Illogical Easter

It Doesn't Make Sense

It's an absurd trade. Life for Death. His death so I can live. There must be more required. Who would make such a deal? Certainly not a King who had everything and needed nothing. Would He come for the world? Would He come for me? The thought of such a simple solution: a magnificent exchange—the blood of the perfect One, the Son of the Living God, Jesus' blood for all of my deep, dark, even secret ugly sins (past, present, and future) seems, well, illogical and unfair. Not enough. Shouldn't there be more required?

When we reason, "Jesus' blood plus my good works, my 'try harder' could equal forgiveness." Aren't we putting ourselves on a pedestal higher than the Savior and selfishly saying 'We deserve it, and we can earn it.'"

Can it possibly be that easy? We may not say it aloud, but many of us have reasoned in our minds and hang on to the belief that we have to keep trying harder, striving to reach a finish line we have already been carried across. So many of us—both those standing outside and those sitting on the church pews all our lives—have heard the simplicity of the gospel, and figuratively (and sometimes literally) walked away, deciding there must be more required.

We reason, "Jesus' blood plus my good works, my controlled moral behavior, my 'try harder' could equal forgiveness." Yet, is this belief not the most selfish and conceited affront to the love offered by our Savior? Aren't we putting ourselves on a pedestal higher than the Savior and selfishly saying by our focus on our behavior, "We deserve it, and we can earn it. What Jesus did isn't really enough"? Others of us walk away in defeat after blowing it time and time again, too ashamed to look once again at the Savior after failing again to that addiction, that struggle, that thing we just can't seem to overcome.

Yet, there is only one way to come to the cross and receive it in truth. We have to come to the cross helpless, at the end of ourselves and our good works, knowing our sin and our failures, thoroughly convinced we have nothing to offer—nothing to equal His amazing, free gift.

It is both deeply humbling and incredibly freeing to admit Jesus has done for us what we could never do for ourselves, what we cannot find for ourselves, what we cannot earn for ourselves.

It Is Finished

Jesus has paid for our sins once and for all. It is finished means: it really is finished. Tim Keller puts it this way, "He (Jesus) has proved to our insecure, skittish little hearts that we are worth everything to him—we have everything we need in him." In Him. Not in us. Never in us.

The cross is grace more amazing than we can ever fathom. Jesus really did pay it all. All to Him I really do owe.

This changes everything. Oh friend, can you fathom this illogical, wonderful truth? Can you believe it and receive it?

Once we come to the end of ourselves and helplessly run to His arms shouting "I can't do it. I can't earn it. I need You Jesus," we find soul rest, no longer working, no longer trying harder for our salvation. We find we can't help but to really love Him, to really celebrate Him, and we want to shout to all who will listen, "The cross is grace more amazing than we can ever fathom. Jesus really did pay it all. All to Him I really do owe."

And it is in this incredible, unfathomable, life-giving truth that we can truly celebrate the Savior of this Amazing Illogical Easter!

"This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus" (Rom. 3:22–24).