What’s Peter Cottontail got to do with it?

“Passion Week” started last Sunday, that’s when we remember Jesus riding into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the most precious time on the Christian calendar. Christmas is wonderful, and we enjoy celebrating His birth, but the birth would not be celebrated if He had not chosen to suffer the humiliation and the pain he suffered on the cross so that the days of offering sacrifices were over and done with, He was the supreme sacrifice for us all.

It seems that every year there have been a lot of “Bible” movies. Last year on one “uplifting” channel the line-up was the Story of Ruth, Solomon and The Book of Esther. While these movies were being shown, and I am by no means criticizing them they need to make money, but the commercials were from places like Party City, Target, Wal-Mart, etc. and each was saying “Get more Easter here“, “Your Easter Party starts here”,you get my drift.

Christmas time is a whole different feeling, everyone celebrates a birth and we have birthday parties and a birth represents new life.  We know that Jesus came into the world by leaving Heaven where He was a King to being a babe in a manger born to inexperienced young people with one purpose in mind and that is what we honor at “Easter” time or as I prefer to refer to it, “Resurrection” Sunday! I view Easter as a more solemn time and somehow bunnies, baby chicks and candy kind of seem a trite way to honor a death OR a resurrection.

I always loved the grand drama productions or musical presentations we did at the church, and you knew that on Sunday you would sing “The Old Rugged Cross”, “Up From the Grave He Arose” and of course “HE LIVES!”  If you were blessed enough to have two singers that could sing the Sandi Patti, Larnel Harris version of “I’ve Just Seen Jesus” your spirit would soar as you imagined the empty tomb and the resurrected Jesus Christ!

Jesus is a personal friend of mine and while most of the time He has to have His arm around my shoulder so that He can put His hand over my mouth I think He loves me best! I am not trying to change the way you think or celebrate, I am offering you my opinion and as you may have heard, opinions are like navels, everybody has one!

Enjoy and take advantage of the reason we celebrate Easter/Resurrection Day!