Who is Easter For?

Last Sunday we had our Easter Celebration for the kids at church. They heard the real Easter story, played some games, made crafts, had a fun egg hunt and finished the day with Worship KidStyle.

I had more than a few ask me "Why are you celebrating Easter the Sunday before Easter?"

We had our special kids day on Palm Sunday for two reasons. Palm Sunday is very much a part of the Easter season. And I believe it is important for children to worship with their families on Easter Sunday, the day we set aside to celebrate The Risen Savior.

I realize that for many, in fact for a growing number of people in America, Easter is not at all about Jesus. It's the bunny, the candy, egg hunts and prizes.

I did a little research to check for the origins of the bunny. Best I could find, we first see it in America in the early 1700's. German immigrants brought it over along with the explanation that the Hare watched for obedient, good children and left them colored eggs and candy in their bonnets and hats. Does this remind you of ole Saint Nick?

The prizes, candy, treats and favor belong to the good.

I learned something else about this bunny; something very disturbing.  The origins can be traced back to the thirteenth century, pre-Christian Germany, when people worshipped gods and goddesses. The goddess of fertility had a symbol - the rabbit.

This is what we accept into our homes and unwittingly tell our kids when they wake up on Sunday morning and look for what the bunny left them. The created rabbit, worshipped in place of The Creator, brings treats and favor to good boys and girls.

We gave our children candy and gifts on Easter Sunday morning. We still enjoy the seasonal candy and I will have a little egg hunt for my granddaughter. Thankfully, we never told our kids the bunny brought the treats and we never taught them it was only if they were good.

That message is most certainly the anti-Jesus message. Jesus walked this earth in human form and He died a brutal death. We celebrate Easter Sunday because He did not stay dead. He walked out of the grave that Sunday morning. He brings salvation to all who will accept it. This gift of eternal life is not for the good. And aren't you so glad? There are none that are good. . . no, not one.

Our world - your neighbors, your co-workers, your family members - is full of broken and confused people. Desperate people who look in the mirror each morning and, with tears in their eyes, wonder how they will make it through the day. They walk out the door and go to work or attend school and they wear their "everything is great" face and no one around them knows what struggle is going on in the heart.

And we don't tell them there is a Savior who lived, died, and lives again and He did it for the broken. We are all broken because we are all sinners.

And God made a way.

Easter. It is not just one Sunday a year. No, it's not two Sundays. It's not only for the good.

For the believer, Easter is EVERY DAY, now through ETERNITY! Our broken world is waiting to hear that God's love reaches to them every day in the form of our risen Lord.

Death could not keep it's prey . . . He is Risen indeed!