My Thoughts on Easter

The word "Easter" appears only once in the KJV Bible. It appears in Acts 12:4. (Herod was going to put Peter in prison, then bring him forth to the people after Easter.) The original Greek of this word "Easter" in this particular verse is "pascha," which means "Passover."

Let us recap the Passover story.

The Lord wanted Pharaoh to let His people, the Hebrews, go that they may serve Him. In God's mysterious way of working, He appointed Moses to subtly bring deliverance to His people. He had his mother provide a vessel for him to navigate safely through the Nile. (Pharaoh previously ordered all Hebrew baby boys to be thrown into the Nile.) The Pharaoh's daughter found him and had compassion on him, presuming it was a Hebrew child. She called the baby's mother to nurse him, but after he grew, he became Pharaoh's daughter's son. Moses was raised in Egyptian royalty while yet possessing Hebrew blood. It can be safely assumed that Moses became highly familiar with the culture of the Egyptians. Since he also knew who his people truly were, the Hebrews, he was in essence a mediator between the two. It seems to be a common thread in the Bible for the lesser to prosper, but in order for the lesser to prosper, a mediator or ambassador had to come into play. An ambassador's role is to form a metaphorical bridge between the nation he is from to the nation he is in.

One day, Moses came across an Egyptian smiting a Hebrew. After checking to see if anyone was looking or not, he proceeded to slay the Egyptian and buried him in the sand, thinking that no one saw him do that. Later on, he came across two Hebrew men who were fighting. He broke them up, saying to the one who started it, "Why did you strike him?" (I'm going to use modern-day terminology.) The man replied, "Who are you? You're not the boss of me! Are you going to kill me like you did that Egyptian?" Moses suddenly was struck with fear. "Someone knows I did this!"

The news of the murder got to Pharaoh, so Moses hightailed it out of there, so to speak. He traveled a few hundred miles east to the land of Midian and began a new life. He got married and had a son. He lived there until Pharaoh died. God then spoke to Moses through a burning bush telling him to go back to Egypt because all that sought to take his life are dead.

Moses was to tell the new Pharaoh that God wanted freedom for His people; for His children did cry out in pain of bondage after the first Pharaoh died. But the new Pharaoh's heart was hardened. It took him a while to finally let God's people go. It was at God's final plague that Pharaoh was compelled to let them go. The death angel was to pass throughout the land to kill all the firstborn. (Consider Exodus 4:22 which says that Israel is God's firstborn.) The only way to escape the curse was to take a perfect lamb, smear its blood on the doorpost of the home, and to partake of its meat at supper. In other words, the Hebrews which did this thing were saved from death by the blood of the lamb.

Many eras later, Jesus came to be the Perfect Lamb to save His people from death. The only way to avoid death, as sin sweeps across the earth today, is to apply the blood of Jesus to our lives and to partake of Him. Also consider the Last Supper when Jesus broke bread and said, "Eat; this is my body," and then lifted a glass of wine and said, "Drink; this is my blood." Jesus was that Passover Lamb of Redemption! When He sees His blood upon us, He shall pass over us and welcome us into life eternal. The "Easter" in which we must partake is an echo of the Passover that took place in Exodus. His blood is available for all nations, tongues, and generations. The shedding of Jesus' blood on the cross is for us today! Yet He has risen that we may partake of life eternal!

This is what "Easter" is to me - the Passover Lamb sacrificed on Calvary as an atonement for sin, then risen into glory.

What a blessed Savior.