Easter Sunday is a holiday time when many people think of nothing more than Easter bunnies, chocolate eggs and fancy new clothes!  Easter means much more. It's the Sunday we set aside to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.  He, who was without sin, was crucified on Good Friday, taking our sins to that cruel Cross and exchanging the judgement we deserved for His righteousness - paying for our salvation with His own blood.  He died for our sake, was buried and three days later He rose again, victorious over sin and death.  Hallelujah!

The late Dr Derek Prince (in his book "The Divine Exchange") put it very well when he summarised what Jesus Christ did for us all on the Cross in the following way:-

What a generous, merciful and loving Saviour we worship.  Sadly, there are those who cast aside the gift of life He bought for us at such a price without a second thought.  Make no mistake, what Jesus did for us was amazing. "He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2).  Easter is happy indeed because we are reconciled and brought back into a right relationship with Almighty God, through Jesus Christ. "If you confess with your mouth "Jesus is Lord" and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved" (Romans 10:9). We can rejoice that "God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).  Thank you Lord.

Yes, Easter Sunday is a very special day.  I love it and I love to read the biblical account of Jesus' glorious resurrection.  It makes me tingle!  The mighty power of God at work.  However, I think perhaps my favourite part of the story is recorded in John's gospel, chapter 20:10-18, when Mary Magdalene, grieving and weeping, meets the risen Jesus is the Garden.  She is so lost, so heart-broken and then, suddenly, in that wonderful encounter, she is transformed with joy.  I think this passage of scripture is wonderful, illustrating the joy we find only in the presence of our Lord Jesus.

"Then the disciples went back to their homes, but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been,one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying"?  "They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him".  At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.  "Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for"?  Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."  Jesus said to her, "Mary."  She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).  Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God".  Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" and she told them that he had said these things to her".

It is thought that perhaps Jesus appeared to Mary that first Resurrection morning because she needed Him the most that day; who knows, but it is certainly a meeting that I find both thrilling and very comforting.  I look forward to meeting Jesus face-to-face in a rose garden some day!  In 1912, C Austin Miles (1868-1946) wrote a beautiful and moving hymn about this incident in the Garden.  Perhaps you know it?  It is one of my favourites.

In the Garden I come to the garden alone While the dew is still on the roses. And the voice I hear, calling on my ear, The Son of God discloses. And He walks with me. And He talks with me. And He tells me I am His own. And the joy we share as we tarry there, None other has ever known.

Easter Sunday or Resurrection Sunday, as some call it, is the most important holiday in the Christian calendar and one we should celebrate with thanksgiving.  Jesus is alive!  Re-discover the true meaning of Easter.