Easter Weekend Observations from Earth…
Eggs were on sale this past weekend. But by late Saturday morning when I stopped to buy some they were all sold out! It was Easter weekend… that time when eggs both real and chocolate are in high demand for coloring, eating nutritionally, and eating for fun.
In the 1967 movie Cool Hand Luke Paul Newman, as felon Lucas “Luke” Jackson, apparently downs 50 hard boiled eggs in one hour to prove himself good to his boast. Evidently that’s no record. In October, 2013 the first-ever World Hard Boiled Egg-Eating Championship was held and saw Joey Chestnut down 141 eggs in merely 8 minutes — that’s an egg in less than every 3 1/2 seconds! But I digress…
I got to wondering though, just how did eggs – and of course bunnies – usurp the Easter spotlight from the sacrificial suffering and death of our Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ? The Grinch might have stolen Christmas, but the Bunny certainly got first dibs on Easter.
Well, I’m not going to delve into the long and gooey origins of bunnies, baskets and egg hunts,* but rather consider the wider-angle view of this season. I’ve called this little rant “Easter Weekend Observations from Earth” because the real picture is much bigger. The real picture includes all heaven and earth. The events of those three days so many years ago were in fact the culminating events of our Creator God Almighty’s plan of redemption for humankind, planned prior to His uttering of the first “Let there be…” Christ was “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8). He was “foreordained before the foundation of the world” and “manifest in these last times for you” (1 Pet. 1:20). None who trust Him need confront the fires of hell. Jesus took the heat.
Look in Awe at this gift! — Be silenced.
After ingesting the 50 eggs Newman is seen splayed out on a table, exhausted by his effort. One cannot miss the obvious image of a crucifix. I’m sure it is a difficult thing to down four dozen plus such products, but it pales to ludicrosity against the cosmic compass of the real event.
Paint your eggs, enjoy your chocolate, but never forget the reality this weekend signifies. Carry it with you. Think of yourself against the backdrop of eternity, in light of what God intends to make of you, that high calling for which He has redeemed you. Believer… you are eternal! — Because of Easter!
More tomorrow…
* If you really want to know here’s a fair summary.
Or here if you just want to see Paul Newman.
To hear Don Longworth’s Sunday message, go to the Facebook page of Lincoln Baptist Church, or link to the livestream from the church website.
thebrokenrunner 