Easter Dessert

Tonight T and I took the kids to a Passion play in a nearby town that our friends were starring in. Before the play opened they had a "Walk through Jerusalem" outside where the kids could pet and feed the animals and visit the "market" as the costumed characters, soldiers, and children danced and conversed. The play was amazing - really worth the 45 min drive there. They did a great job of working in current Christian contemporary songs that the kids were familiar with. All 3 made it through the hour and 45 min. show without a wiggle or a whine. So that should tell you how good it was!




A parallel was made with one of the supporting characters being a little boy who was to care for the Passover lamb. As he cared for the lamb and became attached to it, his difficulty in letting it be given for sacrifice at the end of the week was depicted. "Father, it isn't fair! Can't we get another lamb in it's place? It hasn't done anything to deserve to be killed!" His father then pointed out that God requires an innocent beings blood to cover the sins that we commit, to remind us how serious our breaking God's rules really are as the lamb dies in our place. To see that adorable, real-life lamb in that little boy's arms and realize what a visual image that must have been to the Jewish people was an eye opener. It was a great illustration of Christ's death on the cross, which was also portrayed very tastefully without shielding the kids from the realization that He did suffer and He was in pain, both physical and emotional, because of our disobedience. I know that in the past, I have struggled with why exactly Christ HAD to die. Couldn't God just forgive us without having to put His son through that pain? But then what would be the incentive to living a righteous life, if you knew free forgiveness was always just around the corner? But to know that that righteousness was bought at a price, it's kind of like having your meal paid for by someone else. Most of us would not order 2 appetizers, lobster, dessert, and $6 cocktails if we knew someone else was footing the bill. How much more of a sin to rack up on disobedience after Christ paid such a high price for us. Or that's how I am able to wrap my mind around it, anyway. So on this Easter, it's not about the cute and fuzzy bunnies, or even the chocolate (God bless Cadbury eggs, I'm sure they will be in Heaven) - it's about Him footing the bill, and Heaven is the dessert He has specially prepared and waiting for us. And I'm all for bringing on the dessert!