For some, Easter is just another public holiday, a time for family get togethers, Easter eggs, chocolate bunnies and a good time.
That is very important, because Easter is a celebration of what God has done for humankind in Jesus. It is good that we celebrate as families when we come together.
In the midst of our enjoyment, it is easy to forget that this is the most important of all the Christian festivals, far more important than Christmas. For, on the Easter morning, the women who went to the tomb expected to find nothing but a dead body. A dead body they pray over and finally lay to rest. A dead body which marked the end of all their hopes and expectations.
However, they were in for a shock. The body was gone, the tomb was empty and no-one knew where it was. They had certainly got the right tomb because it belonged to a famous man who had made it available. It was also the right tomb because the soldiers had been guarding it and they knew where it was. Nobody had stolen the body because both the Roman and the Jewish temple authorities turned Jerusalem upside down to find it and when they couldn't they had the soldiers responsible executed.
But then something else more wonderful began to happen. People began to see Jesus again. They not only saw him from a distance, they saw him close, too. Not only did they see him, they were able to talk to him. They were able to share a meal with him. They were able to see his wounds and indeed touch them. This was not a delusion. This was not a dream. This was a man raised from the dead. Because a man has risen from the dead, it does not mean that all our understanding about life and death changes. It means that death is not the end. It means that there are forces and powers in the universe that cannot only give life, but can also give life after death.
But if a man rising from the dead, who is then subsequently reported going up into heaven, was all there was to the Christian message, it would indeed have died out 2,000 years ago. The real difference is that when people prayed the prayer of faith and asked Jesus to come into their lives, he became real to them, too. Everywhere the message was taken, people found they met Jesus, too. This part of the wonder of Easter has never stopped. He can be as real to us now as he was then, even though it is 2,000 years later. Coming into that contact with that presence and that power does, in time, change everything - perspective, understanding, abilities and relationships.
So Easter is not just an annual celebration of events that happened 2,000 years ago, it is in fact a renewal of hope and understanding that God can change our lives when we put our trust in Jesus Christ even today.
All over the Moreton Hall estate people will celebrate Easter, but as they enjoy it they need to remember that something even better is there to be celebrated: the opportunity not just to live beyond death, but also to come into a good relationship with God. To welcome him into our family as he welcomes us into his, to celebrate together, not just with our natural friends and family, but with our supernatural ones.
The Easter party is far bigger than we thought, for it includes not just us, but all the humankind and all those in heaven. So this Easter, let's all celebrate together, friends, family, church and God and heaven. Let us make a change to our lives that are lasting, not just the remainder of our years, but for all our eternal life that lies beyond the grave with Jesus
