April 26, 2024
A man driving along a highway suddenly sees the Easter Bunny jump out of the bushes and dart across the middle of the road. He swerves to avoid hitting him, but the rabbit jumps right in front of the car. Bam!
The driver pulls over and gets out to check on the rabbit. To his dismay, the rabbit is dead. The driver feels so awful he begins to cry.
A woman driving by sees a man crying on the side of the road and pulls over. She steps out of the car and asks the man what's wrong.
“I feel terrible,” he explains, “I accidentally hit the Easter Bunny and killed him. He hopped right in front of me.”
The woman says, “Don't worry.” She runs to her car and pulls out a spray can. She walks over to the limp, dead animal, bends down, and sprays all over the rabbit. The bunny jumps up, waves its paw at the two of them, and hops off down the road.
Ten feet away the rabbit stops, turns around, and waves again; he hops down the road further, turns, and waves; hops another ten feet, turns and waves; and then repeats this again until he hops out of sight.
The man is astonished. He runs over to the woman and demands, “What is in that can? What did you spray on that rabbit?”
The woman turns the can around so that the man can read the label.
“Hare spray — adds permanent wave.”
Aren’t you glad Easter is not about bunnies and baskets, eggs and candy? Easter is an affirmation of life, a morning that proclaims there is life after death. Death is inevitable, yet eternal life is available because of Friday’s cross and Sunday’s resurrection.
Easter means God gives the free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ to all who will receive Him.
Easter affirms there is not only life after death, but life after birth. Jesus came to give fulfillment, abundance, and purpose to life. There is more to life than 12-hour workdays, mortgage payments, piling on debt, and chasing the “American Dream.” We can experience a quality of life only Jesus provides.
Easter is more than a new dress, more than family gatherings and egg hunts. Easter celebrates the conquering of death, the certainty of forgiveness, and the reason to face tomorrow. Easter is the ultimate reason for hope.
When the women approached the tomb of Jesus that first Easter morning, they came prepared to anoint a three-day-old corpse. What these early risers found was not a corpse but an empty tomb and good news that transformed their despair into a sunrise of joy.
Easter is special because Jesus is alive. The grave is empty! Jesus arose! In Maxwell Anderson’s play, “Winterset,” a character states, “I came here seeking light in darkness, running from the dawn, and I stumbled on a morning.”
The women stumbled onto a morning that has become the biggest day of the year. As we think about Easter, we remember the agony and necessity of Friday’s crucifixion. But the climax of Easter is Sunday’s resurrection. Because the tomb is empty, we celebrate and affirm the gift of life.
An artist once painted a picture of a solitary man, rowing his small boat across a stormy lake. It was midnight, and the churning waves beat against the tiny craft, determined to destroy it. But in his scene of what looked like a midnight tragedy, the artist painted a lone star shining in the turbulent blackness. The oarsman had his eye upon the star as he labored against the angry waves.
Beneath the picture, the artist inscribed these words: “If I lose sight of that, I’m lost.”
The risen Savior shines brightly through our darkness. If we lose sight of Him, we lose focus and direction. Do we take the story of Easter for granted? Do we see Easter Sunday as just a big day at church? Will resurrection Sunday have fresh significance in your life this year? Do we proclaim with joy the truth, “Christ the Lord is Risen today?”
The greatest news in the world was heralded in a graveyard: “He is not here, He is risen!” These are words that changed the world. These are words that can change your life.
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David L. Chancey is pastor, McDonough Road Baptist Church, Fayetteville, GA. For more information and online viewing options, visit www.mcdonoughroad.org. To see more of Chancey’s writings, including how to order his new book, visit www.davidchancey.com.
