Once a year, millions around the world set aside one Sunday to reflect on and celebrate the world-altering event that took place almost two thousand years ago - the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Although the name Easter itself reflects on the Old English - Ä’astre - a month (now named April) of the Germanic calendar named after the goddess Ä’ostre (goddess of the dawn) of Anglo-Saxon paganism, it was adapted to mark the end of Lent, a Catholic tradition marking the time between Ash Wednesday and the Resurrection of Christ, a period of time where the follower indulges in prayer, repentance, almsgiving, and self-denial to prepare his soul for the most holiest of days on their liturgical calendar.
A Man That Must Be Considered
Prior to the so-named Germanic calendar month, the importance behind Easter began when a man, claiming to be the Son of God, was crucified by Roman law and hung on a cross on the 6th day of the Hebrew week, or Friday on the Gregorian calendar. According to many sources, including historical texts written during the time and a collection of three first hand events now distributed with the Indo-European New Testament (for those of you wondering, the Gospel According to Mark is not first-hand, but was written at a later time), this man disappeared from his tomb and was seen alive by more than five hundred witnesses at a single time. During his life, he claimed to be the culmination of the Hebrew law, and the personification of God Himself, having come to earth to bridge the gap between man and God.
Based on the Hebrew law and prophets, all men were eternally separated from God due to a violation of His design by original creation. The man claimed to have paid the consequences to the Hebrew law for all men - eternal death - and gave all those who believed in him a new, perfect, eternal spirit and everlasting life to commune in fellowship, being joint-heirs with him in the riches and graces bestowed by God the father.
He also claimed that belief in his death, burial, and resurrection, and lordship, would transform lives - asking his father to unite those who would believe in unity in the final moments of his life. Rejection of Self, Glorification of the Father, Renewing of the Mind, and Thankfulness for what has been post-defined as "predestination" (a defining security in the worldview he paints for us) are all fundamental attributes to his teachings. In fulfilling the Hebrew law, he was penned as "slain before the foundations of the earth", and those who would believe and follow him were "chosen before time began".
Different From Any Other Religion
The uniqueness of his claims, including the basis of the Hebrew law, is that man can do nothing to breach the gap man created between him/herself and God, and it is faith in the resurrection of this God-man that brings atonement for the violation of God's perfect design. Unlike any other recorded religion, faith in him is the only requirement for eternal life. Penance, almsgiving, self-denial, church attendance, acts of kindness, and the pursuit of a defined holiness have nothing to do with the Salvation he promised.
This man's name was Y'shua - directly translated Joshua or (in the Greek) Jesus. He claimed to be God, the second part of the Godhead, personified in flesh. He claimed to be able to forgive sins, heal the sick, raise the dead, and grant eternal life to those who believe in him. He claimed to be the creator of the world, the redeemer of mankind, and the personal friend of each and every member of his creation.
Modern Thinking Vs. Absolute Truth
Jesus claimed to be quite a bit. In the past 200+ years, mankind as a whole has been slowly rejecting absolute truth, i.e. "What is true for me, may not be true for you." Jesus personified absolute truth, in that He claimed that ALL men were His creation, ALL men where fallen from perfection, ALL men had fallen short of His design, ALL men were in darkness and needed a way out, and NO man could please God on his own, no matter what his status with man or strength in character. These truths defined Jesus throughout his life, and stand as a testimony to His impact throughout the world.
One could try and claim he was the most important man in history, but that would be incorrect - for Jesus himself claimed to be fully man and fully God - and that would place him on a different playing field all together. Unlike historical figures like Muhammad, Buddha, Confucius, etc., Jesus is the only one to, according to history, rise from the dead in the presence of witnesses, and claimed to eventually return for his followers, and bring an end to the reign of men. Even Muhammad himself expresses his ignorance of Jesus' mission when he penned - "Afterwards the Christians will be called upon and it will be said to them, 'Who do you use to worship?' They will say, 'We used to worship Jesus, the son of Allah.' It will be said to them, 'You are liars, for Allah has never taken anyone as a wife or a son" - Volume 6, Book 60, Number 105. For those who understand the teachings of the Old and New Testament, they know that Jesus never claimed to be the son or "offspring" of God, but the second part of the Godhead, God Himself personified as man. As Jesus Himself claimed, "I and the Father are One." John 10:30.
Making The Choice
In the end, one must realize one thing. There are only two possible scenarios: 1) The prophecies, prophets, the amazing life of Jesus, His impact on the world, and all His claims are false - and the world we know is based on a massive and twisted lie, or 2) He is God the Son, Redeemer of Mankind, Creator of the World, Lord of All, and His claims about the sinfulness of man and the debt of sin owed by mankind to God are all true, and the only way to restore the perfection of His original design is to restore communion with Him and the Father through belief and trust in His Salvation. There are no in-betweens.
This Easter, make sure you take careful consideration of both options. Each should dramatically change your life. Søren Kierkegaard, a Danish philosopher, reproved the Christianity of his time, "If in fact the reality of Christ's resurrection is true, then it should transform every part of a man. For those that claim to be Christ-followers, their willful disgrace of their own religion stands as a testimony to their own disbelief." Belief in Jesus should either transform you into a zealous Christ-follower, or a zealous antagonist of the Christian realities around you. The only area in between here is willful ignorance.
May this Easter be a time of contemplation, reflection, and new resolutions.
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