Preparing for Easter!

As some of you might imagine, much of my time has recently been spent preparing for the church’s Easter season services. As a pastor, my mind is on Palm Sunday, Good Friday, and especially Resurrection Sunday for weeks on end.  After all, Easter is one of the biggest and most important Sundays of the year for the church. Thus again, much of my time for the last six to eight weeks has been spent preparing for Easter.

For those who come from a liturgical church background, the whole season of Lent is meant to be a time of preparation; a time to help Christians prepare for the celebration of Easter.  Through personal sacrifice, times of reflection, prayer, and special services, Christians from variety of churches have been preparing themselves for Easter by trying to catch a better glimpse of the sufferings of Jesus, repenting of sin, and focusing more intently on their relationship with God.  

Of course, our preparations include not only our religious activities but as well activities that are a bit more cultural: decorating eggs, putting together Easter baskets for the children, and dressing up our homes with spring-like items. We will plan Easter dinners and possibly buy a new set of clothing. Even non-religious people will often prepare for Easter Sunday—and maybe even consider attending a church service somewhere!

Well, preparing for Easter Sunday (I prefer to say, “Resurrection Sunday”) is really nothing new.  In fact, Jesus spent much time before his death and resurrection preparing his followers for that day.  Jesus said to his disciples, “But after I have risen I will go ahead of you to Galilee.” (Matthew 26:32).  When Jesus was buried, the religious leaders said to Pilate, “We remember that while he was still alive (Jesus) said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’” (Matthew 27:63)  And, to the women who came to the tomb on Easter morning, the angel said, “He is not here. He is risen, just as he said.” (Matthew 28:6 – emphasis mine) All along the way, Jesus had been preparing the people for his resurrection. Jesus had been preparing them for Easter!

We now have about one more week before Resurrection Sunday. I want to encourage you to take a bit of extra time this week to prepare yourself for that great day of celebration.  Spend some extra time in Bible reading and prayer. Make sure you attend services for Palm Sunday and Good Friday—maybe any other special services your church may host. And through it all, ask God to fill you with a renewed sense of the risen Christ at work within your life.  Let’s be prepared for Easter!

Have a great day!

Pastor Tim Harris