The significance of Easter to Christians.
Easter is central to Christianity this post will attempt to give a brief summary of it's significance to Christians.
The background to the Easter story.
Ancient History.
God created Adam (the first man) and Eve (the first woman).i God told Adam that he was allowed to eat from any tree except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because when you eat from it you will die.ii
Adam & Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. At this time God made the first prediction of the coming of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.iii There are many more predictions (usually known as prophesies) of the coming of Jesus Christ recorded in the Old Testament.
The Birth of Jesus.
God sent the angel Gabriel to a virgin by the name of Mary who was engaged to marry a carpenter by the name of Joseph (who was a descendent of King David). Gabriel told Mary she would conceive and give birth to a son who would be named “Jesus”. This son would be known as the Son of God. Mary said “I am the Lord's servant, may what you said happen to me.” Then the angel left.iv
When Caesar Augustus ordered a census of the Roman Empire Joseph went from Nazareth to Bethlehem and took Mary, his finance with him. While they were there Mary gave birth to a son. The child was named “Jesus”.v
The Show Trial.
Jesus predicted that he would be handed over for crucifixion on the passover day, at the same time the high priests, religious leaders and the chief priest were in a meeting conspiring to kill Jesus.vi
Judas Iscarriot went to the high priests and asked what they would give to hand Jesus over to them. The price was settled at thirty pieces of silver. From then on Judas looked for the right time to hand Jesus over.vii
On the night when Jesus was betrayed He said to His disciples that one of them would betray Him. The disciples responded surely you don't mean I will betray you. When Judas Iscarriot said this Jesus said “Don't play games with me Judas”viii.
Later that night Judas Iscarriot did betray Jesus. Jesus was arrested by a large crowd sent by the chief priests and the elders.ix The crowd took Jesus to Caiaphas the High Priest, the teachers of the Law and the elders. They tried to find people who would testify against Jesus until somebody came forward saying that Jesus had said He would tear down the temple and rebuild it in three days. When confronted with this Jesus said nothing. When asked if He was the Messiah, the Son of God Jesus replied in the affirmative. On hearing this the High Priest tore his clothes and declared Jesus to be guilty of blasphemy.x They tied Jesus and took Him to the Pilate, the Roman governor.xi
Pilate was in the habit of setting one prisoner chosen by the people free at the time of the passover. He gave the people a choice of Jesus Barabas (a murderer) or Jesus (Christ) who is called the Messiah and incited by the Jewish authorities the crowd called for Barabas to be freed and for Jesus Christ to be crucified. Pilate asked what crime Jesus Christ had committed, but the crowd just kept yelling “crucify him”. So Pilate took a bowl of water and washed his hands in front of them saying that he was not guilty of this man's death. The people replied that the guilt should rest on them and their children. Then Pilate had Jesus whiped and handed Him over to be crucified.xii
Jesus' Torture and Crucifixion.
The whole company of soldiers gathered, stripped Jesus of His clothes and put a scarlet robe on Him. They made a crown out of thorny branches and placed it on His head, put a stick in His right hand and mocked Him saying “Long live the king of the Jews”. They spat on him, and took the stick and hit him over the head. When they had finished mocking Him they took the robe off and put His own clothes back on Jesus and led Him off to crucify Him.xiii
When they arrived at Golgotha, the place of the skull, they crucified Him between two thieves and divided His clothes among them by throwing dice.xiv
Jesus' Death.
At noon the whole country was covered in darkness for three hours. At three o'clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” which means “My God, My God why have you abandoned me?” Jesus gave another loud cry and died.xv
According to other information I have come across God knew at this time the day and the hour that Jesus Christ would die on the cross.
At that moment the curtain in the temple was torn in two from top to bottomxvi and the earth shook with a violent earthquake which caused rocks to split.xvii
The religious leaders of the time went to Pilate the next day and requested that a guard be placed at the tomb because Jesus had predicted He would rise on the third day and they did not want the disciples to steal the body in order to claim Jesus had been raised.xviii
“This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about--not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they've done to our relationship with God.”xix
The Resurrection of Jesus.
