It’s kind of a takeoff on the Christmas song: “I’ll Be Home for Christmas.” Our Christmas celebrations evoke an affirmation of home and family as the song suggests. People want to be “home for the holidays” where they can reaffirm their roots and maintain their connections with those whom they’re most closely associated with. Easter, however, is a little different. It’s a “high” day for a lot of people but it lacks the resonance, and romance perhaps, of Christmas—Easter egg hunts and Easter bunnies don’t evoke the depth of feeling that nativity scenes and Christmas trees do. Yet it’s still an important day for many people. And for those who recognize it as significant it usually involves participation in a church service. Even those who don’t attend a church regularly may try to get to a service on Easter. But most people won’t travel across the country to get home for Easter as they would at Christmas time. Why is that?

Perhaps it’s because the appearance in Bethlehem of Jesus—God in the flesh—holds out a lot of promise at His birth. The miraculous manner in which He was born to a virgin, and His importance affirmed by angelic visitations, worked to extend a hope for salvation, but it turned out to be a salvation that was unexpected. Rather than a Savior-King for the Jewish population, our Messiah came to establish a salvation made available for the whole earth and all the peoples who dwell in it. But even more surprising was the manner in which that salvation was to be established. Instead of leading soldiers in a traditional war for the establishment of a nation of followers, Jesus waged a “war” that vanquished the power of sin that held all people in bondage—Jew and Gentile alike! But it was the how that was most surprising. Right up until it happened no one expected it, not the people who argued for it, nor those who administered it as a penalty for wrongdoing. Even His closest followers were surprised. It was inconceivable that the Messiah—the Savior—had to die, but die He did! And what a horrifying death it was! To be beaten in a most vicious manner and then nailed to a cross as if He was a common criminal, then hoisted up on that cross for all to see: entertainment for some and a horror for those who loved Him.

It was a terrible, terrible event and one that is difficult to celebrate in the manner in which the birth of the Christ has been celebrated. In Bethlehem those who witnessed the birth of Jesus had great joy, a joy that came from the promise and possibilities that this child represented. Focusing on that promise is a cause for joy. God had sent His only begotten Son into the world to “save” us. Not just to save the Jewish people from Roman oppression, but to save all mankind from the oppression of this world and the powers that inform it. But it’s the “how” that’s difficult to deal with. The original Jewish followers of Jesus had to witness it first hand, and when Jesus died—and die He did—they thought that all was lost. But three days later amazing things started to happen. People started to actually see Jesus in various circumstances; first at the tomb where His body had been laid and where He had been raised up on the third day after His death, and then at various times and various circumstances until the celebration of Pentecost a few weeks later! It was, and is, an amazing circumstance, and yet Easter is not the holiday that gets the most focus. Why?

Maybe it’s because it’s easier to focus on the image of a newborn infant than on a crucified body dripping with blood. The contrast is new hope in a birth—something that all can identify with—and the vicious death of a “criminal” on a cross, something that is not particularly inviting to witness. Even when Jesus presented Himself to His disciples after the crucifixion, the scars of His execution could still be seen on His body. But the condition of His body shouldn’t really be the primary focus for us. It’s Jesus’ explanation of the crucifixion and its benefits that should be our focus. The cross represents the pathway to something far more significant than survival after death. It represents a pathway to relationship with God most High…a reconciliation with our Father God. And I think this is one reason, perhaps the reason, why “Easter” isn’t as significant as Christmas for many people. They don’t know the Lord, or they don’t have fellowship with Him except at a distance. And without that fellowship, meaning that intimacy that’s been made available through the cross, Christmas and its celebration of the Christ’s birth is easier to identify with.

However, the crucifixion wasn’t just an action of God taking the just punishment for our sin upon Himself. And the cross isn’t just a “get out of jail free” card; it’s a pathway to reconciliation with the one true God. But the problem with this is that reconciliation requires submission as well as recognition. That’s what we’re called to do. Not only should we recognize the death of the Christ as a consequence for our sin, we should also embrace and acknowledge by faith the reconciliation with the Lord that it provides and submit ourselves to His Lordship. Jesus gave Himself up to the Father on the cross submitting to His will, and afterward was restored to His rightful place in heaven. He took our sin upon Himself and we accept that by faith and, as a result, we’re reconciled with our Father God, but that reconciliation involves submitting to His Lordship. The Apostle James made this clear when he confronted the source of conflicts that were arising in some of the early churches of the diaspora.

You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: “He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”? But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.” Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. (James 4:7)

The cross represents a joyous opportunity to know God in a personal and vital way—if we’re willing to embrace that opportunity. If we want to just continue to do life on our own with only a casual nod to the authority of God, then all we have to focus on at Easter is the penalty endured by the Christ on the cross. There is obvious benefit from this: our lives in our isolation from the Lord are, nevertheless, hopeful for God’s forgiveness because Christ suffered the penalty for our sin when He was crucified. And favor with God is not hopeless. However, such a posture is coming up short of what God has provided through Jesus’s death. Just as Jesus was reconciled with the Father after His resurrection and ascension so we too can be reconciled with the Father through faith in the crucified and risen Lord.

This reconciliation constitutes a relationship…a close relationship that will redefine us. And to support this Ilet me draw your attention to a text that I’ve made use of previously:

For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. (Romans 8:14-17)

A father-son—or daughter—relationship is not a relationship that’s casual. For better or worse it is significant. It’s a relationship that defines us at a fundamental level. If it’s a good relationship then it guides and supports us throughout our lives. If it’s a contentious, or non-existent, relationship, then it hinders us and its influence must be addressed and counteracted in order for us to find our way. And full reconciliation with our earthly fathers isn’t always possible: people die, or are compromised and unable, or unwilling, to respond. However, when dealing with the ultimate Father, our Father God, reconciliation is not only possible, it’s essential. As the Apostle Paul tells us, the nature of our salvation is one that reconciles and redeems. Our relationship as a child of God is established through faith, a faith that recognizes and embraces what Jesus did for us on the cross, and this allows us to enter into a relationship with the Father. But our call is not to just keep Him satisfied; our goal is to know Him and to walk with Him, allowing Him to shape us and enhance us in His light.

The cross is just the means of reconciliation. The horrendous price of that reconciliation is represented on the cross, but that’s not what Easter is about. The very name “Easter” is probably a term derived from ancient Pagan worship. Rather than calling it Easter, the term “Resurrection Day” would be more applicable to apply to this day in which we celebrate the appearance of our risen Lord. But what should really be advanced and celebrated is what the Resurrection of the Christ did for us. Our faith in Jesus and His sacrifice enables us to enter into a vital relationship that has the potential to redefine us. Believers are children of God who have the opportunity to function in life in close relationship with our Father. The cross isn’t just a sign that we fixate on in order to appease the power of sin that routinely prevails in our lives. The cross represents the means whereby we can know God and walk with Him, increasingly reflecting His virtue in all that we’re about.

Now that’s worth celebrating. As we’re trying to find our way in the midst of a “crooked and perverse generation,” we’re presented with the light of salvation, a salvation that is not simply a “get out of jail free” card that allows us into heaven at our death. It’s a salvation from our own perverse humanity that plagues us and encumbers us in our effort to do life. It’s a new life that emerges in our vital relationship with the Father, the doorway to the light of life. The promise of new life was marveled at in Bethlehem, but the realization of new life is found at the Resurrection. And the cross was the means whereby that new life was established. It certainly is a day to celebrate!

Halleluiah!