Easter 2020: The Great Reset
April 8, 2020, marks the first day of the Jewish Passover. Passover is a celebration of the exodus of God’s people from Egypt and their years of slavery.
This Sunday is Easter. Christians will remember the day that is the foundational moment of our faith. Easter is the day when God “reset” his covenant relationship with his people.
Easter 2020 could mark another “reset” in our faith, if we are called to God’s purpose for the day.
Are we praying for a Passover or joyfully confident in God’s plan to redeem?
Praying for a Passover
I wish I knew what to place on the doorframe so that this virus would pass over my home and every person’s home during these days. I’ve prayed for the Lord to allow us that kind of Passover.
But, I have a quiet answer for those prayers. Jesus reminds me, “This world is not your home.”
We have been praying that God would allow the COVID-19 virus to pass over our homes. But is there a more dangerous but less noticed virus that has been infecting our lives?
A lot of people will open their eyes on Sunday morning, and, because they don’t have a church building to visit or a group of people to join, they will not experience Easter. Another group will feel like they missed Easter because they couldn’t wear a new dress or tie or go to a buffet and egg hunt.
Could it be that Easter 2020 is about that virus?
Not the virus that is costing people their earthly lives, but the virus that is costing people their eternity?
Praying for Easter at home
In Egypt, the final plague of death passed over every home that had placed the blood of the lamb on the doorframe. Each year, Jewish families turn their homes into a place of worship. They shop for and carefully prepare a Seder meal. The family members gather, and the head of the family is the rabbi for the evening. They remember when God saved his people from the plague of death and gave them freedom. The Jewish people bring the worship of God into their homes.
Could it be that Christians this Easter need to learn from that example?
How will you prepare for Easter 2020?
How will you bring Easter worship into your homes?
Parents can step up and lead the family in remembering the first Easter. Scripture can be read by all who are able. Prayers can be prayed. Questions can be answered. Songs can be sung. The rich truth of the resurrection of Christ can be brought into your homes.
Could it be that Easter 2020 is a reset for every Easter to come?
As you bring worship home, you can create family time that is a holy time. Easter 2020 might become one of the most important spiritual “resets” in your family’s memory.
Don’t just think about it: make plans to accomplish Easter 2020 as a family.
Praying for an eternal reset
The first verse I ever memorized was Romans 8:28, and it has been a part of my entire life: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
The Passover meal Jesus shared with his disciples was filled with trauma. Scripture says, “As they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take, eat; this is my body.’ And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them saying, ‘Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:26–27).
The days that followed were desperate days for the disciples. Jesus was arrested, tried, and sentenced to die. Jesus was tortured and then hung on a cross. Jesus died and was buried in a borrowed tomb.
“Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning” (Psalm 30:5). That psalm of praise was ultimately fulfilled by the first Easter. Jesus was resurrected. His life had conquered death and his sacrifice provided salvation for all those who would believe. That first Easter would usher in the reset of God’s covenant relationship with his people.
Remember: “We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).
How does the Lord want you to spend your Easter Sunday worship time this year?
Could it be that the Lord has planned Easter 2020 to be a reset for his people?
We know God plans to work things for our good. We just need to be called to “his purpose” for this year’s Easter celebration.
Praying for your Easter “reset”
Romans 8:28 means we can “know” that God is going to use this unique time in our lives for our greater good. It is likely we will look back on these days, grateful for all that we learned about the Lord and about one another.
It’s Easter week. We are reminded that the resurrected Christ is the promise and guarantee of our resurrection, if our faith is in Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
God took the traumatic moments of that Passover celebration and worked them together for the good of everyone at the table. The only exception was Judas, who refused to be called to God’s purpose. Jesus was born so that he could die. Easter was God’s good purpose and plan. Easter is our Passover.
This year, I am praying that the viruses will pass over our homes. One can take an earthly life. However, the great virus is the one that can rob a person of life eternal.
Easter was God’s reset of the Passover meal. We now know that meal is about the body and blood of Jesus.
Easter was God’s reset of the covenant relationship. We know that those who believe on the name of the Lord Jesus will be saved.
Easter 2020 can be a reset of your family’s celebration. God knew that Sunday, April 12, 2020, would come. He has promised to work all things together for our good.
Will you be called to “his purpose” this Sunday?
May your Easter 2020 be a great blessing to you and your family.
“He is risen.”
“He is risen, indeed.”