Thinking about Easter
- Joe Venturo
- Apr 10
- 3 min read
Some of us celebrate important holidays like Christmas and Easter. Others, out of various convictions, choose to regard all days alike. We know from Romans 14 that no one way is necessarily right—each individual believer must choose for himself what he regards to be the most honoring to the Lord (vv. 5-8).
From my personal viewpoint, it is advantageous to observe holidays for several reasons. First, while some say that it is important to be thinking about Christ all the time, do we really think about Him as much as we should? Yes, Christ should occupy first place in our thoughts at every moment, but I think there is some value in setting aside time to celebrate and meditate especially on the work of Christ on specific days.
I also think that observing holidays unites families around the truth of the Gospel and gives them a chance to enjoy quality fellowship together. For those reasons, let’s take some special time to meditate on the significance of our most recent holiday, Easter.
During Easter, you probably know that we remember the death and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let’s focus today on Jesus’ words in Revelation 1:17-18. In this passage, Jesus, having appeared to the apostle John in all His post-Resurrection glory, is commissioning him to write down His final words to the world. In verses 17b-18, He says:
“Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.”
Notice first with me, please, the words fear not. Jesus said this to John because John had fallen “at His feet as though dead” (v. 17a). The power and glory that Jesus possessed after rising from the dead was enough to knock the apostle unconscious. That same power and glory should cause us to fear our risen Lord and obey His commands. It should also comfort us in the knowledge that He has conquered and will someday reign victorious over all the earth.
Now see what else Jesus says: I am the first and the last. Jesus is the eternal Son of God! That same Word of which John spoke in the beginning of His Gospel exists with God the Father from the creation of the world to its end and forevermore. Jesus also calls Himself the living one. He is absolutely, positively, inarguably, not dead! John saw Him! He is alive in Heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father, having completed the work which He had been sent to accomplish. Though he died, He urges John to look upon His living self: behold I am alive forevermore. In these words Jesus sums up the Gospel: He has died and risen again, bringing salvation to all who believe in Him.
Notice lastly Jesus’ final words in this passage: I have the keys of Death and Hades. He possesses control over Death and Hell. He has power to send people to eternal damnation, but He also has power to rescue sinners from death, granting eternal life to all who repent and believe in Him.
If you are not a Christian, will you this day repent and trust in Christ as the only way to be saved from Death and Hell? If you are a Christian, will you this day think about what these words mean for the course and direction of your life?
See our Good News page for more information about how to be saved through Christ from God’s wrath.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Used by permission. All rights reserved.
