A Christian Worldview from Silicon Valley

On Easter Sunday I said in my message that Easter was the most important Christian day, more important than Christmas. Christmas is a big deal to me (not just for the presents), and I don’t mean to relegate it to some second class status, but I think it is important for us to recognize the differences in these two incredibly significant events in human history.

At Christmas we celebrate the coming of God to earth in human form as Jesus. At Easter we celebrate the return of Jesus to heaven to sit at the right hand of God. At Christmas we marvel with the shepherds who are told by angels that Jesus is here. At Easter we marvel with those at the tomb who are told by angels that Jesus is no longer here. At Christmas we are filled with joy because of a birth. At Easter we are filled with hope because of a resurrection. At Christmas we know that Jesus is with us. At Easter we know that we can be with him.

Christmas is comfortable, Easter is comforting. In religious terms, Christmas is fairly non-threatening. It is all about the baby and the wise men and the miracle of the virgin birth. Who, other than Herod, is threatened by the babe of Bethlehem? Oh, yes, it is also about Jesus, but only in the sweetest, gentlest way.

Easter is not so comfortable, preceded as it is by the terrible flogging of Jesus, his crown of thorns, his torn flesh, his blood, and ultimately his horrible crucifixion, including nails in his hands and feet and later a spear in his side. But for those who believe, all of that pain leads to something that is amazingly comforting.

So which would you have? Some say that without Christmas there would be no Easter, but the truth is that without Easter there would be no Christmas.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 26th, 2008 at 3:17 pm and is filed under Jesus, Reflections. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.