3 Exciting Theological Reflections for Easter Sunday

As we celebrate Good Friday and Easter Sunday this year, I had a lot of time to reflect on the message of Easter. To some Christians, it is the same old same old. To others, Easter is the only time in the year they would attend a church service. However, as I reflect the richness of the message behind Good Friday and Easter Sunday, there are some truths that we, as Christian disciples, need to remember.

1. Easter Sunday represents the grace we all need in our lives

We celebrated my daughter’s 3 months on the Saturday after Good Friday. During the celebration, I shared with my guests that I really pray that she will ultimately remember the grace she experiences in her life. And most importantly, remember that God has shown her grace by sending Jesus to die on the cross for her. Even more so, Jesus resurrected three days later on Easter Sunday to give her victory over death.

The truth is simply so. Easter Sunday is the day that Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus and the work that he accomplished through the cross. The work that he needed to accomplish was to achieve reconciliation between God and humanity. The Scripture says it clearly that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23). Resurrecting from the grave, all are justified freely by the grace through the redemption that came from Jesus’ work (Rom 3:24).

So Easter Sunday is not about Easter eggs or Easter bunny, but really about Jesus. Christians cannot simply skirt pass the truth and live as if that Jesus never resurrected on Easter Sunday 2000 years ago.

2. Easter Sunday gives us the chance to really live

As a leader in church, I get my fair share of questions. One question which I was asked recently was whether it is easier to die after receiving Christ. This probes directly into the real gospel message.

If the message of Easter Sunday simply stops at the reconciliation between God and humanity through Jesus’ work, then it is an insufficient message. If Easter is all about us able to go heaven after believing Christ, then we might as well all go and die after believing. However, Easter is more than that.

It was in the gospel account of John that John recorded Jesus saying that he is the good shepherd and he has come so that his sheep can have life to the full (John 10:10). In Romans 12:1-2, Paul exhorted the Roman church that in view of God’s mercies, they should offer their lives as a living sacrifice. The crux of the matter is that Easter Sunday is not the reason for us to die and ‘meet God.’ The resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday gives us the chance to really live a life that honours and glorifies God, since we have previously fallen short of God’s glory.

3. Easter Sunday compels us to commit our lives to Christ

If Easter Sunday gives a chance to really live, then how should we really live? The answer lies in the Great Commission. We are all familiar with Matthew 28:19-20, where Jesus commanded us to go and make disciples of all nations. This is a command that the resurrected Jesus gave. Note that he did not tell us to go and die.

But what we do not know is this: that this is not the only time in the Bible that the biblical authors record Jesus’ command to go. For example, Luke recorded in Acts 1:8 that the resurrected Jesus told the disciples that once they received the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, they were to witness for Him till the ends of the earth. In John 20:21, the resurrected Jesus told the disciples that he is sending them.

The implication for these is this: that God has called us to live a life committed to Him and the advancement of His kingdom. The resurrection event on Easter Sunday is the catalyst for this. It is the one truth that needs to compel us to live a dedicated life for God. It is not a license for us to finally die. If we really want to die, then we ought to die to self and die for Christ, and to live out a life fully sold for Christ.

Implications of Jesus’ Resurrection

As I meditate on the message that came with Easter Sunday, I can’t help but marvel at the grace I received from God through the resurrection. It was after I learned about the resurrection of Christ through my readings that I really realised that I cannot live my life ignoring the implications of a historical resurrected Jesus. And it is only when we realise how wretched we are outside of Christ, that we can fully appreciate the grace that we received in Christ.

As the famous hymn goes, “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.” I pray that this will always be our motivation in Christ.