It’s Easter Sunday, and for the first time in my lifetime I am not allowed to attend an Easter service in my local church. Feels weird, doesn’t it? But in this era of social-distancing and self-quarantine and faced with a life-taking pandemic, I totally understand the need for churches not to gather. But, I have to wonder…
What if God had issued a stay-at-home order and Jesus had never come?
I think that as a Christian I sometimes take it for granted, the reason for the whole Easter season. I mean, what if God looked down from heaven and told Jesus, “Nope. No way. Not gonna happen. Jesus, sorry about mucking up the plan, but there’s no way I’m going to let you go down to that sin-plagued planet and give your life.”
So, think about it, what if Jesus had just stayed home?
There would be no angels singing to the shepherds, no virgin birth, no little boy teaching in the temple. Water wouldn’t have been turned into wine, no one called to be disciples, no lepers healed or blind made to see. The lame wouldn’t walk, the woman at the well would still be thirsty, and the Gospel would never have been written.
There would be no cross, no plan of redemption, no chance to find new life or forgiveness of sin. There would be no grave to rise from, and no hope that there is anything other than this current world to live in.
What a desolate world it would be!
I have to ask myself…have my traditions taken the place of the cross? Do I truly appreciate the sacrifice God made when He sent His Son, to die, for a sinner like me? Is Easter more than just potlucks and egg hunts, or is my celebration just another meeting in a building?
The good news is that Jesus did come. He saw the pandemic in our lives called sin, and willingly took off His gloves and His glory, to touch the hurting and the hopeless. He became the mask that protects us from death, and the cure that leads to eternal life with Him.
This Easter, my friends, take a moment. Like me, ask yourself, what would your life be like if God had issued a stay-at-home order, and Jesus had never come?
“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?'” John 11:25-26