With today being Easter Sunday it would be good to know why we celebrate as we do.
Many people will get up early on Easter Sunday and go to church. Some might even attend a sunrise service. Many families will gather together in the afternoon and enjoy a seasonal time of spring fellowship.
What is it that makes this day so important?
To get to the simple answer of it being the day of our Lord’s resurrection, we must grasp the meaning of what it’s all about.
According to Scripture there is no forgiveness of sin without the shedding of blood.
The only blood that God will accept for the forgiveness of sin is the blood of a spotless Lamb.
John the Baptist announced Jesus as the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.
The Jews of his day understood the meaning of this phrase. See, salvation comes from the Jews. What God started before the foundation of the world, then displayed in the Garden of Eden for Adam and Eve, then required with Noah after the flood, continued with Abraham, the father of faith, and was remembered for all time with the Passover of Moses’ day, where the Israelites were saved by the blood of the lamb, was completed at the cross when Jesus died.
In this 4000 year progression of events, leading up to Jesus day, God declared that sin must be punished. Something must die for your sin. The life blood of the animal must be poured out to atone for or cover humankind’s sin.
This requirement of God still holds true in our world today. Something or someone must die for your sin. The blood of this sacrifice must be presented to God and accepted by God for you, the sinner, to know that your sin, guilt and shame have been cleared from your record before a Holy God.
Since Jesus was proclaimed to be the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, there is no way to come back to the Father God in right standing without going through Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, the Sacrifice for our sin.
Many churches will celebrate Easter with Communion, the Lord’s Supper or the Eucharist. This we do in remembrance of Jesus’ work on the cross for us. The body was broken for our sin nature. The blood was poured out to cover our sin actions. See, someone must die for us and His blood must cover our sin before God. Without this shedding of blood there is no forgiveness available to us. We cannot get right with our Father God without that which Jesus has done for us. No other way satisfies God and to not satisfy God’s requirement leaves a person separated from Him for all eternity.
So, with all this being said, why is the resurrection so important?
In the days of old, the high priest would make his yearly sacrifice for the people’s sin. He would enter the Temple’s most holy place with the blood of an animal and go through a ritual placing this blood on the Ark of the Covenant. If the blood was not acceptable to God, the priest died behind the curtain that separated the people from God’s Holy Presence. But, when the priest came out from behind the curtain alive, the worshippers knew that the sacrifice was accepted and they were forgiven of their sin for the past year.
According to Scripture, Jesus was our High Priest. He went into the Temple of God in heaven and presented His own blood on the mercy seat for us. We know that this offering was accepted by God because our High Priest, Jesus, came out from behind the curtain of death that separates us from God’s Holy Presence ALIVE!
The Apostle Paul stated that without the resurrection we have no hope. The resurrection is our proof that our sins are forgiven through Jesus’ sacrificial work on the cross. And this work was not just for a year at a time but for all time.
So, we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus because, in His appearing ALIVE, we know our death penalty has been paid and our sins have been covered for all time and now we can boldly come into the presence of our Father God because of the blood of Jesus.
That’s why the resurrection is so important! And this is the reason we celebrate as we do!

Thomas R. Swain is the pastor of the First Church of God in Great Bend. He can be reached at revenator@live.com.