The Meaning of Easter

Easter is the most significant day of the year for Christians. Those who believe in Jesus Christ are privileged to celebrate His resurrection from the dead. The resurrection is God's testimony that by the death of His Son on the cross, he has secured righteousness and redemption for those who believe.

What a privilege it is to be reminded that the crucifixion of Christ and His resurrection from the dead is the culmination of God's revelation of salvation.

The entire sacrificial system in Israel, beginning with the Mosaic Law in Exodus 19 and running throughout the Old Testament and the Gospels in the New Testament, was designed to constantly remind people of their sinfulness, of their need for forgiveness and that the penalty for sin is death. "Without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness" (Heb. 9:22).

Yet the Bible says, "For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins" (Heb. 10:4). All it could do was to remind the people of their sinfulness and of the penalty for their sins, but it could not take away sins.

God never intended that animal sacrifices should pay the penalty for sin. The sacrifice for sin needed to be One who completely identified with humanity, a human being Himself in every way, yet without sin. That is what God did in the provision of His Son.

The Bible tells us that at the proper time:

God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons (Gal. 4:4,5).

Jesus Christ came to the earth and was born as a human being, in every way humanity as well as deity. He came to earth for one express purpose - to provide salvation through His own death on the cross that God might offer forgiveness and deliverance to all who would believe in Him.

The message of Easter is very simple and very direct. "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. 6:23). That is what the celebration of Easter is all about. Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead. This is God's testimony that salvation is complete and that redemption is secure.

The Ministry of the High Priest

The Book of Hebrews is devoted to the high-priestly ministry of Jesus Christ. It was the responsibility of the high priest to represent the people before God and to offer sacrifice for sin so that God might forgive and cleanse the people. This was all a shadow, or a picture, to illustrate the coming of Jesus Christ.

The Book of Hebrews focuses on the fact that Jesus Christ, God's Son, has come to earth to be God's High Priest. He is to represent the people before God and to offer a sacrifice on their behalf that will take care of sin by paying its penalty.

The emphasis of an eternal redemption is crucial. The death of Jesus Christ secures salvation for eternity. The writer of the Book of Hebrews wrote:

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, this to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption (Heb. 9:11,12).

Christ did not carry out His sacrifice in an earthly tabernacle or in an earthly temple made with hands. He did not offer animals as the sacrifice for sin. Rather, He offered His own blood and body to God in heaven. By that sacrifice of Himself, He obtained for us an eternal redemption.

An Annual Sacrifice

The ninth chapter of Hebrews goes on to show that offering animal sacrifices repeatedly was not adequate:

For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; nor was it that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood not his own (Heb. 9:24,25).

Every year on the Day of Atonement the high priest in Israel would enter into the Holy Place to offer the blood of an animal as a sacrifice. None of Israel's earthly high priests ever offered their own blood. They had to make that sacrifice year after year. The fact that the sacrifice had to be made over and over indicated that it did not take care of the sin forever.

In these verses, the writer is contrasting the offering of Christ with the offering of the other high priests. It was necessary for them to offer a sacrifice every year, but it was not necessary for Christ to repeat His sacrifice.

Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself (Heb. 9:26).

Eternal Redemption in Christ

The sacrifice of Christ was totally different from the sacrifices of the other high priests. They had to offer sacrifices over and over, year after year. Jesus Christ, our High Priest, offered one sacrifice, Himself, that secured an eternal redemption so that the sacrifiec is never again to be repeated:

And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him (Heb. 9:27,28).

That is simply saying that Christ offered one sacrifice for sin for all time. He is coming back to earth again, but it will not be to offer another sacrifice. Rather, it will be to usher in His eternal rule on earth when all those who have believed in Him will share in the glory of His reign in the kingdom He will establish.

Our need is to stand before God in perfection. However, the Law cannot provide that perfection:

for the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never by the same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near (Heb. 10:1).

As fallen, sinful human beings, we need to be made acceptable before God. That acceptance cannot come by repeated religious experiences but only by the sacrifice of God's Son. The animal sacrifices of the Old Testament were a constant reminder that we are sinners, worthy of death. "But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year" (Heb. 10:3).

There is no hope for us unless someone dies in our place. It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin. So the writer draws attention to what the Old Testament says about God preparing a body for His Son, Jesus Christ. Christ is the eternal Son of God who existed with the Father in heaven through all eternity.

At a specific point in time, God prepared a human body for Him. He came to earth and was born of a virgin that He might be identified with humanity in every way and then die bearing the sins of humanity in His body on the cross. Christ died so that God might offer salvation as a free gift to all who believe in Him.

A Once-for-All Sacrifice

Hebrews 9:10 speaks of the finality of Christ's sacrifice : "By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." We have been sanctified, set apart for God's use for all time. That is a once-for-all sacrifice. Hebrews 10:12 emphasizes the completeness of that sacrifice: "But He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God."

In the Old Testament tabernacle and temple, no chairs were provided for the high priests. This pictures the fact that their work was never done. But Jesus Christ, when He had offered one sacrifice for sin for all time-the only sacrifice that would ever be acceptable to God-sat down in God's presence at the place of honor at His right hand. That shows us that there is nothing else to be done to bring complete salvation to all who believe.

The completeness of Christ's sacrifice is an exciting truth, "For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified" (Heb. 10:14).

Believers have been perfected for eternity because they have been set apart by Jesus Christ. He has provided perfection for eternity in the presence of God. That was provided by His one sacrifice on the cross of Calvary.

How can we know that Christ's sacrifice is satisfactory for eternity? His resurrection from the dead is God's testimony to us of the reality of this truth. People continue to ignore this fact. That is the problem being addressed in this letter to the Hebrews. They were contemplating whether they ought to believe in Christ or hang on to Judaism.

Many people think there is security in their background and in pursuing the religion in which they were raised. They think that since they were born and raised in a particular church, baptized and confirmed there, and received the sacraments there, surely they are secure. The Jews to whom the Book of Hebrews is addressed also felt secure in their religious system. This letter was written to drive home the truth that Jesus Christ offered the only sacrifice for sins. The penalty for sin is death. The penalty for sin is not performing religious deeds and activities. The penalty for sin is not being baptized or joining a certain church. The penalty is not receiving the sacraments. The penalty is death!

Jesus Christ died on the cross, and the penalty has been paid.

Now God offers salvation as a free gift to all who will believe in Him. When you believe in Jesus Christ, you are cleansed from all your sins and brought into a personal relationship with God. In this way you are assured of eternity in His presence. This is all taken care of the moment you believe in Jesus Christ, the One who loves you and died for you. That is a tremendous truth - a liberating truth.