I once heard someone say that he thought Easter ought to be made the premier Christian holiday, ahead of Christmas. That's not likely to happen, of course, but he presented an interesting line of reasoning.

If Christmas gives us reason to hope, he argued, Easter gives us cause to celebrate. Christmas marks the arrival of the long-awaited promise, but Easter marks the ultimate fulfillment of that promise. Christmas marks the beginning of the earthly life of the King of kings; Easter marks His coronation as the Savior of mankind.

The Easter advocate went on to make an even stronger case for Easter being a joyous occasion, not a sad and solemn one. His argument here was simple: Jesus wants it that way. He wants us to marvel at His love and sacrifice and celebrate His resurrection, not mourn His death. (I couldn't have agreed with him more on that.) He quoted Jesus three times to back up this claim:

Before His crucifixion Jesus told His disciples, "If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, 'I am going to the Father'" (John 14:28). And a little later, "Your sorrow will be turned into joy. I will see you again and your heart will rejoice" (John 16:20,22). And finally, when Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were the first to see Jesus after His resurrection, the first thing He said to them was, 'Rejoice!'" (Matthew 28:9).

Easter is almost here. Let's be Easter advocates and make it the happy occasion He wants it to be. Let's celebrate! Let's praise God and Jesus for the victory! Jesus lives! And because He lives, we will too--forever!

Keith Phillips
For the Activated family