All Bible verses are taken from the New King James Version
Most of us, who grew up in church,
know the Easter story as well as we know the Christmas story. Even though we
know the story, let us stop and review it for the sake of those who may not be
as familiar with it. But before I plunge
into the Easter account, allow me to remind you of some doctrinal truths. God
is from everlasting to everlasting. “Before the mountains were brought forth,
Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to
everlasting, You are God.” (Psalm 90:2). Isn’t it absolutely incredible to
think that we serve a God who had no beginning and has no end? Yet, there is
something even more incredible. God exists in three Persons: God the Father,
God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit. All three together are One
Person. All three Persons of the Trinity existed together from eternity past and
will exist into eternity future. Therefore, they have the most intimate
relationship than any human being could ever come close to having or comprehending.
It all started in the Garden of Eden where God created man from the
dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, then Adam
became a living being. God created Eve from one of Adam’s ribs. God gave man
one simple commandment. “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every
tree of the garden you may freely eat; But of the tree of the knowledge of good
and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely
die.” (Genesis 2:16-17). But Eve was tempted by the serpent to eat of the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil, telling her that she would be as God,
knowing good and evil. Eve partook of the fruit and also offered the fruit to
Adam and he ate. Adam and Eve’s actions not only affected their lives and
fellowship with God, but it also brought God’s punishment for their sin, as
well as affecting the whole human race, and nature for all time. “For the
creation was subjected to futility; not willingly, but because of Him who
subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from
the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.”
(Romans 8:20-21).
God’s main purpose in creating man was to have fellowship with him.
God would walk with Adam in the garden in the cool of the day. But when Adam
and Eve sinned, their fellowship with God was severed. Adam and Eve’s sin did
not just affect their relationship with God, but it affected man’s relationship
with God down through the centuries. Yet God loved man so much, He knew He had
to do something to draw man back to Himself.
In John 3:16 it says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His
only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life.” Jesus, the Son of God and the Second person of the Trinity,
was willing to become a human being and dwell among us. “And the Word became
flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only
begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14). During His
earthly ministry, Jesus was continually seeking a solitary place where He could
be alone with the Father. “Now in the morning, having risen a long while before
daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.” (Mark
1:35). There were times when Jesus would spend all night in prayer. “Now it
came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued
all night in prayer to God.” (Luke 6:12).
Jesus came to earth to redeem us to the Father by being obedient to
death on a cross. “And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself
and became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians
2:8). Jesus knew the entire time He was on earth why He was here. As the time
drew near for Jesus to face the cross, He tried to explain it to His disciples,
but they did not understand what He was saying. “He (Jesus) said to them, But
who do you say that I am? Peter answered and said, The Christ of God. And He
strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, The Son of
Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests
and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.” (Luke 9:20-22). Jesus
was tortured, beaten and wiped, leaving stripes across His back. The elders and
scribes twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head and mocked Him. All of
this left Him physically weak. “He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of
sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He
was despised, and we did not esteem Him.” (Isaiah 53:3). After all this, they
led Jesus away to be crucified.
As Jesus’ earthly ministry drew to a close, and the purpose for
which He came was before Him, to bear the world’s sin upon Him, He felt the
heaviness upon Him. “And He was withdrawn from them (the disciples) about a
stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, ‘Father, if it is Your
will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not My will, but Yours be done.
And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great
drops of blood falling down to the ground. (Luke 22:41-42, 44).
When Jesus was crucified and had been nailed to the cross, the
weight of the world’s sin was bearing so heavily upon Him, that God, His Father
had to turn His face away as He is a Holy God and cannot look upon sin. God the
Father had to forsake His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Here Jesus was
hanging on the cross without anyone around as His disciples had forsaken Him
long before Jesus was led away to the cross. You and I have probably been
forsaken by those close to us and have felt alone. Can you imagine what Jesus must be feeling
during these most intense hours on the cross. Jesus had never, throughout
eternity, been separated from His Father. Yet, during the most intense time of His
existence, when Jesus needed His Father the most, He is forsaken by His Father.
This time was so extremely intense that darkness covered the land. “Now from
the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. And
about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew
27:46). How many times have we just casually read this verse without really
giving it much thought? There is something different about the way Jesus cries
out. Do you see it? Almost every other time when Jesus prays, He addresses God,
His Father as, Abba Father or My Father. Yet, here Jesus addresses God as “My
God.” Can you hear the anguish in Jesus’ voice? He cried with a loud voice. By
this time, Jesus has been hanging on the cross for six long hours with the
weight of the world’s sin upon Him. For the last three of those hours, darkness
hung over the land. When the darkness started, it could have been the very
moment when the Father turned His face away from His Son. Jesus hung on the
cross for three hours being abandon and forsaken by everyone on earth, and His
Father in heaven until He could no longer bear the burden of the world’s sin
and feeling forsaken. It was at the ninth hour that Jesus cried these words
from the cross. “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me.” Sometime later,
“And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.” (Matthew
27:50).
The Easter account does not end there.
On the third day, Jesus rose from the dead, and lives forever, seated on the
Father’s right hand, to make intercession for us. “Therefore He (Jesus) is also
able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He
always lives to make intercession for them.” (Hebrews 7:25).
Have you received Jesus Christ as your
personal Lord and Savior and asked Him for the forgiveness of sin? Through
Jesus, you will have a relationship with God the Father. If you would like to
receive Jesus and the forgiveness of sin, pray something similar to this: “Jesus,
I thank You for the price You paid to forgive me of my sin, and bring me into a
relationship with my Heavenly Father. I ask that You will cleanse me of all my
sin. I receive You into my life and I desire to live for You. In Jesus name,
Amen.” If you have a Bible, begin reading the Gospel of John.
