easter and april collide :: tag us in your easter photos

ˈēstər/

noun

The most important and oldest festival of the Christian Church, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ and held (in the Western Church) between March 21 and April 25, on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the northern spring equinox. The period in which Easter occurs, especially the weekend from Good Friday to Easter Monday.

We all get our obligatory Easter photos in our bright spring colored new clothes. This however, is my favorite Easter picture taken a few years ago. Holidays are tough on young kids, but don’t lose your sense of humor. Naps will resume as scheduled tomorrow. Please tag us #thesimplemoms or @theSIMPLEmoms in your Easter photos. We would love to see the beautiful families that read our blog.

I hope you have a quiet moment to really focus on the meaning the day holds. Don’t get too distracted by chocolate bunnies and April Fool’s jokes. I read THIS article (quoted below) about the holy week and the day by day breakdown is a great guide to understanding Easter. Christ died and took on the grief and sorrow that all the sins of the world held. He died in our place to pay the penalty for our wrong-doings. But dying wasn’t enough. He had to conquer death and the grave to make that death significant. Which is why Easter (the day he arose) is such a celebrated day for Christians.

Resurrection Sunday

(For a full account of the events of this day, see Matthew 28:1–20, Mark 16:1–8, Luke 24:1–53, John 20:1–21:25)

Early Sunday morning, some of Jesus’s friends set out for his grave to anoint the body of their friend and teacher. When they arrive, however, they are greeted by what one Gospel writer calls “a man dressed in lightning.” He tells them Jesus is not there, as he said. He is risen.

In the week leading up to his death, the Good Shepherd went out to meet the wolves of judgment, sin, and death—and he did so with all authority. One might wonder, what good has it ever done anyone to die for some cause? This is the glorious beauty of the gospel. Jesus didn’t die as a martyr for a cause. He was never in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was never at the mercy of anyone. He lived, died, and was buried because he meant to be.

No one took his life from him. He laid it down. For whom? For his flock, his people.

And he laid it down only to take it up again (John 10:18). The point of the cross was not just to die, but to die and rise again, defeating the prowling wolves of sin and death themselves.

Easter says of Jesus, “He meant it! He meant to lay down his life for you. And as surely as he has taken it up again, he knows you and loves you.”