The 7 Whys of EasterSample

Why Do We Celebrate Easter?

Easter celebrations typically depict white bunnies and colorful eggs. In the northern hemisphere, Easter arrives with spring. Warmth returns, and flowers bloom. It’s a time of renewal and anticipation of spending time outdoors. Because of this, some celebrate Easter as a secular holiday. In this devotional, we want to return to the holiday’s roots in the Bible and what it truly means to celebrate Easter.

The biblical images and events of Easter are clear and powerful:

• Jesus riding a donkey into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday,
• driving the moneychangers from the temple,
• debating the authorities,
• eating the Last Supper,
• praying while he sweated drops of blood in Gethsemane,
• hanging from a cross,
• and rising from the grave.

Those images changed our world.

As Christians, at Easter, we celebrate Jesus resurrecting from death to life on the third day. The Apostle Paul writes that Christianity entirely depends on Christ being raised. He says, “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 5:17). So these questions are of the utmost importance.

We know the who, what, and where of Easter, but many don’t always know the whys, and we don’t know the whys of Jesus’ life. Why did Jesus have to be born to die? Why couldn’t he simply have appeared as a thirty-three-year-old man to die for us? Why did he have to die? Why couldn’t God simply have forgiven us? Why on a cross? And, of course, why did he have to rise from the dead?

These questions are relevant and merit explanation. Their answers are life-transforming. We will discover that the answers offer us hope and help we can find nowhere else on earth.

For today’s devotional, reflect on why you became a Christian and what your relationship with Christ means to you.

Do you feel connected to the hope of Easter?

What do you want to accomplish with this devotional?

Pray that God would open your heart to hear from him this week.