"...For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." 1 Corinthians 5:7-8
"Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." Revelation 21:2-4
"Mom, are we Jewish??" A sweet question. No, we are not descended from that precious group of people that God chose as His treasured possession. But we have been grafted in, adopted, and chosen before the foundation of the world.
I think that in the hustle and bustle of the every day, it's easy to forget. With lots of little people, it is never easy to stop and take a breath. It is not serious and somber and still. But it doesn't mean we don't try.
We still stop.
We think.
We remember.
There is more to Easter than bunnies and candy. There was a sacrifice necessary. The wrath of the Father had to be poured out. And there was only one sacrifice worthy to atone, to propitiate, to absorb that wrath.
JESUS.
That's why His name is above all other names. That's why His name is greater than the rising sun.
And so amidst the crazy, and the noise of Judah calling out "More matzah!!"....
We partake of the four cups and ask the four questions.
We remember the bitter herbs, always sweetened by the Kharoset of God's grace.
We remember that death would Passover only because of the blood....
And that in Christ, spiritual death has passed over us because of His blood.
We hunt for the Afikomen....and Daddy ransoms it....because Jesus' body was broken and hidden in the tomb-a ransom for us. The one who finds the Afikomen gets a small piece of chocolate from Daddy. But the Father.....His prize, the goal of the ransom....is US.
We praise the One who could not be held by death....because He was without sin. He had the power to lay His life down and to take it back up again.
Hallelujah!!! What a Savior!!!!
Remembering the words of the old story:
Christ is risen! Henceforth never
Death nor hell shall us enthrall;
We are Christ's, in Him forever
We have triumphed over all;
All the doubting and dejection
Of our trembling hearts have ceased,
'Tis His day of resurrection;
Let us rise and keep the feast.
(From the hymn: Christ is Risen, Hallelujah)
The family pics:
Happy Easter from the Hester family!
