Jesus Lives Up to the Hype

HE IS RISEN!

Easter comes along with some serious hype. I mean, these outspoken people are claiming a man fulfilled a bunch of ancient prophecies and then rose from the DEAD. Are they nuts? Are they telling the truth or spreading lies? Are they all just daft to believe these things of Jesus for a couple thousand years? Nah. It’s just that Jesus lives up to the hype.

What could be more amazing than a man living an absolutely perfect life – sinless, blameless, traveling around telling stories to all who would hear, and then voluntarily dying on a cross, laying low for a day, and then surprising the mess out of a bunch of women by DISAPPEARING from his tomb, only to appear to some people as a living, breathing, scarred-but-whole version of himself? Not much. But there is something.

The thing that’s more amazing that all of that is his reason. Why in the world would a guy do that? I listened to a teacher at church last week tell a bunch of fourth and fifth graders some of the gruesome details of crucifixion. It’s not pretty, y’all. So why would he willingly allow himself to be taken, arrested for some bogus reasons, and hung up there to die in the most horrible way imaginable? He did it because he and His Heavenly Father love each one of us sorry, broken humans and wanted to save us and draw us near.

How’s that for Jesus living up to some fantastic hype?

Think it isn’t true? Ask any one of us – the sorry, broken ones who love him – and we can tell you the countless ways we’ve been impacted by this rescuing, this outpouring of grace we don’t deserve and love we didn’t earn. Our Jesus is a miracle. Our rescue came at the cost of his enduring the worst so we can ask him for his best. And he gives it, willingly, to each of us. My Jesus deserves all the hype because he’s big, he’s perfect, and he’s good. And that’s the gospel truth.