Easter observes and celebrates the most profound events in the history of mankind, the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
That’s according to the Revs. Jesus Gomez and Tim King, who say Easter Sunday is such a powerful day that it brings a lot of people to church who only go then and on Christmas.
“Jesus died for our sins and focusing on his resurrection encourages us to live a life honoring his life,” said the Rev. Gomez, pastor of New Hope Church. “The Apostle Paul said in First Corinthians 11:1, ‘Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ,’ so the resurrection is the message of hope for eternal life.”
Gomez also cited John 11:25, where Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even though he dies and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.”
He said the usual emphasis on Easter is Jesus’ crucifixion, but a high value should also be given to the resurrection.
“I was raised in a Hispanic church, so our Easter Sunday was traditionally attending church at 5 in the morning in representation of the women who went to where Jesus was buried, celebrating that he was resurrected from the dead,” Gomez said. “Celebrating this gives it more importance in the sense of the expectancy of Christ and what he is gong to do nowadays.
“We have the Bible as our guide and it has been proved to be true, which should encourage us to expect God to do the unimaginable. At the time the disciples were taken aback by the empty tomb because they didn’t understand what Jesus had meant about coming back in three days after he was crucified.”
On every day, not just on Easter, Gomez said, Christians should expect God to do amazing things.
“I have gotten away from the phrase, ‘I’m lucky,’ because God orders the steps of the righteous and makes a way for us to see him operating on our behalf and for our benefit,” he said.
The Rev. King, pastor of Tabernacle Baptist Church in Crane, said Easter is indeed a very important day, but it often does not have the right kind of importance.
“I think the general public looks more to the Easter Bunny than the resurrection,” King said. “Easter for them is more a traditional family time.
“The resurrection is one of the foundation stones of Christianity. The Apostle Paul says in First Corinthians 15:14, ‘If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.’
“When Christ rose again, he assured our salvation. The resurrection assures what Calvary secures.”
King said there has been a debate from the beginning about whether God really brought Jesus back to life.
“You can look at it like evidence presented in a courtroom,” he said. “First there is the empty tomb, then there are the more than 500 people who saw him after he was raised. Third is the changed lives. As soon as Jesus rose from the dead, the disciples didn’t hide anymore. They had an amazing desire to go out and preach and there were 100,000 believers in the first seven years.
“The disciples and apostles went from hiding to great boldness and many of them gave their lives for the Gospel. Nobody would die for a lie.”
