respectfully, you do Easter wrong
good news weekly 4.1.23
the best week of the year is here. would love to see you + your family.
this coming week is the peak of the Christian calendar. yet, an increasing number only celebrate Easter, not Friday along with it. i could probe the reasons,
a more laissez-faire approach to faith in many peoples lives
a desire by faith leaders to turn a big attendance number by only offering 1 thing
the increasing emphasis on evangelism over discipleship
but maybe i could just say this,
you can’t fully celebrate the resurrection unless you remember the crucifixion.
it’s like a slingshot. the further back you pull it, the more tension you create, the further the object flies. celebrating Easter without remembering the crucifixion minimizes the joy available on Easter Sunday.
it comes as a package: the sorrow of Jesus death is a needed stop on the path to the joy of Sunday. if i have any influence in your life, i would encourage you to find church services to attend both Friday + Sunday.
of course .. our church in Palatine would love to welcome you, but my point isn’t WHERE, it’s WHAT. remembering the pain + blood + discomfort that comes with seeing my sin is GOOD for me. that is why even though it was a BAD day for JESUS, it was good for us.
hopefully this helps you start along the way.
red is what love looks like
what is the pinnacle of human love?
is it the couple who can’t stop touching and seems to be exploding with infatuation?
is it the newly-weds who have life + dreams all right in front of them?
is it the couple in mid-life juggling 100 responsibilities and still making time to make it work?
is it the couple 5 decades in and still holding hands?
it’s good friday, so i would suggest the blood of Jesus is the pinnacle of love, of human existence sin fact. a man (sure, also a God), gave his life for people who would mostly reject Him. the color red is the symbol of the beautiful story of redemption that winds it’s way from Genesis to 2022.
in the story of Abraham we see, Red made another way
the assignment was to kill the promised son. Abraham trusted God enough to be willing, yet at the last minute, he didn’t have to.
while God spared Isaac in another way,
God GAVE his son as the other way.
in the story of the Exodus we see, Red chose another house
as the plagues kept getting larger, clearly, something dramatic would be needed to break Pharaoh’s will. God chose to kill the firstborn son of every family who didn’t have blood on the doorposts. the blood spread became the payment that sin required.
This was not loan forgiveness but loan payment
the BILL WAS PAID, just not by you or me.
Jesus would someday soon pay it all.
in Numbers we see, Red gave another chance
the people were ungrateful. although God kept providing, they kept complaining. finally snakes arrived, with a zombie-like ability to kill everyone they bit. an epidemic arose quite quickly that day and soon Moses was begging God to intervene.
a bronze snake was lifted up, a symbol again, just as one man who suffices for all men, all who looked at the snake would live. even though the complainers didn’t deserve it, Red gave another chance.
Jesus made it clear in John 3 that raising up the bronze snake wasn’t a random event. He said, “as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”
in the new testament we see, Red paid it all himself
Jesus put Himself in our place, not because we were good or kind or He saw something in us, simply because of His love.
His sacrifice satisfied + smashed any claim death could have on us anymore. His red blood made it so although we will die physically, we have eternal spiritual life assured.
red made another way.
red chose another house.
red gave a chance
red paid it all Himself.
Good Friday + Easter Playlist
this is good news…
–luke+kristen