The other day I went into a local greeting card store to find just the right Easter sentiment to send to my family. I headed straight for the Easter section and within five minutes was ready to stand on my soap box.
Card after card dripped with the same kind of rote phrases like “Easter is the time to celebrate the joys of spring” or “Easter is a special time to remember family.”
For any secular holiday, I might have agreed. But not when it comes to this holy day.
I disgustedly plunked the cards back in their slots with a very audible growl. Righteous indignation quickly set in.
You have got to be kidding me! I fumed. All of this talk of newness of life and joy and peace and togetherness but no mention of the true Source of such delights. Hey, we wouldn’t have these good things in our lives if it weren’t for Jesus Christ coming and dying on that cross and rising again to take care of our sins and grant us the ultimate newness of life – eternal life at that!
But here I was peering at all these pastel-colored pithy sayings that meant absolutely nothing. No mention of Jesus. No mention of God, even. And no mention of a Bible verse or two, because that would be politically incorrect.
The “religious” cards weren’t that much better. Why is it that so many cards that dare portray even a morsel of the truth have such ugly packaging, whereas all the cards filled with sentimental garbage and cutesy poems are really attractive? Some of the “religious” greeting cards looked like something straight from a 1970s kumbaya commune – somewhat tacky and outdated. Others looked like they were more appropriate for a funeral than the grandest moment of life the world has ever known.
Honestly, I don’t like resorting to the “religious” section to find meaning on special holy days. The term “religious” is a catch-all demarcation: many Muslims claim to be religious; lots of Buddhists claim to be religious; the Pharisees of Jesus’ day were accused by the Son of God of being religious; and somewhere in there, the true Christians are thrown into the mix and deemed religious. The term religious is too general, too melting pot to carry any real meaning.
Why not call this section what it really should be called, considering the holiday we are talking about? “Christian.” If you think I am being overzealous, check out what I discovered from my brief research.
Here’s an eye opener for you: on this topic, the dictionary has it right. Look up the word “Easter” and you will see what I mean. I have taken the liberty of putting key words in bold. The Oxford Concise English Dictionary defines Easter as “the festival of the Christian Church celebrating the resurrection of Christ, held (in the Western Church) on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the northern spring equinox.” The Miriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines Easter as “a feast that commemorates Christ's resurrection and is observed with variations of date due to different calendars on the first Sunday after the paschal full moon.” And, finally, the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines Easter in its first entry as “A Christian feast commemorating the Resurrection of Jesus.”
OK, I see the words “Resurrection,” “Christ,” and “Jesus” repeated – now we are talking! So, if these dictionaries, which are meant to be unbiased and accurate, all point to Jesus as the honored guest behind such a holy day, then why hasn’t the rest of the world caught up on that knowledge?
All Easter cards, then, should contain Christian themes and Bible verses, in light of this information. And if you want to send cards depicting non-Christian Easter myths and bouncy sayings, then by all means, we will gladly point you to our “Secular” section of Easter cards. How about that for turning the tables?
Unfortunately, too many people this day are screaming, as the crowds did during biblical times, for Barabbas (representing unbridled sin) to be released into their midst, instead of pleading for Jesus, the Messiah, and therefore His purity and holiness to be released into their lives (see Matthew 27:11-26
Now Jesus was standing before Pilate, the Roman governor. "Are you the king of the Jews?" the governor asked him. Jesus replied, "You have said it." But when the leading priests and the elders made their accusations against him, Jesus remained silent. "Don't you hear all these charges they are bringing against you?" Pilate demanded. But Jesus made no response to any of the charges, much to the governor's surprise. Now it was the governor's custom each year during the Passover celebration to release one prisoner to the crowd—anyone they wanted. This year there was a notorious prisoner, a man named Barabbas.* As the crowds gathered before Pilate's house that morning, he asked them, "Which one do you want me to release to you—Barabbas, or Jesus who is called the Messiah?" (He knew very well that the religious leaders had arrested Jesus out of envy.) Just then, as Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him this message: "Leave that innocent man alone. I suffered through a terrible nightmare about him last night." Meanwhile, the leading priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas to be released and for Jesus to be put to death. So the governor asked again, "Which of these two do you want me to release to you?" The crowd shouted back, "Barabbas!" Pilate responded, "Then what should I do with Jesus who is called the Messiah?" They shouted back, "Crucify him!" "Why?" Pilate demanded. "What crime has he committed?" But the mob roared even louder, "Crucify him!" Pilate saw that he wasn't getting anywhere and that a riot was developing. So he sent for a bowl of water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, "I am innocent of this man's blood. The responsibility is yours!" And all the people yelled back, "We will take responsibility for his death—we and our children!"* So Pilate released Barabbas to them. He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified.
OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt)
; Mark 15:1-15
Very early in the morning the leading priests, the elders, and the teachers of religious law—the entire high council*—met to discuss their next step. They bound Jesus, led him away, and took him to Pilate, the Roman governor. Pilate asked Jesus, "Are you the king of the Jews?" Jesus replied, "You have said it." Then the leading priests kept accusing him of many crimes, and Pilate asked him, "Aren't you going to answer them? What about all these charges they are bringing against you?" But Jesus said nothing, much to Pilate's surprise. Now it was the governor's custom each year during the Passover celebration to release one prisoner—anyone the people requested. One of the prisoners at that time was Barabbas, a revolutionary who had committed murder in an uprising. The crowd went to Pilate and asked him to release a prisoner as usual. "Would you like me to release to you this `King of the Jews'?" Pilate asked. (For he realized by now that the leading priests had arrested Jesus out of envy.) But at this point the leading priests stirred up the crowd to demand the release of Barabbas instead of Jesus. Pilate asked them, "Then what should I do with this man you call the king of the Jews?" They shouted back, "Crucify him!" "Why?" Pilate demanded. "What crime has he committed?" But the mob roared even louder, "Crucify him!" So to pacify the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He ordered Jesus flogged with a lead-tipped whip, then turned him over to the Roman soldiers to be crucified.
OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt)
; Luke 23:1-25
Then the entire council took Jesus to Pilate, the Roman governor. They began to state their case: "This man has been leading our people astray by telling them not to pay their taxes to the Roman government and by claiming he is the Messiah, a king." So Pilate asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" Jesus replied, "You have said it." Pilate turned to the leading priests and to the crowd and said, "I find nothing wrong with this man!" Then they became insistent. "But he is causing riots by his teaching wherever he goes—all over Judea, from Galilee to Jerusalem!" "Oh, is he a Galilean?" Pilate asked. When they said that he was, Pilate sent him to Herod Antipas, because Galilee was under Herod's jurisdiction, and Herod happened to be in Jerusalem at the time. Herod was delighted at the opportunity to see Jesus, because he had heard about him and had been hoping for a long time to see him perform a miracle. He asked Jesus question after question, but Jesus refused to answer. Meanwhile, the leading priests and the teachers of religious law stood there shouting their accusations. Then Herod and his soldiers began mocking and ridiculing Jesus. Finally, they put a royal robe on him and sent him back to Pilate. (Herod and Pilate, who had been enemies before, became friends that day.) Then Pilate called together the leading priests and other religious leaders, along with the people, and he announced his verdict. "You brought this man to me, accusing him of leading a revolt. I have examined him thoroughly on this point in your presence and find him innocent. Herod came to the same conclusion and sent him back to us. Nothing this man has done calls for the death penalty. So I will have him flogged, and then I will release him."* Then a mighty roar rose from the crowd, and with one voice they shouted, "Kill him, and release Barabbas to us!" (Barabbas was in prison for taking part in an insurrection in Jerusalem against the government, and for murder.) Pilate argued with them, because he wanted to release Jesus. But they kept shouting, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" For the third time he demanded, "Why? What crime has he committed? I have found no reason to sentence him to death. So I will have him flogged, and then I will release him." But the mob shouted louder and louder, demanding that Jesus be crucified, and their voices prevailed. So Pilate sentenced Jesus to die as they demanded. As they had requested, he released Barabbas, the man in prison for insurrection and murder. But he turned Jesus over to them to do as they wished. As they led Jesus away, a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene,* happened to be coming in from the countryside. The soldiers seized him and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.
OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt)
; John 18:28-40
Jesus' trial before Caiaphas ended in the early hours of the morning. Then he was taken to the headquarters of the Roman governor.* His accusers didn't go inside because it would defile them, and they wouldn't be allowed to celebrate the Passover. So Pilate, the governor, went out to them and asked, "What is your charge against this man?" "We wouldn't have handed him over to you if he weren't a criminal!" they retorted. "Then take him away and judge him by your own law," Pilate told them. "Only the Romans are permitted to execute someone," the Jewish leaders replied. (This fulfilled Jesus' prediction about the way he would die.*) Then Pilate went back into his headquarters and called for Jesus to be brought to him. "Are you the king of the Jews?" he asked him. Jesus replied, "Is this your own question, or did others tell you about me?" "Am I a Jew?" Pilate retorted. "Your own people and their leading priests brought you to me for trial. Why? What have you done?" Jesus answered, "My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world." Pilate said, "So you are a king?" Jesus responded, "You say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true." "What is truth?" Pilate asked. Then he went out again to the people and told them, "He is not guilty of any crime. But you have a custom of asking me to release one prisoner each year at Passover. Would you like me to release this `King of the Jews'?" But they shouted back, "No! Not this man. We want Barabbas!" (Barabbas was a revolutionary.)
OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt)
). They know not what they are truly saying, and I am saddened. If only they realized that Jesus wanted to offer them forgiveness and the power to walk a different and peacefully blessed road – not just here on this earth, but forever in heaven through faith in Him.
Jesus came to give us life and give us life abundantly. Scripture tells us that (see John 10:10
The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.
OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt)
). He came to die so that we might live, paying for our sins through His death so that we could be restored back to a right relationship with God and be saved from eternal damnation. This gift we receive through faith in Jesus Christ.
Shouldn’t Christ’s death and resurrection be enough cause for celebration? Shouldn’t that be the message we send every year to our friends and loved ones?
No other Truth will ever compare.
How to Give Your Life to Christ:
1. Admit you are a sinner and need forgiveness.
2. Believe that Jesus Christ died for you on the Cross and rose from the grave.
3. Through prayer, confess that Jesus Christ is the only way to God and commit to live for Him for the rest of your life.
What to Pray:
Dear Lord Jesus,
I know that I am a sinner and need your forgiveness. I believe that You died on the cross for my sins and rose from the grave to give me life. I know You are the only way to God so now I want to quit disobeying You and start living for You. Please forgive me, change my life and show me how to know You. In Jesus' name. Amen.
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About The Author
Laura
Bagby
A Tennessee native, Laura first came to sunny Virginia Beach to attend graduate school at Regent University after a brief and exciting summer working in Yosemite National Park in California (whoo-hoo!). After graduating from Regent with a master's degree in communication (emphasis on film studies) and a master's degree in journalism (emphasis on photojournalism), Laura came to work for CBN as an Internet Producer. That is when she discovered she had a God-given talent for writing. Laura hopes to see the Body of Christ healed, whole, and actively pursuing a godly life full of wisdom, joy, and