an exclusive club limited to an elite few who fit the perfect profile. Everyone is welcome regardless of colour, class or career.

In spite of this wonderful reality, Christ’s claim in John 14:6 to be the only way to God continues to offend. Yet Jesus is the only way—the only option that works. All of us are guilty before God. We are sinners and cannot help ourselves. Our sin had to be dealt with. Jesus, as God in the flesh, died to pay the penalty for our sins and then rose from the dead. No other religious leader offers what Jesus provides in His victory over sin and death. The gospel of Christ is offensive to some, but it is the wonderful truth that God loves us enough to come and take care of our biggest problem—sin. And as long as sin is the problem, the world needs Jesus!

—Joe Stowell

No one could enter heaven, Our many sins stood in the way; So God in love sent Jesus, For He alone sin’s debt could pay. —D. De Haan

Embrace the good news: Jesus is a non-exclusive Saviour.

Making It Personal

What will mark the end of your life? Peace or despair? Jay Gould, a multimillionaire, lamented on his deathbed, “I am the most miserable man on earth.” Even the most successful people—no matter what great things they have accomplished—forfeit all of life’s goodness if they die without having trusted Jesus Christ. To die without Jesus as your Saviour is to face the saddest fate possible: a hopeless eternity.

In His love, God wants us to accept Jesus Christ as our Saviour and to enter into a secure and everlasting relationship with Him. Jesus Himself tells us that “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not die but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

God offers us the assurance that death will not separate us from Him but will bring us into His presence if we trust that Jesus has paid the price for our sins. A relationship with God begins with an honest prayer. You may want to use your own words or a prayer like this: God, I’m sorry that I have so often rejected and ignored You in my life. I thank You with my whole heart that Jesus died to pay the price for my sins. Thank You that through Him I can know You. I accept Your offer of full forgiveness and eternal life. Please help me to trust Jesus with my whole life from this day on. If this is the honest expression of your heart, then be assured that you have entered into a personal relationship with God!

We encourage you to start attending a church and to let a pastor know of your decision.

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