On Saturday, Kelowna's Gospel Mission served our Annual Easter Banquet:
- 30 turkeys carved
- 13 hams cooked
- 40 volunteers
- over 400 meals served
Sometimes we can so caught up in cooking banquet dinners and organizing the decorations or volunteer positions that we can forget the reason that we even celebrate Easter. This blog entry is my opportunity to remind us that Easter is much more than Easter eggs and bunny rabbits. The true reason that we celebrate Easter is the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. The people of ancient Israel were under the brutal occupation of the Roman Empire and they had great expectations of God's chosen one, the Messiah, to come to save them. They were completely expecting Jesus to lead them in rebellion against the Romans and save them. And he could have led the rebellion and the nation of Israel would have been set free from the Roman occupation. But that wasn't God purpose and when the Jewish people realized that he wasn't going to lead the rebellion, they turned their backs on him.
God's purpose wasn't just to save the people of Israel in the ancient world. He wanted to do something even greater- saving the entire world from the consequences of sin. Romans 6:23 tells us that "the wages of sin is death." Jesus thought of us, he loved us, he chose to save us. He could have lead the rebellion against the Romans and saved Israel. But then we wouldn't be free from the consequences of our sin. Therefore, he chose to be mocked by others, brutally beaten, and killed through one of the most grusome ways to die- crucifixion.
Although what we are able to do at Kelowna's Gospel Mission with the help of our donors and volunteers is pretty amazing, it seems pretty insignificant when we consider the "much more" of Easter. Jesus Christ loved us so much that he chose to die on the cross so that we can have an eternal relationship with him. Although he did so much more; three days later he was resurrected, which gives us the power to live free from our sin and the new life that only he could supply. Now that is a reason to celebrate.
-- Jalon Grassmick