When the Sabbath was over Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James and Salome bought spices to embalm Jesus' body. On the Sunday morning they went to the tomb. On the way they were wondering who would roll away the stone from the tomb. Suddenly there was an earth quake. An angel of the Lord rolled the stone away from the tomb and sat on it. The guards shook with fear and fell like dead men. When the women arrived they walked straight into the tomb and saw an angel (who looked like a young man) sitting on the right side wearing a white robe. They were frightened.xx
The angel said to the women “ Do not to be afraid. Jesus isn't here because God had raised Him to life, look here is the spot where Jesus' body was laid. Go quickly, tell His disciples that Jesus has been raised to life and is going ahead of them to Galilee. They will see Him there. The women hurried off to tell the disciples the good news. At first the disciples did not believe them.xxi
Peter and John took off running to the tomb. John got there first, stopped outside, looked in and saw the linen cloths laying there but didn't go in. Peter arrived and went straight in. Peter saw the cloths lying there with the cloth that had been around Jesus' head rolled up separate from the others. John went in also. Then they walked away wondering what had happened.xxii
Jesus' death on the cross and resurrection on the 3rd day are the climax of God's plan of salvation.
Jesus said that no one will ever see the Kingdom of God unless they are “born again”, in other translations this is “born from above”, “a new birth”, “generated from above” and “born anew”. All are to convey the concept of receiving spiritual life.
So the question must surely be, how does a person receive the new birth?
Jesus said: “For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life.”xxiii Just before Jesus was taken up to Heaven He told His disciples to go into all the world telling the Gospel (that is the good news about Jesus) and that those who believe will be saved while those who do not believe will be condemned.
As the apostle Paulxxiv wrote we are made right with Godxxv through faith alone, we believe in our hearts and say with our mouths that Jesus Christ is boss (or Lord) of our lives.xxvi I therefore encourage all readers to ask Jesus Christ to be boss of their lives.
Jesus came into the world to suffer and die to pay the price for our sins so that we could be made right with God (righteous) through faith in Him. That's the significance of Easter to Christians.
Now the question is, do you want to make Jesus the boss of your life? If so, pray like this:
God I admit that I have fallen short of your standard, doing bad things known as sins.xxvii
Thank you that you sent your only son by birth, Jesus to pay the price for the bad things (sins) I have done.xxviii
I believe in my heart and say it with my mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord.xxix Fill me with your Spirit.xxx I pray in the name of Jesus.xxxi
If you just prayed like this for the first time, you need to join a church where you will be taught to obey everything Jesus commanded.xxxii You also need to get in the habit of reading the Bible,xxxiii if possible in your first language, every day.
I have referred to several English translations of the Bible in writing this which is made easy by e-sword, a free downloadable program (translations in other languages are also downloadable). For further information I recommend reading the Bible.
© Ken Glasgow 2011 Last edited 4 April 2021
This page was written using Open Office 3.2.1, open source software from the www.openoffice.org this software is available to download for free.
iGenesis 1 & 2.
iiGenesis 2:16-17.
iiiGenesis 3:1-24.
ivLuke 1:26-38.
vLuke 2:1-7.
viMatthew 26:2-5.
viiMark 14:10-11.
viiiMatthew 26:20-25, Mark 14:17.
ixMatthew 26:46-50.
xMatthew 26:57-66.
xiMatthew 27:2, Mark 14:43-46.
xiiMatthew 27:15-25.
xiiiMatthew 27:27-31.
xivMatthew 27:33-38.
xvMatthew 27:45-46, Mark 15:33-34.
xviMark 15:38.
xviiMatthew 27:54.
xviiiMatthew 27:62-66.
xixJohn 4:9&10, The Message Bible.
xxMatthew 28:1-4.
xxiMatthew 28:5-7.
xxiiJohn 20:3-10.
xxiiiJohn 3:16, Good News Bible.
xxivSaint Paul to Catholics.
xxvRighteous
xxviRomans 10:8-10
xxvii Romans 3:23
xxviii John 3:16
xxix Romans 10:9-10
xxxLuke 11:13 see also John 14:26
xxxi John 14:13-14 & 16:23-24
xxxii Matthew 28:20
xxxiii 1Peter 2:2
