“To this end was I born.” (John 18:37)
I always love this time of year. The temperature outside sheds its bitter chill and little by little promises of life begin to sprout on the trees and from the ground.
I also love this time of year because of the hope it signifies for all of us. Easter marks Jesus’ death and resurrection and the promise of eternal life for all of us.
Last week we spoke of Palm Sunday and Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem. We talked of the juxtaposition between how Jesus entered the holy city to cheers to only leave it surrounded by scorn.
When Jesus stands in front of Pilate, this scorn is only amplified as the King of Kings is judged by an earthly leader who scoffs at Jesus and asks, “You? The King of the Jews?” Pilate suffers the same problem most of us suffer.
We want God to be what WE expect him to be. A warrior for OUR cause, a genie granting OUR wishes, a savior for THIS Earth. Unfortunately for us and Pilate, OUR expectations will never be wholly met, but at the same time they are absolutely surpassed!
Jesus came to bear witness to the truth (John 18:37). He came into the world to save sinners with radical forgiveness (1 Timothy 1:15). He came that we might have life, and have it more abundantly (John 10:10).
Anything and everything we could hope for pales in comparison to what Jesus actually gives–the gift that keeps on giving for eternity! It’s the gift that finally ends the pain, mourning, senility, insanity, terminal diseases, sudden calamities, and fatal accidents of this Earth. What more could we need or want?
As Spring awakens the trees, Easter awakens hope in all of us that this life with all its imperfections and pain is simply a prelude to better, fuller, more remarkable days. Now that is an expectation worth having!
Happy Easter! He is Risen Indeed.
