easter – Wounded Butterflies

Why do we have a day called Easter? There is one constant in all of humanity across time: past, present or the future. People will lie, cheat, steal, cause pain, be greedy, and not show love. This is the state of every single person who has ever lived and ever will live, we are all born into sin. We are all sinners (Romans 3:23).

Our state of being born as a sinner started with Adam and Eve when they made the decision to disobey God. As a sinner, we are all going to hell when we die because we fail to meet the standard to go to heaven. The standard is perfection. No human being, no matter how perfect they may think they are or you may think they are, is good enough to avoid hell. We are all imperfect. Mark 9:47 describes, “hell, ⁴⁸‘where the maggots never die and the fire never goes out.” How then can anyone avoid living all eternity in hell, filled with unimaginable suffering?

It is quite simple. Believe in Jesus. He is the Son of God and came to earth to die for you and me. He became our sin. That means He was perfect and he chose to drink in our sin to then sacrifice His perfect life for you and me. Jesus willingly laid down His life on Friday, went to hell on Saturday to conquer hell for us and then rose to life on earth on Sunday, what we now call Easter.

Let’s pray. Father in heaven, help us to believe in Jesus. Our lives on earth are short, but eternity is forever. Once we die, it is too late – we are either going to heaven or hell. Help us to understand Your love for us and that You sent Your Son because You love us. You want us to be in heaven with You and the only way is belief in Jesus. Thank You for sending Jesus. In Jesus name we pray, amen.

I have scars on each of my wrists, they have been there a long time. When strangers see them, I am sure they judge me. I am sure they have thoughts like, ‘how did they get there’ or ‘it looks like a failed suicide attempt’, and so on. When I see strangers looking at them, I am filled with shame. It is in those moments that I must remind myself that Jesus loves me, no matter what I did in the past or what was done to me – He loves me. Exactly as I am. Messed up past included.

As we celebrate Easter, I thought about the scars that Jesus bore on His body for all people. Every single human on this earth has the chance to be filled with eternal peace, joy and love simply by believing that Jesus died for us. “For God so loved the world that He sent His Son that whoever believes in the Son will have eternal life.” John 3:16 says it all, God loves us so much! All we have to do is believe. Just believe that God loves you, exactly as you are.

The scars that Jesus has were created out of humanity’s shame and sin, not His. He never did anything to deserve those scars, yet Jesus chose to accept them. While His scars represent a horrible and painful death, they are also beautiful – they saved me and you.

When I look at my scars, I need to remember that not only am I perfectly and completely loved by Jesus, scars and all, but I also need to focus on how He sees my scars. Jesus sees someone who was once in terrible pain and struggling to live, but now has Him. Believing in Jesus does not make life perfect, it never will be perfect here on earth. But believing in Jesus makes life worth living; every day there is a peace and love that cannot be described, no matter what is going on around you. As we come upon Easter, consider the scars that Jesus bears for you. Yes, you. All so that you can know without a doubt that by His wounds, you are healed. Let those words sink in my friend, you are healed.

Happy Easter!