Happy Easter Folks.

2000 years ago, there lived a man, born the Son of God, named Jesus. He lived here on earth for 33 years, showing the people the ways, and the love of God Himself. Jesus had 12 best friends, who He called disciples, who followed Him around as He healed and shared God's story.

Jesus knew He was sent to earth to die, as do we. However, we are not aware of what happens once we've died, but He knew exactly what death had in store for Him.

Late one evening, one of Jesus' friends, named Judas, was overtaken by the devil. Judas then betrayed Jesus, telling the chiefs and priests how to kill Jesus, for some money.

After the betrayal of Judas, Jesus invites his 12 friends to have dinner with Him, which we all remember as the Last Supper. The 13 men gather around a table with bread and wine. Jesus tells them that the bread resembles His body, and breaks it, dividing it among the 12. The wine, He tells them, is representative of His blood, which will be poured out for them. He then tells them one of the 12 has betrayed Him, and they begin to question what is going on.

That night, after the Last Supper, Jesus goes to the Mount of Olives with His disciples to pray. He prays out, that if God can spare Him from death, to do so, but if not, then God's will to be done. Soon after this, the chiefs and priests Judas betrayed Him to, come and arrest Him.

It is decided that Jesus shall die, that He will die a slow, and painful death of crucifixion, where He will be nailed to a cross and hung there to die. He is hung on the cross, they whip Him, to the point where He is almost dead, and then they stop. They make Him carry His cross to the hilltop, being beaten and screamed at the entire way there. Once there, they nail His hands and feet to the cross, strip Him of His clothes and gamble them off, place a crown of thorns on His head, and shove a sword in His side. They put the cross into the ground of the hill, placing a sign about Him that read, "This is the King of the Jews".

Jesus suffered, blood pouring from His head, back, feet, hands, and His side. He suffered for hours, watching the people jeer over Him, and mock Him. After 9 hours of bleeding and pain, He yells out, "tetelestai" which means, "It is finished", and Jesus breathes His last breath.

Jesus died.

Jesus' friends then buried Him.

Jesus was dead.

The Son of God had died.

But three days later, His friends found the tomb empty. Yes, that's right. Empty. Jesus came back to life. He came to His friends, the disciples, and showed them the holes in His hands and feet, to show them it was truly Him. After a little more time on earth, Jesus went back into Heaven to be with God once again.

So why is this important? Why does one person's death matter so much?

In the Old Testament times, when a person committed a sin, they had to offer God a sacrifice, most often their most prized animal. The animal was killed as a sacrifice, as an apology, for falling victim to the deception of Satan. So to show us just how much He loves us, God sent Jesus to be the ultimate sacrifice, so that we no longer had to kill an animal, but rather we just ask for forgiveness.

Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice. Because of His death, we can have a personal relationship with God through the Spirit within us. We can pray directly to Him, ask for advice, ask for healing, or even just have a conversation. Without Christ's death, we would still be slaughtering animals, and speaking to God through a hierarchy of priests.

So why does Christ die?

Have you ever considered who you would die for? Like, if for some crazy reason, you were in a room with everyone you've ever known, or met, and there is a person pointing a gun at everyone in the room. Who would you jump in front of the gun for? Who's life do you value over your own. We'd all like to say we'd jump in front of a bullet for our friends, or our family, but the reality is, in the heat of the moment, you most likely wouldn't.

Have you ever considered it the other way around? Who would die for you? I asked a friend of mine a few years ago this question. Would he jump in front of a bullet for me? Would he care if I was dead? He answered, bluntly, that he didn't value my life over his own.

The crazy thing is, although you've never had to die for someone, someone has died for you. His name is Jesus. Jesus' death on the cross was for every single person who's ever walked this earth. He died to prove His love for us. He died to give us eternal life with Him in Heaven. He died so that we could be forgiven.

So how does His death save me?

I'll be the first to admit. I mess up. A lot. I make a lot of mistakes. I've made a lot of mistakes. I am called to a faith full of love and truth, but I am not perfect. I have done so many things, so many unforgivable things, things like hating people, talking poorly about others behind their backs, impure thoughts, malice, lies, you name it, I've probably done it, or screwed it up.

But since Jesus died for me (and you too), I am forgiven, every time I mess up. Every single time. All I have to do is ask for it. Jesus loves me that much.

He could hate me. I've done a lifetime's worth of messed up stuff to warrant that. But no. He loves me. He loves you. He loves us so much He died the most painful death in recorded history. He died so we could be set free.

So this Easter weekend, whether you're a Christian or not, just remember, someone loved you enough to step in front of that bullet for you. His name is Jesus Christ. And no matter what you do, or how bad things get, He's never going to stop loving you.

Always,

HMS