As the plastic Easter eggs, the cellophane grass, the Easter baskets and bunnies start to fill the shelves, I see the commercial wheels begin to turn and the world’s thoughts turn to another day of buying and selling – His sacred day. Santa takes precedence on Christmas, and the Easter Bunny takes center stage on Easter.

I can’t help but wonder what Jesus is thinking. His two special days are spent with the world’s eyes gloating over things that “have no life.” He must have the same feeling He displayed when only one healed leper out of nine returned to give Him thanks.

Jesus came into the world to bless all mankind with love and peace. His mission was one of compassion:

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. —John 3:17

He knew war would result from His teaching because all people would not follow Him, but He knew there would be those who would follow Him unequivocally. They would even die for Him. His coming gave all people the opportunity to answer the question He posed to the Pharisees:

While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, What think ye of Christ? —Matthew 22: 42

“What think ye of Christ?” The Pharisees, like many people, view Christ as a great teacher, recognizing only the good things that He did. They herald Him as a pivotal character in the human history, but they don’t quite bridge the gap between human and divine. They profess:

He was an itinerant teacher who attracted crowds and apparently performed miracles. By all accounts he was a charismatic teacher who spoke with an oral brilliance. He was in many ways both typical of his times, and yet extraordinary in his religious convictions and beliefs, in his scholarship of the Biblical literature, and in the fervency with which he lived what he taught. —From the Human Journey website

Who can read the Bible and not understand that Christ was more than a mortal man. John is very clear that Jesus was with God before the world was created. In fact, He, the Word, or Christ created the earth:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. —John 1:1-3

Jesus created the Earth in all of her magnificence. Who can walk through a forest on a dark night and look up at the myriad stars lit only by the moon and not see the magnificence of a divine Creator?

Who can gaze into the eyes of a newborn child and not be awestruck by the thread of divine intelligence that links us to God? Who can see the ocean teeming with life roll against the shore at sunset and witness the glorious transformation of color as day turns to night and not be overwhelmed with wonder at the thought of its Creator?

“Great teacher” isn’t an adequate description. In fact, it is kindergarten scribbles compared to the poetry of Paradise Lost.

Jesus was more than the Creator. He was the “Great I Am” of the Old Testament who spoke to Moses from the burning bush. He was the power behind the plagues of Egypt, and He wrote the Commandments with His finger and fed the Israelites with manna in the wilderness.

Jesus parted the Red Sea to allow His people to cross. He was in the light that led them by day and in the fire that showed them the way at night.

In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. —John 1:4-5

Jesus was the God who helped Joshua fight the battle of Jericho, and was with David when he slew Goliath. He was the one who came to Esther’s aid when she pleaded for the people before the King.

He stood in the fiery furnace with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, and closed the mouths of lions while Daniel was in the lion’s den. He interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh for Joseph and gave him power to forgive his brothers.

Jesus was born in a stable where angels and a glorious star heralded in His birth. Shepherds and wise men came to worship at His feet. He grew up in Nazareth and never moved more than a hundred miles from where He was born.

As a child, the learned men in the temple marveled at His wisdom and knowledge. He fasted and prayed in the wilderness for 40 days and overcame the temptations of Satan before He started His ministry.

At a wedding feast, He turned water into wine that awed even the most elite of wine drinkers. That was only the beginning of His magnificent miracles. He opened the eyes of the blind, healed a withered hand. He unstopped the ears of the deaf and healed a woman that had an issue of blood for 12 years.

Nine lepers came to him and He healed them all. He taught with the power and authority from the Father and followed completely the will of the Father in all things. He taught men to pray and bade them follow Him.

He fed 5,000 people with a loaf of bread and a few fishes. He raised Lazarus from the dead and calmed the raging sea.

His goodness infuriated the Sadducees, and the Pharisees, by His simple teaching and kindness that caused thousands to follow Him. He taught them in parables and the pure in heart found refuge in His company. He lived a perfect sinless life yet was crucified for the sins of all mankind.

His words from the cross cannot be discounted. As He commended himself unto His Father in death, He forgave those who crucified Him and had compassion for their ignorance. His great love extended to even those who had abused Him and persecuted Him.

He was laid in a borrowed tomb, and in three days He rose again from the dead. He greeted Mary Magdalene at the tomb; He walked with His disciples on the road to Emmaus, and showed Himself to a doubting Thomas. He ascended into heaven with the promise that He would return again.

Is He there in the Heaven looking down on His creations hoping that things turn out for the best?

No! He is very active in the lives of His believers. He can still cause the blind to see and the lame to walk. He can still part the Red Sea and feed the 5,000.

He can still stand with us in the fiery furnace of our lives and shut the mouths of our proverbial lions. He can teach us with parables in our lives, and He can instruct us as He did His followers long ago.

His promise is still in effect: Ask and ye shall receive. Seek and ye shall find.

As the Easter season comes with all the commercialism and fanfare, it would be well to spend some time turning our hearts to our God, who is much more than “a great teacher.” He is the most powerful being in the universe. He is a God.

He is our hope in these troubled times as He has been in our past. He was with George Washington and the other Founding Fathers as they battled at doors of Hell to unleash the freedoms which the adversary had held bound for centuries.

Christ was with those who penned the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and signed these documents as a proclamation to all the world “... that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

He stood by the Founding Fathers when they affirmed “... And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”

Jesus was with us through the Civil War, World War I, World War II and every war in between. Was He happy about the war? No, but He helped freedom to prevail because only in an environment of liberty can men seek Him and “find rest to their souls.” Jesus is a being of peace and those who follow Him are peacemakers and protectors of peace.

What think ye of Christ? Others may herald Him as great teacher and a pivotal historical character, but as for me I stand with Samuel Medley who wrote the words:

I Know that My Redeemer Lives
I know that my Redeemer lives!
What comfort this sweet sentence gives!
He lives, He lives who once was dead;
He lives, my ever living head!

He lives, my kind, wise, heavenly friend;
He lives and loves me to the end;
He lives, and while he lives, I’ll sing;
He lives, my Prophet, Priest, and King!

He is my hope for the future and the God of this land who will guide us through the darkness of the future and bring us into the glorious light of peace and redemption if we will turn to Him. He is my God, and I will praise Him forever and give Him glory for every good word I have written, every good deed I have done and all that I am and ever hope to become. PD

References omitted due to space but are available upon request to editor@progressivedairy.com.