I USED to dislike Easter for a number of reasons.
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As a kid, I thought it was just such a non-event compared to Christmas. Chocolate eggs were cool, but pretty passé compared to a bag full of presents, and the school holiday was so much shorter.
More importantly, Easter was such a downer, because what could be more depressing than the saviour of the world being tortured to death? Christmas is about the birth of Jesus, all warm, fuzzy, happy stuff, whereas you were almost obliged to feel sad about Easter.
However, there was an elephant in my room, and I didn’t see it. That elephant was – resurrection!
Easter is a triumph, not a tragedy.
Jesus was crucified, but as Shlomo the ticket clerk said in the television show South Park – “Lots of people got crucified in those times”.
Evidence is compelling that Jesus was resurrected, and therefore for me, that means that Easter is nothing less than the whole point to life.
Resurrection is pretty cool. If you were wondering how popular it is, check the ratings of the TV show that bears its name.
Easter was originally a pagan festival blended with Christianity by the Romans after they decided to stop feeding Christians to lions. Bunnies and eggs originated with fertility cults, but many religious folk are okay with their inclusion because they are symbols of new life.
The resurrection also makes me believe that the symbol of Christianity should be the empty tomb, rather than the cross, because it is that which makes Christ what he is.
(I do admit that an empty tomb would not look as good on a necklace).
Jesus was the only man to be resurrected, and which was the only footy team to be resurrected? The Bunnies!
They played like eggs when they were first resurrected, but they have now multiplied and their form is as sweet as chocolate.
One might argue that Hey Hey it’s Saturday was resurrected, but the truth is it sucked so badly that it proved it was still dead.
Christ however was resurrected, which means that hope lives, and that’s what Easter means to me.