• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Wednesday in the Word

what the Bible means and how we know

  • Home
  • Bible Studies
    • New Testament Bible Studies
    • Old Testament Bible Studies
    • Topical Bible Studies
    • What is the Gospel?
  • Study Help
    • Resource Library
    • Resources by Book of the Bible
    • Bible Study 101: Learn to Study the Bible
    • Bible Study 201: Learn to teach the Bible
  • Articles
    • Theology
    • Faith & Life
    • Family
    • Women’s Ministry Resources
    • Most Popular
  • What is WitW?
    • Meet Krisan
    • What We Believe
    • Looking Back
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Topics / Faith & Life / Easter celebrations

Easter celebrations

February 18, 2013 by Krisan Marotta

Grand Canyon Easter Sunrise Service 2011 Mather Point

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.”  – Matthew 6:1ff

Perhaps even more than Christmas, the church celebrates the Easter season with spectacular displays of art, music, and public worship services.   The hymns and choruses are majestic and glorious;  the banners and flowers magnificent;  the worship services are breathtaking; and the season of Lent is frequently marked by “out of the ordinary” acts of prayer, fasting, devotion and self-denial.

In the midst of all these outward celebrations — however appropriate they are — it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that Easter calls for a response of humility and repentance.

The cross was necessary because not only was our rebellion tragic, it was wrong. There’s a judicial penalty to our rebellion and justice demands recompense.

Our rebellion is to metaphorically turn our back on God and we experience sin and death as a result.  But there is a further consequence.

The penalty of our rebellion is for God to metaphorically turn His back on us.  The consequence of that is devastating.  Because until God’s wrath is satisfied, repentance is futile.  He decreed that He will not bless us until the judicial penalty for our sin is paid.

Thankfully, Jesus paid our debt on the cross.

O Lord, who hast mercy upon all,
take away from me my sins,
and mercifully kindle in me
the fire of thy Holy Spirit.
Take away from me the heart of stone,
and give me a heart of flesh,
a heart to love and adore Thee,
a heart to delight in Thee,
to follow and enjoy Thee, for Christ’s sake, Amen.
— Ambrose of Milan, 4th century bishop

Photo taken by Michael Quinn and used here under Flickr Creative Commons.

(This article has been read 212 times plus 2 today.)

Related posts:

  1. What is Lent?
  2. 02 What is justification and why do I need it?

Filed Under: Faith & Life, Topics Tagged With: Easter, humility, repentatnce

Primary Sidebar

Footer

Find the podcast on:


  • Facebook

  • Instagram

  • Google Play

  • iTunes Podcasts

  • Apple Music

  • Pinterest

  • SoundCloud

  • Spotify

  • Stitcher

  • TuneIn

  • iHeart

  • Email

  • RSS Feed

Wednesday in the Word is the podcast about what the Bible means and how we know.

Contact us

Privacy Policy

Legal Disclaimers

Copyright © 2023 · Krisan Marotta, WednesdayintheWord · Log in