There are some things a bunny can’t do

Does Easter make you happy? I mean beyond Easter egg hunts, chocolate bunnies and a new Easter dress, does Easter make you really happy? Thoughtful people realize that the implications of Easter go deeper than just the seasonal trappings draped in pastel colors. Easter speaks to our most profound fears and hopes. Does God care about me? Is there really life after death? Can I be forgiven? Can I go to heaven? These are the persistent questions of the soul swirling around Easter.

That Jesus was raised bodily from the dead is a bold claim indeed. If the resurrection is a fact (and the evidence is overwhelming) then Christians have every reason to rejoice this Easter Sunday.

First, we can be happy that Jesus told the truth. In all four gospels Jesus predicts his own death and resurrection. His empty tomb and resurrected body shout to the world that Jesus was who he said he was and did what he said he would do. He is unique in this regard. Christians serve a risen savior. Jesus can be trusted. Remembering this at Easter makes us happy. We can believe him.

Second, if the resurrection of Jesus is an historical fact, then God was satisfied by the price Jesus paid on the cross. This means that Jesus’ death was not some tragic accident but an effective ransom for the sins of the whole world. While the story of Good Friday is very sad, Easter transforms that Friday into a day that was truly good. The resurrection demonstrates that when Jesus said, “It is finished,” God agreed. Jesus was indeed successful in his sacrifice for us. Remembering this at Easter makes us happy. We can be forgiven.

Third, after the resurrection of Jesus, his disciples are re-united with him and he remains with them on earth for 40 days before his ascension into heaven. During these 40 days Jesus demonstrates what a post-resurrection body is like. He says, “Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have” (Luke 24:39).

Jesus even ate with the disciples to drive home the point that he had a physical body. Paul the apostle, explains that this wonderful, immortal resurrection body of Jesus is the prototype for all who belong to him. Christians therefore look forward not to some wispy, ghostly existence on a heavenly cloud but to a new body, an eternal existence of substance in paradise with Jesus. Remembering this at Easter makes us happy. We can live forever.

The Easter bunny is nice enough, but he isn’t enough. It’s the resurrection of Jesus that makes us happy at this time of year. There are some things a bunny just can’t do.

JOHN T. KARN is pastor of Light on the Corner Church in La Crescenta. Reach him at pastorjonkarn@sbcglobal.net.