Jesus Christ died on a cross on a Friday almost two thousand years ago. Christians believe that on the following Sunday, Jesus rose from the dead and, in doing so, proved that He is the Son of God. The day Jesus died and was buried is known as Good Friday. The following Sunday is Easter.

Christians celebrate the resurrection of the Son of God each year between March 22nd and April 25th (the first Sunday after a full moon and after the vernal equinox).

Religious celebrations include family gatherings and special Easter church services.

For Christians, there is no holiday more important than Easter. Easter is the day we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. He had been crucified and was buried for three days. All his disciples had believed that he was gone for good. None of them had understood that His sacrifice was the primary purpose of His short life and the only way for humanity to obtain righteousness and restore our fellowship with God. No man had taken His life. There was no sin in Him and no way for Satan to take His life. It was freely given for us all.

"He was always close to the Lord. He grew up like a young plant, like a root growing in dry ground. There was nothing special or impressive about the way he looked, nothing we could see that would cause us to like him. People made fun of him, and even his friends left him. He was a man who suffered a lot of pain and sickness. We treated him like someone of no importance, like someone people will not even look at but turn away from in disgust. The fact is, it was our suffering he took on himself; he bore our pain. But we thought that God was punishing him, that God was beating him for something he did. But he was being punished for what we did. He was crushed because of our guilt. He took the punishment we deserved, and this brought us peace. We were healed because of his pain. We had all wandered away like sheep. We had gone our own way. And yet the Lord put all our guilt on him." ~ Isaiah 53:2 - 6 (ERV)

Jesus Has Risen - Easter Sunday

That first Easter morning proved beyond any doubt that Jesus was the Messiah. He had told the religious leaders and his disciples that He would give His life and on the third day rise from the grave.

The religious authorities had remembered His words and tried to prevent it with a large stone in front of the tomb, a Roman seal and guards. But none of that prevented God’s plan for that first Easter. For 40 days after Easter morning, many people were eyewitnesses to the resurrection. Satan and the religious leaders were powerless to stop the truth. And they are still powerless to stop the spread of the wonderful message of Easter!

For the secular world, Easter is about new clothes, hidden eggs, and bunnies. But to those that really understand all that was accomplished on that first Easter morning, this is the greatest day in all of history.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." ~ John 3: 16 (NKJV)

Discussion questions:

• 1. What is something new or interesting to you from this article?

  2. What are the different ways that Christians and the secular world celebrate Easter?

  3. Why did Jesus die?

  4. Why do Christians celebrate Easter?

  5. What does it mean that "No man had taken His life"?

  6. What did you learn about Jesus?