For the Christian, Easter is the defining event of our faith and life. For without the resurrection of Jesus, said the Apostle Paul, our preaching is useless, our faith is futile, we are lying about God, we have no forgiveness of sin, the dead are lost, and since our only hope is in what we can get out of life, we are to be pitied because we have no hope (see 1 Corinthians 15:12-19). However, Jesus did rise on the third day so we do have hope in eternal life, forgiveness of sin, confidence in God, and a message to share with the world.
Easter defines who we are! But before there could be a resurrection there had to be a crucifixion. As much as we rejoice in the good news of Easter, the Christian must never forget or minimize the cruelty of the cross. That’s why Paul also said in that same Corinthian letter that in his ministry and preaching he “resolved to know nothing… except Jesus Christ and Him crucified” (2:2). The cross without resurrection is just another story of human suffering; Easter without the crucifixion is just a feel good tale with no impact for our lives. But the suffering of Jesus, followed by victory over the grave, offers to set us free if we will believe.
That’s why we focus on the cross. That’s why the symbol of our faith is the instrument of torture upon which our Lord died. That’s why Paul called the cross “the power of God” to save us (see 1 Corinthians 1:18-24). This is the text that we will use for our theme during the entire Easter season, starting the last Sunday of March through the Sunday after Easter, as we look at the three different human responses to the cross. First, like the first century Jews, people today who seek salvation through religious practice, through ritual intended to gain God’s favor, see the cross as a stumbling block because it gets in the way of their earning their way into Heaven. Contrasting to that view, but equally disdainful of the cross, are those like the Greeks of Paul’s day who believe human wisdom and the rejection of religion will bring fulfillment and enlightenment. They scoff at the foolishness of such a sacrifice, and sneer at any who would put their hope in such a wasted human life. But there in the middle, says Paul, stand those who believe, who know they cannot save themselves through religion, but who also know that there is a spiritual truth that cannot be discovered through human intellect. To those who are being saved the cross truly is The Power of God! And being in the middle, we reach out to our world with a message of hope in the cross.
That is why Jesus told us three times in the Gospel of John that He would be lifted up in order to save. In John 3:14-15 He said He would be lifted up as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness to save those who were perishing (read Numbers 21:4-9 for that story), so that all who believed in Him would have eternal life! In John 8:28 Jesus proclaimed that when the Son of Man was “lifted up” then all would know that He is who He claimed to be, the Savior of all. (Read Isaiah 52:13 – 53:12 to see the connection between the Lord’s Servant being “highly exalted” in order to bear the sins of the people.) And finally, in John 12:32 Christ declared that in being lifted up (on the cross) He would draw all people to Himself. John reminds us that this indicated the type of death Jesus would endure, such as that described 1000 years earlier by David in Psalm 22.
So this Easter season we will focus on the Power of the Cross. On Easter Sunday we will be presenting the drama If I be Lifted Up as a proclamation of what Jesus did for us, and as a statement of how God provides forgiveness for sin and the power of resurrection for new life. We ask you to do three things: be in prayer for those who need to hear/see this message, invite your family and friends to join you on Easter Sunday, and live in the power of the cross, for it alone is a demonstration of the Spirit’s power and the basis for our faith in God (1 Corinthians 2:4-5).
