We didn’t get a chance to post a “Happy Easter” message or anything. Honestly, we’re not the biggest fans of the hoopla that accompanies the majority of Easter: eggs and bunnies and lots and lots of candy. While we do enjoy the traditional stealing of our kids candy like any red-blooded Americans, we hate to see the most important event celebrated as another day for presents and candy.
Instead, we try to do the “kid stuff” the day before, having fun with easter egg hunts and seeing what the easter bunny brought. Sunday is the day we reverence and speak with our children about this most important event.
I had the opportunity to travel to Israel a couple of years ago and visited a lot of the traditional sites for: the area where John the Baptist taught in the wilderness and where Jesus was likely baptized, the mount from the sermon on the mount, the many gates and stations around Jerusalem referenced in the New Testament, the site of the Last Supper and even the Garden of Gethsemane. However, one hotly contested site is where exactly Jesus was crucified, entombed and ultimately, where he rose from the grave, was particularly compelling since I felt a need to know where exactly this most important event actually took place.
I visited two of the most popular sites and while both had compelling evidence of their authenticity, I found a great sense of peace — coincidentally while visiting the Garden Tomb — after I realized that it really didn’t matter where he rose. What was so exciting to me about the Garden Tomb was that I saw the miracle that Mary Magdalene saw that first Easter morning: an empty tomb.
That’s the real miracle of Easter. Jesus lives and we, too will live again because of what he did for us. It’s so easy to get caught up in the rest of the world’s view of Easter but this talk (watch the video) helps remind us of what Easter is really supposed to be celebrating.