Eastertide Week One: Remembering the Cross and the Incarnation
“It takes a great deal of strength to choose weakness.”
Alicia Britt Chole
“Most of us on Easter Sunday’s evening “fall asleep well fed and
perhaps even grateful, yet somehow something short of awed.”
Alicia Britt Chole
“For God so loved the world, that he gave His only Son, that whoever
believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16
Yesterday we marked the anniversary of the most miraculous moment since the dawn of time: the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
How would you evaluate the experience? Not your church or pastor, but your own heart? Were you distracted by the to-dos for your Easter brunch? Did you allow yourself to enter the experience of what actually happened to Jesus over those days in A.D. 33? In short, were you awed in any way?
Today, Monday, schools are back in session and the normal business of life has resumed. But is there any afterglow? Yes, there are tasks to be done, but while you are busy are you remembering the wonder of the cross, the stunning realization of the Resurrection? Or have you quickly forgotten because it all feels like the same every year?
The Disciples’ Confusion and Our Own
On the day after Easter, the circle was small that knew about the Resurrection of Jesus. And even those who knew were probably living in a mixture of shock, unbelief, wonder, and joy as the memories of the horror of the cross were still so fresh. Psychologists use the word “ambivalence” for this mash of opposing emotions. The disciples couldn’t make sense of it all. It would take a while.
Neither did they initially see the connections between the Old and New Testaments, between the Incarnation and the Resurrection, or between the sacrificial blood of Christ and the redemption God wants to work in our everyday lives. Some remembered Jesus saying both, “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up” (John 3:14-15) and “… take up your cross daily and follow Me” (Luke 9:23, New Living Translation), but it was still confusing and hard to understand. The associated suffering was unpleasant. It is for us as well.
The Incarnation: The Birthplace of Easter
We do understand Christmas and find it pleasant—a much happier holiday emotionally. So let’s take a peek into the Incarnation, the birthplace of Easter. The story line of God’s eternal plan to come rescue us isn’t found in a series of disconnected holidays, like little islands of escape on our annual calendars. Instead, the great mystery of God’s feasts and celebrations is that they were planned from before the dawn of time and they are all connected like a ring of islands all rooted to a circle of rock beneath the surface of the sea of God’s meta-narrative.
Before Gabriel comes to announce the inception of the Christmas story in Luke chapter one, a glimpse of Jesus, pre-immaculate conception, is given in Philippians 2:6-7. There we see what Jesus had to do before He left Heaven for earth. Though Jesus was “in the form of God,” He “emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”
The Ultimate Sacrifice
Three small words contain a universe of meaning: “He … emptied Himself.” Like emptying the bank account of the wealthiest person on earth and taking away all his possessions. Or like the most beautiful human being of all time choosing to wear a mask which hides impeccably exquisite features behind an intentionally distorted visage of plastic.
From glory unimaginable, Jesus became “despised and forsaken of men … as one from whom men hide their faces …” (Isaiah 53:3). Jesus divested Himself utterly. For you. For me.
His immensity became microscopic.
His power became shackled.
His royalty disserted for rejection.
His deity compressed to a single cell.
His throne room became a womb.
And at His birth, the eternal Word of God arrived mute.
Love Beyond Understanding
Can you even imagine?
For years the Eternal One and Creator of all things “in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible …” (Colossians 1:16), submitted to diapers, hunger, sickness, bullying—because He was a good kid—and oblivion in a tiny, laughing-stock town for 30 … long … years.
“How must it have felt—knowing he had the power to heal—to have to walk past children suffering with leprosy?” writes Alicia Britt Chole. “What would it have been like—knowing his conception was miraculous—to be unable to defend His mother when others whispered about her past? And how agonizing would it be –when His Word would one day raise the dead to life again—to stand by while those He loved (perhaps even His father Joseph) died?”(1)
This is just the beginning of all that Jesus endured for us. And why did He do this? Because “God so loved the world” … and you … and me. It was love that moved Jesus. Pure unfathomable, unimaginable love.
In Your Life
Today, remember what He gave up, and some of what He endured before the cross, for us. Today, on this first day after the Resurrection, remember the cross and give thanks that Christ is risen indeed! Just as He said.
We Recommend
For a deeper journey through these truths, we invite you to read all three weeks of Barbara’s Eastertide devotionals. Be sure to subscribe at https://barbararainey.substack.com/ to continue celebrating the victory and wonder of the Resurrection throughout this season.
Barbara Rainey, Ever Thine Home – Little Rock, Arkansas. Photo by Beth Hall
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Barbara writes regularly on her blog, Ever Thine Home, about her relationship with God and desires to encourage you to believe Him too. You can also find her on Instagram, helping women experience God at home, in their marriages, and with their families.