Which one is more important?! I’m not talking about sales numbers; clearly Santa outdoes the Easter Bunny there. But in terms of our faith…?
I once would have said Christmas. You have to have the incarnation of Jesus before you can have the resurrection of Jesus. The very notion of God assuming mortal form to live as one of us is so incredible! I was once teaching a group of junior highs when one of them got a strange look on his face and then exclaimed, “Jesus went through puberty!” Yup—and everything else humans go through. God knows exactly what it is like to be us. That’s the miracle of Christmas.
This year however, Easter seems more important to me. The resurrection of Christ is God’s promise that these mortal lives are not all there is. We are lifted beyond ourselves, transformed in this life and raised to new life after we die. “When you were buried with [Christ] in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.” (Colossians 2:12)
The early believers became “Christians” as they declared their faith in the fact of Jesus’ resurrection. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” (Jesus to Thomas in John 20:29)
In the resurrection, we are freed from all fear to live a life full of love. That’s what I’m celebrating about Easter this year.
Blessings,
Rev. Mike Capron
