Lest We Forget
“He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” – Isaiah 53:3-5
It is very easy for us to forget and become too familiar with something to where it begins to loose its’ value or significance. Most of us are very conversant with the stories of Christmas and Easter that after a while, we can narrate the events and celebrate them without weighing their worth. The story and meaning of Easter should be a constant emphasis and focus of those who have experienced Salvation and have been ransomed from the sentence of death that was hanging on everyone apart from Christ.
Today, we celebrate Easter with bunnies, eggs, Church services, and Easter plays and then we carefully tuck them all away to be revisited again next year. This is very sad. The death of Jesus was an event that was carefully planned and decided in the courts of Heaven from time immemorial – the Lamb of God that was slain from the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8). The plan was conceived in God’s heart and executed by the Son with the enablement of the Holy Spirit. It should not be so lightly and fleetingly observed. Just as the Israelites were in bondage in Egypt for 430 years until the Passover when the lamb was slain and their freedom procured, “even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” (Galatians 4:3-5.)
The death of Jesus was the supreme sacrifice that brought an unusual seperation between Him and the Father. He bore the pain, shame, injustice, rejection and disgrace of the Cross. He paid a debt he did not owe. He endured the cross, despising the shame (Heb 12:2.) He suffered afflictions, reproaches, cruel mockings and scourging; he was disposed and rejected, “a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief!” We should not be too hasty to “pack up” and put away our Easter observance or remembrance.
There is no sense in celebrating Easter every year without remembering what truly happened during this season. The provision of Christ still available to everyone and they should all have the rights to hear about it! Jesus died for our sins, dealt Satan a public and eternal defeat and the efficacy of that blood will never expire. He entered the everlasting Covenant with the Father as the First Fruit from the dead, so that we can have life.
As he rose from the dead, so may the breath of God resurrect everything by the wind of His Spirit, to bring all things together in perfect alignment and bring the Kingdom of God into manifestation in the world today. Let us not be too quick to forget. Let us keep it fresh in our minds all year through; tell it and re-tell it to our children and to all the world. In the words of the Hymn writer;
Tell me the stories of Jesus I love to hear;
Things I would ask Him to tell me if He were here……
Show me that scene in the garden, of bitter pain;
Show me the cross where my Savior for me was slain
Show me the cross where my Savior for me was slain
Your Servant,
Michael Obi