Why Is Easter Good News? Part 4

Purpose deeper than converting everyone in sight

Just jumping in? This series for the Kids + Faith Community is all about ways the Bible talks about Easter as good news (and how that connects to kids, of course). So far we’ve talked about peace, freedom from the power of sin, and demonstrating God’s true character. Today: invitation and purpose.

As you may know, most of the U.S. changed the clocks forward by an hour a few weeks ago, making 5am suddenly 6am. This was a very, very welcome change in the Miller house, because now our kids wake up at 6am. 

You may have figured out already that this means most of the year my kids wake up in the 5 o'clock hour. Countless efforts towards later-waking have failed. And so we’ve just had to roll with it. And bar them from our bedroom until a slightly more reasonable hour. 

For some reason, they just cannot connect with a reality that most humans agree on: before 6, it is time for sleep. For the love, go back to sleep. 5:30 is not time for Pokemon cards. 5:15 is not time for conversation. 5:00 is not time for me to have to referee a full-blown, brother-on-brother brouhaha. 

Any of those things, at any of those times, would be acting out of sync with what time it is. 

Here’s the thing: Easter tells us what time it is.

One reason Easter is good news is that living in sync with what time it is gives us purpose. (And I don’t mean “the purpose of converting everyone in sight”.) Here’s what I do mean:

In Jesus’ day, the Jewish people were in a time of Exile. Yes, they were living in the Promised Land, but they weren’t really home. They were oppressed by Rome, not free to fully be the people God had promised they would be. All you had to do was look around and see that God’s promises were nowhere close to coming true.