27 Mar Three Pictures of Easter
THREE PICTURES THAT REVEAL THE DEEPER MEANING OF EASTER
“The promise of resurrection is seen in every new leaf of spring.” – Martin Luther.
When we see the earth die in winter and come back to life again in spring, it helps us believe that one day we will die and come back to life again in our own resurrection.
God gives us physical pictures like this to help us understand spiritual truth. As we enter Holy Week, the most sacred week of the year for Christians, we can look at three pictures God has given us to understand more fully the meaning of Easter.
Picture #1: A Passover Lamb (John 1:29)
Three thousand years ago, the children of Israel were languishing in slavery in Egypt, crying out to God for deliverance. God sent them a deliverer, Moses, to lead them to freedom. The event that launched their freedom was the first Passover.
On the night of the first Passover, according to God’s instructions given through Moses, the Israelites were to sacrifice a lamb and brush some of its blood on the top and sides of their doorposts. That night when the Angel of Death passed through the land of Egypt, he “passed over” those houses without taking the life of the firstborn.
The Egyptians did not place blood of a lamb on their doorposts, and the firstborn of every Egyptian household died. As a result, Pharaoh freed Israel from slavery and permitted their exodus from Egypt.
The Israelites were instructed to observe a Passover ceremony every year from then on to commemorate this all-important event.
Many years later in the time of Jesus, the Passover lamb was chosen by the high priest outside of Jerusalem on the 10th of Nisan. The priest would then lead this lamb into the city while crowds of worshipers lined the streets waving palm branches and singing Psalm 118, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.”
Jesus, whom John the Baptist called “The Lamb of God,” entered Jerusalem this same day on a donkey (Triumphal Entry) at the same time that the high priest led the Passover lamb into the city of Jerusalem, subtly identifying Himself as the Passover lamb.
Later, on the day of the Passover, the priest would blow a ram’s horn at 3:00 p.m. – the moment the lamb was sacrificed – and all the people would pause to contemplate the sacrifice for sins on their behalf.
It is no coincidence that on Good Friday, at 3:00 p.m., Jesus was being crucified. The sacrifice of the divine Lamb of God was fulfilled at the very hour that the symbolic animal sacrifice took place at the temple.
As the blood of the Passover lambs delivered the Israelites from physical slavery in Egypt, so the blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God, can deliver us from slavery to sin.
The Passover lamb was a picture of Christ’s death which provides forgiveness for our sin.
Picture #2: A Torn Veil (Matthew 27:51)
In 1840, Queen Victoria, of England, married Prince Albert. Shortly after the wedding, they quarreled. Albert stormed out of the room and locked himself in his private apartment. Victoria hammered furiously on the door, and from the other side of the door came, “Who’s there?” “The Queen of England, and she demands to be admitted.” There was no response, and the door remained locked. Victoria hammered at the door again. “Who’s there?” The reply was still, “The Queen of England.” No response. More fruitless and furious knocking was followed by a pause. Then there was a gentle tap. “Who’s there?” Victoria replied, “Your wife, Albert.” Immediately the prince opened the door.
A closed door means separation… a breach in relationship. Well if we think Victoria and Albert were separated, think about God and Man. The Temple revealed – in its dramatic architecture – the separation of Man from God. It was a rectangular building that you entered from the narrow end, like a big, long church. It had two rooms, a larger outer room and a smaller inner room up front.
Between the outer room and the inner room (where the Arc of the Covenant, representing the presence of God, was kept) was a large curtain, or veil, 45 feet high, 30 feet wide and several inches thick.
The veil made an inescapable point: God and Man are separated. God is on one side of the veil, humanity on the other.
The point: God is holy – man is sinful. Man’s sin separates him from God.
But on the day of the crucifixion, something astonishing happened. Matthew 27:51 reports that when Jesus, the Lamb of God, cried out in a loud voice from the cross and gave up His spirit, the veil in the temple was miraculously torn in two, from top to bottom.
The meaning of the second picture is that, because of the death of Christ, the wall of sin separating us from God is removed, and we have direct access to God.
Picture #3: An Empty Tomb (Matthew 28:6)
After the crucifixion, Jesus’ body was placed in the borrowed tomb of a friend. On the third day, His disciples went to the tomb and found it empty. No one has a good answer for the empty tomb besides the resurrection.
Some say the disciples stole the body. Impossible! A Roman guard was posted at the grave, specifically to prevent anyone from stealing the body.
Some say His enemies stole the body or bribed the soldiers for the body. Unthinkable! They wanted to prevent anyone from saying He was resurrected. When the word started to spread that Jesus had risen from the dead, they would have simply produced the body, silencing everyone.
Some say they went to the wrong tomb. Inconceivable! If they went to a wrong tomb that was empty, they would have simply found the right tomb with the body in it, silencing rumors of resurrection.
There’s no good explanation for what happened to the body. If you apply to the resurrection the tests of historical accuracy that we use to test the validity of all other historical events – and you do so without assuming the resurrection is impossible, you come away saying, “The resurrection is the best explanation for the empty tomb.” The only way you avoid saying that is if you don’t want to believe that it happened.
Conclusion
Picture #1: The Passover Lamb: a picture of Christ’s death which provides forgiveness for our sin.
Picture #2: The Torn Veil: a picture of the fact that the wall of sin separating us from God is removed, and we have direct access to God
Picture #3: The Empty Tomb: a picture of the fact that Christ was raised from the dead, and through our faith in Him, we can be raised from the dead.
Beethoven’s great work is his Ninth Symphony. Shakespeare’s great work is Macbeth. Michelangelo’s great work is the Sistine Chapel. God’s great work was Easter Sunday morning, when the God-Man who had been dead for three days was resurrected to new life
It was God’s great work achieved. Everything rests on it. Everything. If the resurrection is not true, everything we believe and everything we hope for is a grand delusion or cruel hoax. Since all reliable historical evidence indicates that it is true, then everything we believe and everything we hope for can be counted on.
For further reading and a free resource to deepen your times of worship during this Holy Week, you might enjoy this blog post: Do You Have A Magnum Adoratio?
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