How to make Easter about Jesus Christ

When I think about Easter, I think about how Jesus Christ died, was buried and resurrected on the third day for the forgiveness of my sins. It makes me reflect on God's great love for me and the world. That before the foundation of the earth, He had me in mind. For the average Christian in my circle, Easter is also about the greatest sacrifice ever known to mankind. Some call it the greatest scandal. That God became man, died as man, was buried as man and resurrected so all those who believe in Him will never perish. In my world that's the reality. As I continue to get settled into Canada, I've been learning about an easter that has nothing to do with Jesus Christ and the significance of what was done on the cross. This easter is about dinners, easter bunnies, Easter egg hunts and other family traditions that aren't focused on the person of Christ.

I did a little research on the history of these traditions and it was interesting to learn that they came about because the early Christian monks believed that allowing the non-believers to hold on to their traditions and symbols will encourage conversion to Christianity. The fear stemmed from believing that people will rebel if they were not allowed to hold on to their beliefs. So the catholic church adopted a lot of the pagan customs that were important to its members hence when easter is more about these things than Christ. I am not against any of these activities because they can be fun for kids. However, tying it to Easter is the issue. I believe Christian parents can teach their kids about Christ and do the egg hunt and painting as a Spring activity.

To remind me of what Easter really means, I asked on my social media "What does Easter means to you" and got some interesting answers:

Easter is a time when I reflect deeply on what Christ did on the cross and what it means for me. Before now, it used to be just a holiday,  where I sleep and relax. - SDR

I use this time to celebrate the sacrifice of Christ for me. I reflect on the knowledge that He paid my debt and I am free forever - Lynda Z

Freedom - Ife A

It's a time that reminds me of God's intentional love for me. It also reminds me that the gospel isn't just another story, it's the greatest love story. - Uchenna O

Easter makes me reflect on the death, burial and resurrection of my saviour and how that is the essence of my salvation and healing. - Debz I

Love - Yinka B

Easter is my favourite Christian holiday. As someone who actually grew up Catholic, Easter is a period full of symbolism. From Thursday, where there is a ceremony called the washing of the feet, where the priest washes the feet of 12 church elders to typify servant leadership and loving one another, to Good Friday, where the entire ‘passion of the Christ’ is re-enacted, down to the crucifixion, to Saturday (Holy Saturday) where we sing a beautiful Easter song called ‘ the Easter Exultet’, literally meaning exalt and rejoice about the resurrection, to the grand finale of Sunday, where Christ’s resurrection is blasted everywhere( literally, with trumpets) it is such a beautiful time. My favourite day is the Holy Saturday, and my favourite song is the Easter Exultet. In it, the singer heralds everyone to rejoice, every people group, every tribe, every nation, kings, queens, rich, poor. It says Christ our Lord is risen, sound the trumpet of salvation! Another favourite part of the song for me is when we are called to lift up our hearts to the Lord, and we are told to give him thanks and praise, and the response is that it is right, truly right to give him thanks and praises because he has wrought our salvation. Way before I grew up, got saved and understood what really went down, the importance of Easter was impressed upon me, and so with the blessed privileged revelation of the resurrection I now have, it all makes sense why I am alive. The resurrection happened so I could live.  And this is what I should blast out, everywhere, I should never keep quiet about what Christ has done. - OG

These answers give me hope. That the future generations of Christians will know that Easter is a time for rejoicing and reflecting on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for them. They will not be carried away by the easter egg hunt, the Easter bunny, or the easter trees that do not point them to Christ.

Here are some things you can do during Easter:

• Take some time to fast and reflect on God's great love for you
• Watch movies that re-enact the story of Christ's death, burial and resurrection
• Tell your children the story about easter and help them memorize bible verses about easter like 1 Corinthians 15: 3-4, 1 Peter 1:3, John 3:16, and Mark 11:9
• You can throw a re-enactment party with your friends to act out these scenes and discuss the salvation you've received in Christ
• Go out and evangelize, there are many lost souls in need of salvation. You can tell them the greatest love story ever and invite them to have faith in Jesus
• Spend some time in church, fellowshipping with fellow believers singing praises to God in the highest
• You can also take some time to rest, Christ has become your sabbath. In Him, you've seized from dead works. Let this translate into the physical and rest your physical bodies

I hope this is helpful, let me know in the comment section.

Please don't forget to share.

With love,

Bibi