From John Collins, Evangelist:
“But the angel answered and said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.’” Matthew 28:5-6 (NKJV).
What makes Christianity so special? Jesus! He was crucified
and He was resurrected, seen by hundreds of witnesses and left His ministry in
the hands of His apostles to take to the masses and tell of the miracle of His
death and His rise from that death into life. Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus
died for the sins of this world and was resurrected from death into life as the
proof of the gospel and good news. This is what is celebrated with eggs and
chocolate. This is what is celebrated with bunnies and ham. This is what has
been confused with pagan rites and heathen practices in the church.
Jesus is not about bunnies and chocolate, ham and eggs or
any paganism and yet it is what this world has chosen to associate with the
miracle of the resurrection. Jesus is the proof that God has chosen to forgive
the sinners of this world through the sacrifice of His beloved Son. The blood
of Jesus was shed and His body was hung on a tree to be wracked with pain until
the life left His flesh. Jesus came back to His people to prove that there is
indeed life after death, there is a heaven to go home to and there is hope.
Christianity is the belief in the sacrifice of our Lord, it
is the only way to the Father and it is not open to compromise. To have faith
in the Son is to desire the Father and to seek to be obedient. To know who you
worship is to trust in God and to know that the only way to achieve salvation
is through Jesus. We need to let go of the traditions that do not honor the Son
of God and to cling to the cross. It matters. The decorations and origin of the
symbolism that is thought to be benign is foolishness indeed. Where traditions
begin matters. Many choose to ignore the history of these pagan beliefs and
think that the traditions that they have become are irrelevant. I know
differently. It does matter because it is just another deception and lie that
has been inherited by people who claim to know Christ and claim to love Christ
above all. But, ask these believers to give up their traditions, give up the
symbols and pagan ideas that represent their ‘holiday’ and see if they are
willing. Too often, people cling to what comforts them and brings them joy and
toss aside the beginnings with declarations of denial by claiming that, no
matter the origin, they are worshiping in spirit and truth through the eggs and
bunnies and chocolate and ham.
Christianity and paganism, paganism and Christianity. It is
all mixed up. There is a lack of desiring purity in worship and a lack of
desiring righteousness in faith. I choose to reject the trappings of this
holiday and to honor my King with truth. The resurrection is a day of mourning
for this world as too many have taken it for granted and too many have rejected
the gift that has been offered. I will mourn for this world and yet give thanks
to the humility of the King who obeyed His Father unto death and was
resurrected unto life to sit down at the right hand of God.
“Then He said to them, ‘Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things.’” Luke 24:46-48 (NKJV).
