The Best Day of the Year

Easter Sunday is the best day of the year!  It has always been my favorite holiday, far and away better than Christmas (with regard to which I am a bit of a "Scrooge").  And of course, it tops Good Friday, when we revisit the horrifying spectacle of Christ's suffering and death.

Obviously each of these Christian holidays is connected to the others in an inseparable fashion.  On Christmas we celebrate the incarnation, the Word of God becoming flesh in the birth of our Savior Jesus.  If Christ had not entered into our world as a real human being he would not have been able to take our place on the cross.  And if Christ had not been willing to suffer and die for our sins, we could not be forgiven.  But Easter trumps both Christmas and Good Friday.  Why?  Because Easter is the proof positive that our sins have been forgiven. Easter is the proof positive that Jesus did not deserve to die.

You see, Jesus was able to pay our debt of sin for us only because He lived the perfect life that God demands.  Scripture tells us that the wages of sin is death.  We die because we deserve to.  By living our lives in sinful rebellion against the God who gave us life we forfeit that gift of life.  We die, not just physically but eternally, because sin separates us from a holy God.

When Jesus died He took that penalty for us.  He paid the debt we owe.  However, had Jesus remained in the grave, it would be clear that He deserved to die.  He would have been like any other sinful human being.  It is only because Jesus rose from the dead that we know His sacrifice was acceptable.  It is only because He rose from the dead that we know He was without sin.  And it is only because of His resurrection that we can have confidence that we who trust in Him shall also rise from the dead.

Thus, the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the most important fact of all of history.  Nothing could be more important. Paul put it this way in 1 Corinthians15: "What I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,  that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures."  Yes, Paul includes the crucifixion in these matters of first importance, but without the resurrection the crucifixion means nothing.  If Christ had only died and had not risen from the dead we wouldn't even know he existed.  And we would certainly be without hope.  "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins." (1 Corinthians 15:17)

That's why Easter is the best day of the year.  It is the assurance that our sins are forgiven.  It is the assurance that even though we die we will surely rise again, just as Jesus promised.  "Because I live, you also will live." (John 14:19)  So, rejoice and celebrate BIG TIME on Easter.  It's the BEST day of the year!